C^ 
 
^ 
 
 x 
 
MEMOIR OF JOHN CABPENTEE. 
 

 ^^ I 
 
MEMOIR 
 
 OF 
 
 THE LIFE AND TIMES OF 
 
 JOHN CARPENTER, 
 
 proton Clerk of bonbon 
 
 TN THE REIGNS OF HENRY V. AND HENRY VI. 
 
 AND FOUNDER OF 
 
 THE CITY OF LONDON SCHOOL: 
 
 WITH 
 
 AN APPENDIX 
 
 OF DOCUMENTS, AND PARTICULARS OF BENEFACTIONS 
 
 TO THE SCHOOL. 
 
 By THOMAS BREWER, 
 
 SECRETARY OP THE SCHOOL. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PRINTED BY ARTHUR TAYLOR, 
 
 COLEMAN STREET. 
 
 1856. 
 
■ 1j C "^ 
 
 f 5-4. 
 
 
 ,%»-, • • 
 
TO 
 
 THE EIGHT HONOURABLE 
 
 DAVID SALOMONS 
 
 LORD MAYOR, 
 
 A MUNIFICENT BENEFACTOR TO THE CITY OP LONDON SCHOOL: 
 AND TO 
 
 WARREN STORMES HALE, Esq., 
 
 THE ORIGINATOR OF THE SCHOOL, AND CHAIRMAN OP THE 
 COMMITTEE FOR MANAGING ITS AFFAIRS; 
 
 THIS MEMOIR 
 
 OF THE EMINENT CITIZEN 
 
 WHOSE BENEFACTION FOEMED THE BASIS OF THE SCHOOL 
 
 AND ENTITLES HIM TO BE REGAEDED AS ITS FOUNDER 
 
 IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED 
 BT THEIR OBLIGED AND FAITHFUL SERVANT 
 
 THOMAS BREWER. 
 
PREFACE, 
 
 WENT! years have elapsed 
 since the author of the 
 following pages, then a 
 clerk in the Town Clerk's 
 office, was induced, by the 
 interest felt in the mea- 
 sures taken at that time for establishing the 
 City of London School, to collect, for the 
 information of the members of the Corpora- 
 tion of London, some particulars of the per- 
 sonal history of John Carpenter, whose 
 benevolent bequest formed the basis on 
 which the institution was founded. 
 
 Brief and imperfect as was the account 
 then given, its production was attended with 
 many difficulties and much laborious re- 
 
vm 
 
 search, partly from the object of inquiry be- 
 ing separated from our own times by the 
 wide interval of four centuries, and partly 
 from the peculiar character of the materials 
 available for such a purpose. 
 
 This gratifying result, however, followed 
 the publication, that it served to commemo- 
 rate to a considerable extent the character 
 and actions of one who deserves to be had in 
 honourable and lasting remembrance, while 
 it also created and kept alive a desire to col- 
 lect, as subsequent opportunities might offer, 
 such additional information as might serve 
 to give a fuller view of his life and character, 
 and furnish some illustration of the times in 
 which he lived, and the associations by which 
 he was surrounded. 
 
 Under the influence of this feeling, the au- 
 thor, by continuing his researches and inves- 
 tigations, has been fortunate enough to add 
 very materially to the information previously 
 acquired, and to possess himself of many 
 
IX 
 
 facts which contribute to a more complete 
 development of Carpenter's history, and 
 greatly enhance its interest and importance. 
 
 Amongst the most valuable acquisitions 
 thus made may be mentioned a Will of John 
 Carpenter, and another of his wife Kathe- 
 rine ; both of them are now brought to light 
 for the first time, and contain many highly 
 interesting particulars not obtainable from 
 any other source. 
 
 With the advantage of so greatly increased 
 a store of information, it has been considered 
 advisable that the biography should be en- 
 tirely rewritten ; therefore, although the 
 facts set forth in the former account are of 
 course restated, the work now produced is 
 not merely a much enlarged but essentially 
 a new one. 
 
 The production of this work has been un- 
 dertaken in compliance with the directions 
 of the Court of Common Council, by whom 
 
the author was specially desired to prepare 
 it, and cause it to be printed; and he now 
 cheerfully submits the result of his labours 
 to their notice, in the hope that they may de- 
 rive gratification from the knowledge which 
 it imparts of the personal qualities and good 
 deeds of the individual, whose benefaction 
 has led to the establishment of one of the 
 most important and useful institutions under 
 their care and management. 
 
 The success which has followed the esta- 
 blishment of the City of London School is 
 probably unprecedented in the history of any 
 similar institution. The good which it has al- 
 ready been the means of effecting is beyond 
 calculation; and the principles on which it 
 has been conducted have met with such 
 cordial approval, that, by the generosity of 
 various benefactors, many gifts and endow- 
 ments have been bestowed upon it for the 
 advantage of its pupils, which tend both to 
 increase its usefulness and to elevate its rank 
 amongst public schools. 
 
XI 
 
 By desire of the Committee of the School^ 
 who are anxious that a grateful record of 
 such benefactions should be preserved^ a de- 
 tailed account of them is given in the Ap- 
 pendix, as a fit accompaniment to a narrative 
 of the origin of the school. 
 
 In presenting to public notice this bio- 
 graphy of one eminent citizen of London 
 who is distinguished as a friend of education, 
 advantage is taken of the opportunity to ad- 
 vert to the many other instances in which a 
 like regard for education has been manifest- 
 ed by individuals whose names are enrolled 
 amongst the citizens of this great metropolis. 
 The number of grammar schools, in various 
 parts of the country, which owe their founda- 
 tion and endowment to the piety and libe- 
 rality of citizens of London, many of whom 
 sustained the high offices of alderman, sheriff, 
 and lord mayor, far exceeds what might be 
 supposed, approaching as it does nearly to a 
 hundred. So striking a fact, which probably 
 has no parallel in any other class of men. 
 
Xll 
 
 redounds largely to the honour of the citi- 
 zens ; and, when viewed in connection with 
 the many other charities which had a similar 
 origin, seems to encourage a belief in the ex- 
 istence of some powerful influence peculiarly 
 favourable to the exercise of philanthropy 
 involved in the system of fraternity by which 
 citizenship was formerly characterized. But 
 however that may be, it is to be regretted 
 that due honour has not ere this been done 
 to the memory of such benefactors to their 
 race by some collective account of them, and 
 of their good deeds. It will be seen in the 
 course of the following pages that the sub- 
 ject has occupied a portion of the attention 
 of the writer, who has made some progress 
 in an undertaking of the kind, and enter- 
 tains hopes of being able to prosecute it still 
 further. 
 
 April, 1856. 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
 
 MEMOIR. 
 
 Introduction - page 1 
 
 Birth and parentage of Carpenter - 3 
 
 Early training; schools of his time; discouragement of English 
 
 teaching 5-9 
 
 His designation as '^ clerk " 10 
 
 His introduction to public life, and election as Town Clerk - 11 
 Frequently called " secretary " of the city - - - - 13 
 
 Proclamation upon judgment of the pillory bearing his name - 14 
 Correspondence with King Henry the Fifth during the war in 
 
 France 16 
 
 Compilation of " Liber Albus;" its contents, and object - 17-22 
 
 His numerous executorships 22 
 
 Acts done as an executor to Sir Richard Whitjugton - 25-30 
 
 Dance of Death at St. Paul's ; its frequency in other places, and 
 
 probable object 30-35 
 
 His recovery of a charity for poor prisoners - - - - 36 
 Receives from the city the lease of a house - - - - 38 
 
 Exemption from burthensome duties 39 
 
 Election as Member of Parliament for the city ; and nomination 
 
 of collectors of a parliamentary tax 40 
 
 Services rendered to the city of Norwich - - - - 42 
 Resignation as Town Clerk 43 
 
XIV 
 
 Second election as Member of Parliament^ and example of rela- 
 tive positions of representatives and constituents - - 44 
 
 Obtains from the crown a patent of exemption from all public 
 duties and offices 45 
 
 Continues to render occasional public services; St. Martin-le- 
 grand case 49 
 
 Connection with the hospital of St. Anthony, celebrated for its 
 school 52 
 
 Discovery of his Will; and particulars furnished by it of his 
 private life 55 
 
 His residence, general position in society, and possessions - 56-58 
 
 His connection with religious fraternities - - - - 58 
 
 His association with men of learning, <fcr. (Bishop Carpenter, 
 Cleve, Neel, Lichfeld, Pecok, and Byngham) ; and his co- 
 operation with them in promoting knowledge - - 60-68 
 
 Men of civic eminence and benevolence who were his friends 
 (Whityngton, Sevenoke, Chicheley, Rainwell, Welles, Estfeld, 
 Browne, Malpas, and Large) 68-72 
 
 Carpenter's gift for education; earliest particulars of it pos- 
 sessed by the city 72 
 
 Charity Commissioners' report. Alterations effected in 1827 - 78 
 
 Act of Parliament in 1834 ; and consequent establishment of the 
 City of London School 82 
 
 Acknowledgement of Mr. Hale's services - - - - 89 
 
 Preamble of Carpenter's Will; bequests to his wife, £&c,, to his 
 relatives, and to various religious and charitable foundations ; 
 disposal of his books; legacies to servants and others - 91-101 
 
 His death and burial 101 
 
 Cardinal Beaufort's benefaction to London Bridge, and Carpen- 
 ter's trusteeship in respect of it 102-106 
 
 Carpenter's widow - - - - - - - - 106 
 
XV 
 
 Review of the times in which Carpenter lived, and of events of 
 leading importance, political, social, and religious; signs of 
 general mental progress; rise of English literature - 106-114 
 
 Summary view of the career and character of Carpenter; his 
 statue, and the inscription thereon . . - - 114-118 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 No. I. List of Books belonging to Carpenter, which are men- 
 tioned in his Will, with bibliographical notices, d:c. - 121 
 
 No. II. Will (No. 2) of John Carpenter (translation) - - 131 
 
 No. III. Will (No. 1) of his wife Katherine Carpenter - - 145 
 
 No. IV. Will (No. 2) of ditto (translation) - - - - 151 
 
 No. V. Account of Benefactions and Endowments bestowed on 
 
 the City of London School since its establishment - 166 
 
 No. VI. Particulars of the several Scholarships and Exhibitions 
 
 now attached to the school 175 
 
MEMOIR. 
 
 Men who have been distinguislied from tlie mass 
 of mankind by the possession of rare talents_, the exer- 
 cise of noble virtues^ or the accomplishment of great 
 deeds — especially if their career has had any appreci- 
 able influence upon the welfare of their fellow men — 
 have in all ages been honoured by some attempt to 
 preserve their memories from utter oblivion^ to point 
 out to their own or succeeding ages their peculiar 
 merits^ and to spread the knowledge of the benefits 
 which they have been the means of conferring. 
 
 It seems to be a principle implanted by nature in 
 man^ to admire and to reverence any human being 
 who earns an unquestionable title to be regarded as 
 a benefactor to his race ; and the feeling is one that 
 is not only amiable as an expression of gratitude,, but 
 has a beneficial tendency in stimulating the mind to 
 follow good examples. 
 
 Considerations such as these would be reasons suf- 
 ficient for inviting attention to a notice of almost any 
 one of the long list of distinguished worthies which 
 
the history of our native land,, or the more limited 
 annals of this proud metropolis, could furnish for our 
 contemplation. But the object of the following pages 
 will be to present a memoir of the life and times of 
 an individual whose history has hitherto been but 
 very imperfectly known^ though one act of his bene- 
 volence has preserved his name from oblivion for up- 
 wards of four centuries^ and ensured a lasting remem- 
 brance and veneration^ as the Founder of that great 
 and flourishing educational establishment The City 
 OF London School. 
 
 John Carpenter^ who is the person referred to^ 
 lived in an age which some are accustomed to regard 
 as little better than those earlier times which are ge- 
 nerally designated as the dark ages ; though it would 
 be more accurate to describe his time as the later por- 
 tion of the mediaeval age^ the vigil^ if we may so call 
 it^ of that brighter era which brought in the revival of 
 learning, the reformation of religion, the cultivation 
 of art and science^ the spirit of enterprise which led to 
 important geographical discoveries^ and a long train 
 of other glorious advantages which have been pro- 
 gressively developing themselves ever since. 
 
 The materials for his biography are unfortunately 
 too scanty to allow us to speak with certainty upon 
 every point in his history ; but stilly by persevering 
 inquiry and patient investigation, the writer has been 
 able to gather sufficient particulars to furnish (he 
 
hopes) a tolerably correct idea of tlie leading incidents 
 of his life^ and the chief features of his character. 
 
 The exact year when Carpenter was born has not 
 been discovered. Neither parochial registers^ nor the 
 more modern system of recording births_, had come 
 into vogue so early^-; nor is there any family pedigree 
 or monumental inscription extant to assist us in the 
 inquiry. From some facts_, however^ which are well 
 ascertained,, it may be inferred that he was born some- 
 where about the close of the long reign of Edward 
 the Thirds or the beginning of the disastrous career 
 of his ill-fated successor Richard the Second^ whose 
 accession to the throne took place in the year 1377. 
 
 His father's name was Richard Carpenter^ and his 
 mother's Christina b. The father^ there seems reason 
 to believe^ was a citizen of London^ engaged^ like most 
 citizens of his time^ in some trade. The rolls of Par- 
 liament of the 5th Rich. 11.^ 1381 c^ contain a pardon, 
 in which several persons of the name of Carpenter 
 are mentioned as being excepted from its benefits, and 
 amongst them one who is described as Richard Car- 
 penter of Billiter lane, London. The city records also 
 contain an entry of a recognizance ^ entered into in 
 1410 before the mayor and aldermen, by two citizens, 
 respecting the guardianship of an orphan, one of the 
 
 a Parish registers were first established in England in 1535. 
 b Will of Katharine Carpenter : Appendix Ko. IV. 
 c Rot. Pari, vol. iii. p. 112. A Liher I, fo. 97 b, 
 
 B 2 
 
parties to whicli is John Norman^ goldsmith^ and tlie 
 other Eichard Carpenter,, chaundeler. These two en- 
 tries may possibly refer to one and the same person^ 
 and that person be the father of our John Carpenter, 
 but of this there is no positive evidence ; and yet it 
 would appear rather a singular coincidence if there 
 were no connection. 
 
 The parents of John Carpenter had other children 
 besides him, both sons and daughters. One of them 
 at least was senior to him ; he bore the same name of 
 John (for it was then not uncommon for two brothers 
 to be named alike), and our John (if so we may call 
 him) was distinguished by being described as John 
 Carpenter ywwzor, or the younger ^. Stow in more than 
 one place calls him Jenken Carpenter f which the 
 readers of Chaucer will know is the diminutive of 
 John g, as Simkin is of Simon h. 
 
 The name of his other brother was Robert ; and it 
 seems probable that he was a brewer, for a Robert 
 Carpenter was, in 1422, deputed by the Company of 
 Brewers, with another member of the same craft, to 
 go with the mayor to Grravesend, to put in force an 
 ordinance of Parliament for the removal of weirs in 
 the Thames i. The father and mother were both buried 
 in the church of St. Martin Outwich, in Bishops- 
 
 e Will of Carpenter, &c. ^ Surv. of London, pp. 244, 329. 
 
 g In the Wife of Bath's Prologue " our prentis Jankin" is spoken of. 
 li The Reve's Tale. i Herbert's Livery Companies, vol. i. p. 57. 
 
gate street_, and so also were some other members 
 of the family k. 
 
 The subject of the present biography appears to 
 have been early destined for other pursuits in life than 
 those of trade_, and to have accordingly received what 
 may be termed a learned education. From the nature 
 of his benefaction we cannot but regard him as a 
 person endued with an enlightened appreciation of 
 the advantages of sound instruction^ and therefore it 
 will be interesting briefly to notice what was probably 
 his own early training. 
 
 It is well known that long before his time a public 
 school was attached to every cathedral,, and almost to 
 every monastery!; but besides these seminaries of 
 learnings which were more or less designed to train 
 persons for the service of the churchy there were esta- 
 blished in all the chief cities and towns of England 
 considerable schools in which the youth were in- 
 structedj not only in readings writings and grammar^ 
 but also in several other branches of literature^ as rhe- 
 toric^ logic^ and theology i». We are told by William 
 Fitzstephen^ who flourished in the reign of Henry 
 the Second, and has left an exceedingly interesting 
 account of the city in his time, that there were three 
 of these eminent schools in London firmly established, 
 
 k Wills of Carpenter and his wife : Appendix, II. and IV. 
 
 1 Turner's History of England in the Middle Ages, vol. iv. p. 156. 
 
 m Carlisle's Endowed Qrammar Schools, preface^ p. xix. 
 
besides others that were occasionally opened by such 
 masters as had obtained a high reputation for their 
 learning. 
 
 " On festival days/^ he observes n_, ^^ the masters 
 '' assemble their pupils at those churches where the 
 " feast of the patron saint is solemnized, and there 
 ^' the scholars dispute, some in the demonstrative 
 " way, and others logically ; some again recite enthy- 
 " memes, while others use the more perfect syllogism. 
 '' Some, to show their abilities, engage in such dis- 
 " putation as is practised among persons contending 
 " for victory alone; others dispute upon a truth, which 
 " is the grace of perfection. The sophisters, who argue 
 " upon feigned topics, are deemed clever according to 
 " their fluency of speech and command of language. 
 " Others endeavour to impose by false conclusions. 
 " Sometimes certain orators in their rhetorical ha- 
 ^^ rangues employ all the powers of persuasion, taking 
 ^' care to observe the precepts of the art, and to omit 
 " nothing apposite to the subject. The boys of the 
 " diflferent schools vrrangle with each other in verse, 
 
 n Fitzstephen's Description of London^ Stow's Swi'vey, by Thorns, 
 p. 210. 
 
 o Fescennina carmina (derived from Fescennia, a town of Etruria,) 
 were rude jesting dialogues in extempore verse, full of good-tempered 
 raillery and coarse humour. From these verses others took their 
 name, which were more licentious and scurrilous, and gave rise to 
 an epithet for any coarse rude jests. — Notes on Horace, by the Rev. 
 A. J. Maclean, ep. ii. 1, 145 : " Fescennina per Imnc inventa licentia 
 morem," <kc. 
 
^^ and contend about the principles of grammar^ or 
 '■'' tlie rules of tlie perfect and future tenses. There 
 '^ are some who^ in epigrams^ rhymes^ and verses^ use 
 " that trivial raillery so much practised amongst the 
 " ancients,, freely attacking their companions with 
 "^ Fescennine licence o^ but suppressing the names, 
 ^' discharging their scoffs and sarcasms against them, 
 ^' touching with Socratic wit the failings of their 
 " schoolfellows, or perhaps of greater personages, or 
 '' biting them more keenly with a Theonine toothP. 
 ^' The audience, 
 
 '' Well disposed to laugh, 
 " With curling nose double the quivering peals q." 
 
 As the practice thus vividly described by Fitzste- 
 phen in the twelfth century continued to some extent 
 down to the time when Stow wrote his Survey of 
 London four centuries later ^^ there can be little doubt 
 that it affords a correct insight into the nature of the 
 school training which Carpenter was subjected to. 
 
 But there is another highly important feature in 
 the education of his time, which should not go un- 
 
 P This proverbial expression was derived from Theon, a poor freed- 
 man of Rome, in Horace's time ; a man of malignant wit, who, pro- 
 voking his master, was turned out of his house, with the present of a 
 small coin, and told to go and buy a rope to hang himself. — Maclean's 
 Notes on Horace, ep. i. 18, 82 : '' Qui dente Theonino chm. circum- 
 roditur," <tc. 
 
 q The original of this last line is from one of the Satires of Persius : 
 " Ingeminant tremulos naso crispante cachinnos," — Sat. iii. v. 87. 
 
 r Stow's Survey, 1603, p. 74. 
 
8 
 
 noticed. In the time of Edward the Third, the chil- 
 dren in grammar schools were not taught English at 
 all. It was the policy of the first Norman kings, long 
 continued by their successors, to get rid of the old 
 English or Saxon language altogether, and to make 
 the people familiar with the Norman-Erench, the lan- 
 guage of the conquerors. The statutes of the realm 
 were written in Erench ; so were the decisions of the 
 judges, and the commentaries on the laws in generals. 
 In the beginning of the reign of Edward the Third 
 Holcot complains that children learned first the 
 Erench, and from that the Latin language ; and that 
 there was no regular instruction of youth in English. 
 So Higden, who died in 1362, in his Polychronicon, 
 states that " children in schools, against the usage and 
 manner of aU other nations, be compelled for to leave 
 their own language, and for to construe their lessons 
 and their things in Erench ; and so they have since 
 the Normans came first into England. Also gentle- 
 men^s children be taught for to speak Erench from 
 the time that they be rocked in their cradle." John 
 de Trevisa, a writer of a later date, and the translator 
 of Higden, says that John Cornewaile, a master of 
 grammar, was the first to change the teaching in 
 grammar schools by the substitution of English for 
 
 s Knight's Life of Caxton, p. 11. 
 
 t Hallam's Literature of Europe in the Middle Ages, vol. i. p. 64, 
 
 u Stat. 36 Edw. III., c. 15, 
 
9 ' 
 
 French. Mr. Hallam remarks that " the English was 
 '' seldom written^ and hardly employed in prose till 
 ^^ after the middle of the fourteenth century ;^^ the 
 earliest English book being Sir John Maundeville^s 
 Travels, written in 1356*. In 1362, an Act of Par- 
 liament passed, that all causes in the courts of law 
 should in future be pleaded, discussed, and adjudged 
 in English instead of Frenchu; and it appears that 
 English soon superseded its competitor so completely 
 that, by 1385, in all the grammar schools of England 
 the teaching of French was left oflP, and English sub- 
 stituted in its stead ^. 
 
 Being designed for the profession of the law, it was 
 a matter of necessity with Carpenter that he should 
 be conversant not only with English and Latin, but 
 with French also; and it is probable that his legal 
 studies were pursued at one of the Inns of Court, 
 which were then places of great resort for those who 
 desired to obtain a competent acquaintance with the 
 laws y. 
 
 Either from his having adopted the profession of 
 the law, which implied a certain amount of learning, 
 or for the reasons applicable in other cases, where the 
 title is employed to denote the possession of a superior 
 degree of knowledge in general, we find him after- 
 
 X Turner's History of England, vol, v. pp. 441, 449 note 27 ; and 
 Pictorial History of England, vol. ii. p. 215. 
 
 y Stow's Survey, p. !r8. 
 
 V 
 
10 
 
 wards usually styled clericus (clerk) ^ a term whichj 
 besides being used to designate ecclesiastical persons,, 
 was formerly employed also to signify in a general 
 sense a learned man^ or man of letters z. Tbus Chau- 
 cer^ in tbe prologue to his Clerk^s Tale^ calls Petrarcb 
 '^ a worthy clerk.'' Bertbelet, the printer of the Con- 
 fessio Amantis, calls the author " that excellent clerk, 
 '^ the moral John Gower ^." And Caxton^ in speaking 
 of an edition of the ^neid which he had published^ 
 says it was " made in Latin by that noble poet and 
 V " great clerk Virgil b/^ 
 
 That Carpenter was a man of attainments superior 
 to many of his contemporaries^ of intellectual capa- 
 city^ and of high moral worthy will be more and more 
 evident as our narrative progresses. We shall find 
 him amidst the busy scenes of active life still exhi- 
 biting a studious character^ displaying a fondness for 
 literature^ cultivating association with learned men^ 
 and, by that endowment which has been the chief 
 means of preserving his name from being entirely for- 
 gotten, providing for the continuous encouragement 
 and spread of education. He seems therefore justly 
 entitled to the distinction which has been alluded to, 
 in the most honourable sense in which it was accus- 
 tomed to be employed. 
 
 z Encydopcedia Britannica, seventh edit.j vol. vi. p. 7i. 
 a Craik's Literature and Learning in England, vol. ii. p. 
 t> Knight's Life of Caxton, p. 186. 
 
11 
 
 He seems to have first entered on public life in 
 some capacity connected with the department of the 
 Town Clerk of London. That officer has always been 
 one of the highest functionaries attached to the corpo- 
 ration j but his duties in former times were far more 
 decidedly of a legal character than they are now. 
 Next to the Recorder he was the chief officer in the 
 local courts of law_, called the Hustings^ and the 
 Mayor's Court, both of them tribunals of very exten- 
 sive juiisdiction and practice in civil matters. All the 
 process^ pleadings, and records were under his super- 
 intendence and that of his subordinate officers. All 
 suits were conducted by a limited number (generally 
 not more than four) of sworn officers, latterly called 
 the attorneys of the court, but in former times clerks 
 of the outer court, or clerks to the Town Clerk. Some 
 such appointment as this appears to have been held 
 by Carpenter, who, in com^se of time, was elected by 
 the mayor, aldermen, and commons to the superior 
 office of Common Clerk or Town Clerk. His election 
 took place at a common council held on the 20th of 
 April, 1417, in the fifth year of King Henry the Fifth; 
 and it is marked by circumstances which reflect the 
 highest honour upon him for his good feeling. It 
 appears that the former occupant of the office, under 
 whom Carpenter had served, was obliged to retire 
 through inability to continue the performance of his 
 duties ; but Carpenter generously proposed to sacrifice 
 
12 
 
 part of tlie emolument of the office for the benefit 
 of his predecessor during his life,, and solicited from 
 the common council the grant to the same individual 
 of a free residence in the house which he was then 
 occupying at the Guildhall. 
 
 '' The same day/^ says the entry in the records of 
 the city ^, " it was granted by the said mayor^ alder- 
 " men^ and common council^ at the cordial and dili- 
 '^ gent instance of John Carpenter^ that John Mar- 
 " chaunt^ for the good and laudable service which 
 ^' hitherto and of long time in the office of common 
 ^^ clerk of the said city he hath faithfully exercised 
 " and occupied^ shall have and hold^ for the term of 
 " his life^ to him and his assigns^ one mansion which 
 ^' he inhabitethj situate above the middle gate of en- 
 ^^ trance to the Guildhall of the said city^ between 
 " the tenement of Thomas Wotton on the east part^ 
 ^' and the cemetery of the church of St. Lawrence on 
 ^' the west part^ without anything rendering for the 
 ^^ same. And also at the instance and by the consent 
 '^ of the said John Carpenter it was then and there 
 ^^ granted by the said mayor^ aldermen^ and common 
 " council^ that the said John Marchaunt shall have 
 ^^ and receive annually during his life^ at the four 
 ^^ principal terms in the year and usual in the City of 
 " London^ of the commonalty of the aforesaid city^ by 
 
 c Wber I, fo. 194 b. 
 
13 
 
 " the hands of the chamberlain for the time being, 
 " ten pounds sterling pertaining to the office and the 
 " ancient fee of the common clerk of the said city; 
 " and that John Carpenter_, his clerk, who then and 
 " there into the same office was elected and admitted, 
 ^^ shall have and receive annually, of the commonalty 
 '^ aforesaid, the rewards and robes, and the other fees, 
 ^^ commodities, and profits and emoluments whatso- 
 " ever to the office aforesaid belonging and pertain- 
 ^' ing, together with the fee of ten pounds aforesaid, 
 " which shall fall after the death of the said John 
 " Marchaunt, ^c. And it was granted by the same 
 ^^ John Carpenter, then and there, in full council 
 ^^ aforesaid, that he, during the life of the said John 
 " Marchaunt, would not demand, or procure to be 
 '' demanded, any of the fee of ten pounds aforesaid 
 ^' to the said office pertaining/^ — -, ^ 
 
 During the time Carpenter held the office of town 
 clerk, or common clerk, he was also frequently called 
 the secretary of the cityd. It is rather remarkable ^ 
 
 that this designation, though not inappropriate at any 
 other period — for a large portion of the town clerk^s 
 duties, apart from those which have been already al- 
 luded to, are strictly analogous to those of a secre- 
 tary — has not been met with in the records of the city 
 as being applied to any town clerk but Carpenter. 
 
 d Liber K, fo. 165; 189 ; and Journal No. 3, fo. 64 b, QB. 
 
14 
 
 The city records in the year following his accession 
 to office contain a somewhat curious public document^ 
 which is subscribed with his name; and, being one 
 of the very few entries of that period which are in 
 English_, is worthy of introduction here_, not only as 
 a specimen of composition which will admit of fa- 
 vourable comparison with other examples of English 
 writing of the same date, but also because it furnishes 
 a glimpse of the habits and character of the common 
 people of that age. It is entitled a ^^ Proclamation 
 '' upon judgment of the Pillory/' and was no doubt 
 read or exhibited to the populace assembled to witness 
 the punishment of the offender. It is in these words d. 
 
 " For as moche as Thomas of Forde of Caunter- 
 '' bury, sawyer, otherwyse called Thomas of Forde, 
 '' sothseyer, that here stant, be a solempne enquest, 
 " afore the mair and aldermen taken, was endited, and 
 " aftur be another enquest atteint and convict, of hi- 
 ^^ dous trespasses and disseites, that is to seye, that 
 '^ he now late cam to oon Jonet, that was y^ wyfe of 
 ^^ Javyn Cook of Estchepe, seing that he was a soth- 
 ^^ seyer, and trewely wolde telle her where CC^i and 
 " more was become, with a litel cofre closed, be her 
 ^^ housbond in his life was beried in the ground, if it 
 ^' so were that she wold paye as well for the sotell in- 
 '^ strumentes that longen to his craft, as for his mete 
 
 <1 Liber I, fo. 212. 
 
15 
 
 ^^ and drinke that lie spended al ye mene while that 
 ^^ he were in this toun^ and with that also that she 
 '' wolde ensure him to be wedded to him^ which Jonet_, 
 " nat knowyng his falsnesse and disceit^ paied at his 
 ^^ byddyngj for his instrumentes and mete and drinke_, 
 ^' xl5. and more onward, and, innocently trustyng 
 " to hes wordes and behest, behot [promised] hym 
 ^' for to do all that he desired, with that condicon 
 ^' that he wolde performe and do as he hadde hight 
 ^' and promised ; the whiche Thomas, contynuyng his 
 " falsnesse and disceit aboveseyd, wityng [knowing] 
 " wel that he might ne cowde nat perfourme that he 
 '' had behight [promised] , delaied her forth fro day 
 ^' to day, til at the laste he knouliched his falsnesse, 
 " and proferred hem amendes : and in the same wyse 
 " he begiled and disceyved an other woman, that 
 ^' hight [is called] Naverme Mauncell, behetyng [pro- 
 '^ mising] her for to gete a geyne half a gowne of 
 '' cloth of gold which was stolen out of here kepyng, 
 ^^ and made here to spende upon hym, upon trust 
 ^^ therof, xviiJ5. vj^. and more. For the which fals- 
 '^ nesse and disceytes, the mair and aldermen, willyng 
 ^^ that suche shul be war be hym in tyme comyng, 
 ^' hav awarded, after y^ custume of this cite, that he, 
 ^' as a fals lyere and disceyver of y® comune peple, 
 " shal stonde here upon ye pillorye thre market dayes, 
 " eche day an hour, with a weston aboute *hys necke, 
 ^^ in tokene of a lyere. ^^ Carpenter.^' 
 
 - -k 
 
16 
 
 About three montlis from the date of Carpenter's 
 election to office,, Henry the Fifth — who^ after the vic- 
 tory gained at Agincourt in 141 5^ returned to Eng- 
 land^ where he was received with the highest pos- 
 sible demonstration of enthusiasm^ and remained two 
 years — commenced his second invasion of France^ 
 setting sail on the 23d of July, 1417, and landing his 
 forces on the 1st of August, at Beville. 
 
 During this campaign Hemy sent repeated letters, 
 setting forth his proceedings and successes, to the 
 mayor and aldermen of London, many of the originals 
 of which are still in existence, and also some of the 
 answers to them, which no doubt proceeded from the 
 pen of Carpenter as the city's secretary. Some of 
 these documents are exceedingly interesting ; and a 
 biographer of Henry the Fifth (the late Rev. J. Endell 
 Tyler), who has introduced a few of them into his 
 work, laments that such indisputable records are not 
 aU published, or rendered accessible to every one who 
 would wish to consult them®. Amongst them is one 
 from the mayor and aldermen in reply to an appeal 
 from the king, dated from his camp before Kouen, en- 
 treating them in all haste to equip and send to him as 
 many small vessels as they could, with victuals, and 
 especially with drink, for the refreshing of him and 
 his army. The king's letter was received on the 19th 
 
 e Tyler's Memoirs of the Life and Character of Henry the Fifth, 
 1838, vol. ii. p. 214. 
 
'7 
 
 August^ 141 8j and the city^s answer,, dated Stli Sep- 
 tember^ was sent by two of their officers^ with thirty 
 butts of sweet wine^ that is to say^ ten of Tyre^ ten 
 of Eomeney, ten of jNIahnesey ; and a thousand pipes 
 of ale^ with two thousand five hundred cups for the 
 host to drink out of; all which they besought the king, 
 in terms of great flattery and profound loyalty_, ^' be- 
 ^ nignly to receive and accept^ not having regard to 
 ^ the small value of the gift itself^ which is simple, 
 ^ but to the good wiU and high desire that your poor 
 ' givers thereof have to the good speed, worship, 
 ^ and welfare of your most sovereign and excellent 
 ' person f. " 
 
 There can scarcely be a doubt that Carpenter, whose ~^/f\ 
 services in the city are spoken of in a document which 
 will be hereafter quoted as dating " from the time of 
 his youth," had, previously to his election as Town 
 Clerk, accustomed himself to habits of investigation 
 into the constitution and government of the city, and 
 acquired a familiarity with the laws and customs 
 which regulated the administration of its affairs. It 
 is exceedingly probable that his reputation in this 
 respect may have had much to do with his being 
 selected to fill the important office just mentioned. 
 This wiU sufficiently explain, what it would other- 
 wise be difficult to account for, that within two or 
 
 f Ihid., pp. 225-227. 
 C 
 
18 
 
 three years after his election he was able, notwith- 
 standing his many important avocations_, to write a 
 large volume on matters relating to the city, which 
 displays much research and knowledge of the subjects 
 on which it treats, and has always been regarded as 
 a book of great value and authority. It is still pre- 
 served in the archives of the corporation, together 
 with a transcript or duplicate copy of it made by 
 Robert Smith, Comptroller of the Chamber in the 
 reign of Queen Elizabeth g. The volume, which is in 
 Latin, purports to be a collection of the laws, customs, 
 privileges, and usages of the city, principally extracted 
 from the rolls, charters, and documents of authority 
 which were then in possession of the corporation. The 
 contents of the several treatises and collections, re- 
 garding the city^s rights, are, at the end of the com- 
 pilation, digested by way of calendar, and an index is 
 given to the pages of the volumes from which these 
 contents are extracted. 
 
 The volume was at first called Liber Albus (or the 
 White Book), but that name is now generally applied 
 to the transcript, and the original designated as Liber 
 Niger (or the Black Book) . This change in the name 
 
 g For making the copy of the book abovementioned Smith was 
 rewarded by the Court of Aldermen, on the 25th October, 1592, with 
 the sum of thirty pounds. — Repertory No. 20, fo. 370 b. He was the 
 founder of a grammar school at his native place, Market Harborough, 
 in Leicestershire, of which he appointed the lord mayor and alder- 
 men patrons. 
 
19 
 
 was most likely not adopted until after-tlie copy of the 
 book had been made ; and it is not improbable tbat 
 botb tbe change and the copy owed their origin to the 
 following lineSj written by some person^ evidently prior 
 to the reign of Queen Elizabeth_, on the first leaf : 
 
 " Qui Liber Albus erat^ nunc est contrarius albo, 
 
 Factus et est unctis poUicibusque niger ; 
 Dum tamen est extans, istum describite librum, 
 
 Ne semel amisso postea nuUus erit : 
 Quod si nullus erit (nonnuUa est nostraque culpa), 
 
 Hei ! pretii sumnii perdita gemma, Vale^ !" 
 
 The motives which led to the compilation being made, 
 and the end that it was designed to answer,, are ex- 
 plained with much force and clearness in a short pre- 
 face or introduction, a translation of which is here 
 introduced, as tending to throw some light upon the 
 character and pursuits of its author, whose unosten- 
 tatious disposition would not allow him to record to 
 whom the merit of the compilation was due, in any 
 other way than by modestly inscribing his name 
 " Carpenter,^^ on the inner side of the first leaf, in 
 much the same way that persons are now in the habit 
 
 li These lines have been rendered into English verse by the com- 
 piler's friend Mr. Josiah Temple, of Guildhall, as follows : 
 This book, which once was white, has black become, 
 Mark'd through and through by many a greasy thumb ; 
 Copy its leaves while yet you have the power, 
 Which may be lost if left beyond this hour : 
 For if through fault of ours the book be lost. 
 Farewell ! a gem is gone of greatest cost ! 
 
 c 2 
 
20 
 
 of inscribing their name in books^ to denote to whom 
 they belong : — 
 
 ^' Because the fallibility of human memory_, and the 
 '^ shortness of life_, do not allow us to attain a proper 
 ^^ knowledge of everything worthy of remembrance^ 
 ^^ even where we possess the written evidence of facts^ 
 ^^ especially if this appear without order or regula- 
 '' rity^ yet is this still more the case with regard to 
 " those things whereof no written account exists ; and 
 '^ when^ as not unfrequently it happens^ all the aged^ 
 ^^ the more skilful and discreet rulers of the Royal 
 " City of London are carried off by pestilence^ almost 
 " we may say at once_, the younger persons who suc- 
 " ceed them in the government of the city are often- 
 " times,, in various instances^ surrounded with diffi- 
 ^' culties^ from the very Avant of such a writing : and 
 " thus perplexity and controversy are many times 
 ^^ caused amongst them in rendering their judgments. 
 ^^ It has been therefore long deemed necessary^ not 
 ^^ by the governors of the city only^ but by those also 
 ^^ who are subject to their rule^ that some volume^ 
 
 i Carpenter is not the only oflicer of the city who has left such a 
 memorial of his industry and research. There are in the archives of 
 the corporation two other manuscript volumes of great value and an- 
 tiquity, one of which^ called " Liber Horn/' was compiled by Andrew 
 Horn, Chamberlain of London, in the year 1311, in the reign of Edward 
 the Second, and purports to contain " all the statutes, ordinances, 
 charters, liberties, and customs of the city, and orders of the Justices 
 Itinerant at the Tower of London and at their iters, together with the 
 charter of the Liberties of England, and the statutes made by Henry 
 
21 
 
 ^' wMch^ from its containing tlie regulations of tlie 
 " city,, might be designated a Repertory^ should be 
 '^ compiled from the remarkable notices and memo- 
 ^^ randa scattered without order or distinction through 
 '^ the several books^ rolls^ and charters of the said 
 ^^ city ; and because such a design — for what cause 
 " it is not known^ without it be from the excessive 
 " labour it must demand^ — has not been hitherto car- 
 " ried into effect^ a volume of such a description is 
 ^^ now compiled in the mayoralty of the illustrious 
 " Eichard Whityngton^ mayor of the said city^ that 
 " is to say^ in the month of November^ in the year of 
 ^^ our Lord's incarnation One thousand four hundred 
 ^^ and nineteen^ and in the seventh year of the reign 
 '^ of King Henry the Fifth after the conquest i; con- 
 ^^ taining in itself not only those laudable obser- 
 ^^ vances which^ albeit they are not written^ have yet 
 " been accustomed and approved in the said city, 
 '^ that they may not hereafter be destroyed and lost 
 ^' in oblivion, as likewise such things, worthy of note 
 ^^ and remembrance, as are written, but scattered 
 
 the Tliird and Edward the First." This is an exceedingly curious 
 volume; and its value as a register of some of the early statutes 
 (authentic copies of which are in many cases very scarce) is particu- 
 larly noticed in the edition of the Statutes of the Realm printed under 
 the authority of the Commissioners for Public Records (folio, 1810, 
 vol. i., Introduction, pp. xxxviii, xxxix.). Horn was also the compiler 
 of the well-known treatise on the ancient common law of the realm, 
 entitled The Mirror of Justices (Crabb's History of English Law, p. 214). 
 The other manuscript volume above alluded to is styled '' Liber Dun- 
 
22 
 
 " about;, and without order, in tlie manner before de- 
 " scribed; that, by their being known, as well the rulers 
 " of the city as the ruled may know with greater se- 
 " curity what henceforth should be done in rare and 
 " unusual cases /^ 
 
 It is no slight testimony to the character and dis- 
 position of Carpenter to find that his services were 
 frequently besought in the capacity of an executor to 
 the wills of persons who left behind them property 
 which they desired to have applied to beneficent pur- 
 poses, and that he evinced a ready willingness to lend 
 himself to the accomplishment of their views. It 
 shows on their part the great trust and confidence 
 which they had in him, and the reliance they placed 
 on his discretion, as well as his fidelity ; while on his 
 part it exhibits a readiness to serve his friends, and to 
 be instrumental in promoting works of piety and cha- 
 rity, which indicates a mind of decidedly social ten- 
 dencies and benevolent susceptibilities. 
 
 The writer has been able to trace four instances in 
 
 which he undertook duties of this kind, and no doubt 
 
 V^ there were many others which have escaped discovery. 
 
 The first of these is in the case of John Marchaunt, 
 
 i his predecessor as Town Clerk, whose death happened 
 
 " thorn/' and was written by "William Dunthom, Town Clerk, between 
 the years 1461 and 1490. In its contents it is similar to Liber Albus. 
 The city rewarded Dunthom, for his labour in making it, with the 
 considerable sum of 115Z. 3s. dd. {Journal No. 8, fo. 91.) 
 
23 
 
 in 1421^;, about four years after his retirement from 
 office. The next instance is an appointment_, in the 
 same year^ as executor of two wills of William Est_, a 
 citizen of London ^^ who left a reversionary bequest of 
 his property for pious uses^ which are thus enume- 
 rated ; namely^ in releasing poor prisoners confined 
 for debt; in marrying poor girls of good fame and 
 honest conversation^ not having any marriage portion 
 of themselves ; in mending the ways about the city 
 of London ; and in other works of charity as might 
 best seem to please God^ and save the testator's soul_, 
 and the souls of his father and mother,, and all the 
 faithful deceased. 
 
 The third and most important instance is that of 
 the celebrated Sir Eichard Whityngton^ the far-famed 
 hero of the wellknown civic romance^ whose honours 
 were not confined to beings as Bow bells had pre- 
 dicted^ ^' thrice lord mayor of London^" for he held 
 that high ofiS.ce four times ^, and is otherwise distin- 
 guished in civic history. 
 
 Whityngton^s will is dated the 5th of September^ 
 1421^ and was proved and enrolled in the court of 
 Hustings in London^ in 1423 ^. By it he left all his 
 lands and tenements in London^ which were very 
 
 k Eolls of Deeds and Wills, No. 150, memb. 9. 
 1 Ihid., memb. 4 dors., and memb. 7. 
 m In 1397 (part of the year), 1398, 1407, and 1420. 
 n Rolls of Deeds and Wills, No. 151, memb. 9 dors. 
 
24 
 
 considerable^ to his executors^ with directions^ after 
 attending to certain specific objects,, to apply the re- 
 sidue of his property in works of charity for his soul, 
 as they would wish him to do for their souls in a si- 
 milar case. The other executors besides Carpenter 
 were John Coventre, alderman, John White, clerk, 
 and William Grove. Coven tre was an ancestor of the 
 present Earl of Coventry o; he was sheriff of the city 
 in 1417, and lord mayor in 1425. lie died on Easter 
 Monday, loth April, 1429 P, and was buried in the 
 church of St. Mary-le-Bow, Cheapside, where a mo- 
 nument was erected to his memory ^i. White died in 
 or about the month of January, 1424 r. 
 
 The fourth instance of Carpenter's executorship 
 which has been discovered is in the case of a will of 
 a person named Hugh Kynder, citizen and Tailor, at 
 a much later period, the will being proved by him in 
 1441s. 
 
 The large discretionary powers which testators in 
 those times were accustomed to vest in their execu- 
 tors, of which the above-quoted wills of William Est 
 and Sir Richard Whityngton are instances, must have 
 frequently been productive of a considerable amount 
 of labour and responsibility ; we may reasonably sup- 
 
 o Collins's Peerage, vol. iv. p. 157. P Liber K, fo. 71. 
 q Stow's Survey, 1603, p. 259. 
 
 r Rolls of Deeds and Wills, No, 152, memb. 13, and No. 153, memb. 
 ), compared. s lUd., No, 170^ memb. 1 dors. 
 
25 
 
 pose that faithfully to carry into elBPect such a will as 
 that of Whityngton would claim from a conscientious 
 man a large portion of his attention, and the numerous 
 notices which are to be found of charitable and public 
 acts done in Whityngton^ s name,, though performed 
 by his executors, fully bear out the supposition. 
 
 In fulfilment of the trust reposed in them, Carpen- 
 ter and his colleagues, after procuring the necessary 
 licences from the king and the archbishop of Canter- 
 bury, completed the foundation, which Whityngton 
 had begun in his lifetime, of a college in the church 
 of St. Michael Koyal, for five chaplains, one of whom 
 was to be the master ; and an alms-house adjoining to 
 the church for thirteen poor men, of whom one was to 
 be called tutor. On these establishments they settled 
 an ample endowment, and, after making ordinances 
 and statutes for their regulation, they twice procured 
 a confirmation from the king and the parliament *. 
 
 Malcolm, quoting Strype, says «, '^ There are extant 
 ^^ in the custody of the Mercers the original ordi- 
 '^ nances of Richard Whittington^s charity, made by 
 ^^ his executors Coventry, Carpenter, and Grove, faMy 
 ^^ written ; where, on the first page, is curiously illu- 
 ^^ mined the said Whittington lying on his death 
 
 t These charters and ordinances, dated in the 3d, 5th, and 10th of 
 Henry VI., are printed in the Monasticon Anglicamim, vol. iii. part 2, 
 pp. 177, 178, 189, and Addit. 99. See also Eot. Pari vol. iv. p. 392. 
 
 u Malcolm's Londmium JRedivivum, vol. iv. p. 515. 
 
26 
 
 " bed_, a very lean^ consumed^ meagre body_, and his 
 " three executors and a priest^ and divers others 
 ^^ standing by his bed side/^ Malcolm adds_, " the 
 " other figures mentioned by Strype are a physician 
 " holding an urinal,, and a groupe of thirteen figures, 
 " the front one of which is doubtless Robert Chester- 
 " ton the first tutor of the alms-house (his hair is 
 " distinguished from the rest, being grey), and his 
 " twelve alms-men attending him. The head-piece of 
 " the ordinances, which Strype says is cmiously illu- 
 ^^ mined, is really a drawing with a fine-pointed pen; 
 '' the ink by time is changed to a brown, and the 
 " faces and hands are tinted with red, heightened with 
 " white, and the hair with brown; the emaciated figure 
 '' of Whittington is tinted with a sallow pale brown. 
 " The names of Carpenter, Coventry, and Grove are 
 ^' written on the figures intended for them ^.^ ' 
 
 The ordinances themselves, which there is reason 
 to believe were drawn up by Carpenter, who seems to 
 have been on all occasions the most diligent, as he 
 was probably also the best informed of the executors, 
 are very curious and interesting ; and, as the intro- 
 ductory portion of them shows the illumination just 
 mentioned to be the representation of something like 
 an actual scene, besides setting forth the motives for 
 
 X The annexed engraving of this illumination has been copied 
 from the original by the kind peraiission of H, E, Barnes^ esq., of 
 Mercers' Hall. 
 
, L ^^xj^'-^ t ^^^^n^l^^^ ^ ^^^/^.^'^^ 
 
 -i^ 
 
 
27 
 
 the foundation of the charity,, a quotation from the 
 opening part is here introduced, as follows : 
 
 " To alle the trewe people of Cryste that shalle se 
 '' or here the things which be conteyned within these 
 " present letters, John Coventre, Jenkin Carpentre, 
 " and William Grove, ^c, executors of the testament 
 " of the worthy and notable merchaunt Richard 
 " Whittington, late citezin and Mercer of the cite 
 " of London, and oftentimes meyer of the same cite, 
 '' sending gretyng in our Lord God everlastynge. 
 
 " The fervent desire and besy intention of a pru- 
 " dent, wyse, and devout man shall be to caste before, 
 '' and make secure the state and the ende of the shorte 
 '' liffe, with dedys of mercy and pite ; and namely to 
 " provyde for such poure persons which grievous pe- 
 " nure and cruel fortune have oppressed, and be not 
 '^ of power to gete their lyving either by craft or any 
 ^' other bodily labour : whereby, that at the daie of 
 " the last judgement he may take his part with them 
 '^ that shal be saved. This considering, the foresayde 
 ^^ worthy and notable merchaunt Eichard Whitting- 
 '' ton, the which while he leved had ryght liberal and 
 '^ large hands to the needy and poure people, charged 
 " streitly on his death bed us his foresayde executors to 
 ^^ ordeyne a house of almes, after his death, for per- 
 " petual sustentation of such poure people as is tofore 
 " rehersed, and thereupon fully he declared his will 
 " unto us." 
 
28 
 
 They tlien go on to relate their manner of ful- 
 filling his injunction_, and to lay down regulations to 
 be thereafter observed 7. 
 
 On the 12th of May, 1423, Whityngton's executors 
 obtained letters patent from the kingz, authorizing 
 them, in fulfilment of the will of Whityngton, to pull 
 down and rebuild the city gate called Newgate, and 
 the gaol there. The grounds on which this measure 
 was rendered necessary are stated to have been, that 
 the prison was " feble^^ (or decayed), " over litel, and 
 ^^ so contagious of eyre that it caused the deth of many 
 " men^/^ Besides executing this public and expensive 
 work, they erected several bosses in various parts of 
 the city for supplying spring water ; repaired the ho- 
 spital of Saint Bartholomew in West Smithfield, and 
 contributed largely to the building and furnishing 
 with books the library at the convent of the Grey 
 Friars, and also to the completing of the present 
 Guildhall ; and, adjoining to the chapel attached to 
 the last-mentioned building, they, in conjunction with 
 the executors of William Bury, erected " a fayre and 
 ^^ large liberarye" for preser^dng the books and other 
 documents of the corporation inb. They likewise 
 
 y Maitland's History of London, vol. ii. p. 1043 ; Report of Charity 
 Commissioners, No. 32^ part ii. p. 453. 
 
 z Rotuli Patentium 1 Hen. VI., m, 31 ; and Liter K, fo. 13. 
 
 a Rotuli Parliamentorum, vol. iv. p. 370. 
 
 b Stow's Survey, ed. 1603, pp. 210, 303, 364, 376, 320, 273, 277. 
 Stow, speaking of this library, says, " The books were in the raign 
 
29 
 
 obtained a charter from the king, dated the 14th of 
 February, 3d of Hen. VI., 1425 ^, confirming a grant 
 of Richard the Second, whereby the IMercers of Lon- 
 don (of which mistery Whityngton was a member) 
 were created a brotherhood, with a chaplain and four 
 keepers, for the relief of such of their mistery as should 
 come to decay from misfortunes of the sea and other 
 casualties ; and granting that thenceforth the keepers 
 and commonalty of the said mistery should have a 
 common seal, and be able in law to plead and be im- 
 pleaded. The effect of this charter was to make the 
 mistery (what it had not previously been) a corporate 
 body, with perpetual succession and other legal inci- 
 dents. Perhaps as a consequence of this valuable boon 
 Carpenter was solicited to become a member of the 
 new corporation, for we find him afterwards occasion- 
 ally described as citizen and Mercer. 
 
 In 1430, Carpenter obtained a licence from the 
 king, dated 1 2th of January, to found a chantry for 
 one chaplain, in the chapel of the Virgin Mary over 
 the charnel on the north side of the church of Saint 
 Paul, with an endowment of eight marks ayear^^; 
 which he accordingly founded by an ordinance dated 
 
 " of Edward the 6. sent for by Edward Duke of Somerset, Lorde 
 " Protector, with promise to be restored shortly. Men laded from 
 " thence three carres.with tbem, bnt they were never returned."— 
 Survey, p. 276. 
 
 c Rot. Pat. 3 Hen. VI. p. 2, m. 18 ; and Liber K, fo. 175b. 
 
 d Rot. Pat. 8 Hen. VI. m. 21 ; and Liler K, fo. 78 b. 
 
30 
 
 on the feast of tlie Exaltation of the Holy Cross (14th 
 September) following e. In this ordinance he expressly 
 declares the endowment to be made with certain goods 
 of Richard Whityngton and others entrusted to his 
 administration. 
 
 It was probably about the same time that he " caus- 
 ^' ed/^ as Stow relates f '' with great expenses^ to bee 
 " curiously painted upon boord about the north cloy- 
 " ster of Paules_, a monument of Death leading all 
 '' estates,, with the speeches of Deaths and answere of 
 " everie state/^ Concerning which painting a more 
 particular account is given by the same author^ in 
 another place^ as follows s : ^^ There was also one great 
 " cloyster on the north side of this church [St. Paul's], 
 '^ invironing a plot of ground^ of old time called Par- 
 '' don churchyard^ whereof Thomas More^ deane of 
 " Paul's^ was either the first builder or a most especial 
 ^' benefactor, and was buried there. About this cloy- 
 " ster was artificially and richly painted the Dance of 
 
 e Dugdale's History of St. PauVs (1638), p. 274, Appendix. 
 
 f Stow's Survey, p, 110, 
 
 g Stow's Survey, p. 329. 
 
 h This designation has been generally understood to have been de- 
 rived from the name of Machabre, or Macaber, who is said to have 
 been a German poet and physician, and to have been the original 
 author of the verses that have usually accompanied the painting of the 
 Dance of Death {vide Pennant's London, vol. ii, p. 135 ; Brayley's Lon- 
 diniana, vol. iii. p. 1/1) ; but the late Francis Douce, esq., F.S. A., in a 
 very learned work entitled '' The Dance of Death, exhibited in elegant 
 engi'avings on wood ; with a Dissertation on the several representa- 
 tions of that subject, but more particularly of those ascribed to Ma- 
 
31 
 
 '' Machabray ^, or Dance of Death_, commonly called 
 " tlie Dance of Paulas ; the like whereof was painted 
 '' about St. Innocent^s cloyster at Paris^ in France. 
 " The meters or poesie of this dance were translated 
 ^^ out of French into English by John Lidgate^ monke 
 " of Bury ; the picture of Death leading all estates ; 
 " at the dispence of Jenken Carpenter, in the reign 
 " of Henry the Sixt." He adds that " in this cloyster 
 " were buryed many persons, some of worship and 
 " others of honour ; the monuments of whom, in num- 
 " ber and curious workmanship, passed all other that 
 " were in that church." After giving some further 
 particulars respecting a library and chapel which oc- 
 cupied part of the same site, he concludes by stating 
 that " in the year 1549, on the 10th of April, the 
 '^ said chappell, by commaundement of the Duke of 
 " Sommerset, was begun to bee pulled downe, with 
 '^ the whole cloystrie, the Daunce of Death, thetombes 
 " and monuments, so that nothing thereof was left 
 
 caber and Hans Holbein" (1833, 8vo), takes great pains to prove this 
 to be an error, and maintains that " there never was a German or any 
 " poet whatever bearing such a name as Macaber." His opinion is that 
 " Macaber" is a corruption of '^' Macaire" (the French mode of spelling 
 Macarius), the name of a saint who was one of the principal figures in 
 a painting by Andrew Orgagna, in the Campo Santo at Pisa, repre- 
 senting the story of a French metrical work of the thirteenth century, 
 entitled Les trois Morts et les trois Vifs. He also states, chap. iii. 
 p. 28-34, that " the earliest authority that has been traced for the 
 " name of Danse Macabre belongs to the painting at the church of 
 " the Innocents at Paris," a.d. 1424; and that that painting has pre- 
 fixed to it the story of Les trois Morts et les trois Vifs. 
 
32 
 
 ^^ but the bare plot of ground^ wliicli is since convert- 
 '^ ed into a garden for the pettie canons i/' 
 
 Stow says that the bones of the dead which had 
 been '^ couched up in a charnell under the chapel 
 ^^ were convaied from thence into Finsbery field (by 
 '^ report of him who paid for the carriage) ;, amounting 
 '■^ to more than a thousand cart loads_, and there laid 
 ^^ on a moorish ground^ in short space after raised by 
 ^' soylage of the citie to beare three milles." " This 
 ^^ indecorous disinterment and removal of the dead" 
 (says Mr. Brayleyk)_, " was the occasion of exciting 
 '' much odium against the Protector Somerset ; and 
 '' his great enemy, the Earl of Warwick_, made it one 
 '^ of the means of accelerating his ruin." 
 
 Although Stow only mentions one place besides 
 Saint PauFs where a painted representation of the 
 Dance of Death was exhibited, it appears from Mr. 
 Douce^s Dissertation 1 that '' the subject was very often 
 ^' represented, not only on the walls, but in the win- 
 ^' dows of many churches, in the cloisters of mona- 
 ^^ steries, and even on bridges, especially in Germany 
 '^ and Switzerland ; it was also sometimes painted on 
 ^^ church screens, and occasionally sculptured on them, 
 ^' as well as upon the fronts of domestic dwellings «»." 
 
 i This spoliation was made by the Protector Somerset^, in order to 
 obtain materials for building his palace in the Strand. — Heylin's His- 
 tory of the Reformation, p. 5^3. k Londiniana, vol. iii. p. 138. 
 
 1 Chap. ii. p. 17. 
 
33 
 
 Previously to its becoming a subject of pictorial art^ 
 we learn from Warton^s History of English. Poetry n 
 that it used to be represented in a kind of spiritual 
 masquerade by ecclesiastics^ babited in person and 
 character; and as thus acted it is supposed that it may 
 have been alluded to in the Visions of Pierce Plow- 
 man^ written perhaps as early as 1350. 
 
 The most celebrated of the paintings of the Death 
 Dance (and which was in existence until about the 
 year 1806) was that at Basil in Switzerland_, in the 
 churchyard formerly belonging to the convent of Do- 
 minicans. The name of the artist who executed this 
 painting is unknown ; it was for a long period attri- 
 buted to Hans Holbein^ but Walpole^ in his Anecdotes 
 of Painting_, has clearl}^ shown this to be an error_, it 
 having been executed some years before Holbein was 
 born ; it_, however,, probably suggested to that artist^ 
 who was a native of the place^ the painting on that 
 subject which he did execute^ though it seems doubt- 
 ful whether that which has been repeatedly engraved 
 and published as his was really his production. 
 
 The immediate cause of this representation at Basil 
 is stated by Walpole ° to have arisen from the plague 
 which raged there^ and carried off people of all de- 
 
 m A mutilated carving of it in wood still exists in the cemetery of 
 Saint Maclou at Rouen. 
 
 n Vol. ii. pp. 43 and 364, 8vo edition. 
 o Anecdotes of Painting, vol. i. p. 123. 
 
 D 
 
34 
 
 greeSj during tlie sitting of the General Council at 
 Easily which began to meet in 1431. On the cessation 
 of that calamity^ the painting was executed on the 
 walls of a cloister^ and is said to have been intended 
 both as a memorial and a warning P. And_, on the 
 supposition that the date of the painting at St. Paul's 
 was subsequent to the year 1438^ in which year the 
 pestilence extended its ravages into this country^ with 
 the addition of a famine_, it is not improbable that^ in 
 having this appalling dance pourtrayed in the new 
 cloisters at St. Paul's^ Carpenter was actuated by the 
 same motives that are ascribed to the inhabitants of 
 Basil,, and that it was intended both as a memorial 
 and a moral lesson. 
 
 In the latter character reference is made by Sir 
 Thomas More^ in treating of the remembrance of 
 deaths to " the Dance of Death pictured in PoulesQ;'' 
 and a writer of our own day^ in a tale founded on 
 events which occurred in the age in which this cele- 
 brated picture was set up^ has ingeniously introduced 
 the subject in the same spirit. Two friends are re- 
 presented as viewing the buildings about the ancient 
 cathedral church of St. Paul^ and especially the cloi- 
 sters round the burial place called Pardon Church- 
 
 P Mr. Douce states that nearly all the convents of the Dominicans 
 had a Dance of Death ; and remarks that^ as these friars were Preachers 
 by profession, the subject must have been exceedingly useful in sup- 
 plying texts and matter for their sermons. — Dissertation, p. 36. 
 
35 
 
 hsiW, when one addresses the other in the following 
 moralizing strain r : 
 
 '^ Look round these cloisters^ and behold how 
 ^' choicely they are embellished with the Dance of 
 " Death. Truly this is a meet representation for a 
 '^ burial-place. See you there how the grim spectre 
 ^' assaileth the gay gallant^ who thought himself right 
 ^^ well defended by a flask of sack from all calamity. 
 ^' Then behold the glutton^ who in vain prayeth that 
 " the fearful dart shall be stayed from him while that 
 ^^ he finisheth his peacock pye. The fair dame_, before 
 " her polished mirror of purest metal^ on which no 
 ^^ spot of rust might in any case be endured^ for it 
 ^^ would hide so much of her comely fleshy falleth in 
 ^^ her youth ; while the grim great-grandmother in 
 ^' eighty years hath not acquired cunning sufficient to 
 ^^ elude his swift pursuit. The beggar cannot crouch 
 " so low but he is found out. And further on^ mark 
 " you the king with crown on head_, sceptre in hand, 
 '^ and sword by side ; he cannot, with all his armies at 
 " his back, make such show of stomach as shall scare 
 ^^ the destroyer from advancing.^^ 
 
 This far-famed painting consisted of a long train of 
 all orders of mankind, from the pope to the very low- 
 est of the species, each figure having for a partner 
 the spectral personification of death, who was repre- 
 
 q More's works, edit. 1557, folio, p. 77. 
 
 r The Lollards, by Mr. Gaspey, 1822, vol. ii. p. 291. 
 
 d2 
 
36 
 
 sented leading the sepulchral dance^ and shaking the 
 last sands from his waning hourglass. The colloquial 
 stanzas between Death and his victims^ which existed 
 both in German and Latin^ were translated into 
 French ; and it was from the latter language that Lid- 
 gate made his English versification for the picture 
 about St. Paulas s_, which verses are to be found in 
 Dugdale's history of that chui'ch *_, as well as in his 
 Monasticon Anglicanum ". 
 
 It may be here remarked that this picture^ and the 
 accompanying verses by Lidgate^ exhibit Carpenter 
 somewhat in the character of an encourager of two of 
 the fine arts_, painting and poetry^ and seem to point 
 to a personal acquaintance with Lidgate^ the monk of 
 Bury_, one of the most versatile writers of his age. 
 
 We have seen how sedulously Carpenter laboured 
 faithfully to fulfil the trusts of those who made him 
 the administrator of their benefactions. We may per- 
 ceive also^ from the fact now about to be mentioned^ 
 that he endeavoured,, with equally laudable anxiety^ 
 to prevent the abuse of a trust by others, and to re- 
 store the proper application of a bequest which had 
 been left for charitable purposes, but had been per- 
 
 s Brayley's Zondmiana, vol. iii. pp. 173-4 ; '' The Dance of Death 
 " from the original designs of Hans Holbein, engraved by W. Hollar, 
 ''with descriptions in English and French," 1818, pp. 14, 15; and 
 Donee's Dissertation on the Dance of Death, 1833, passim. M. Lan- 
 glois of Eouen it is believed has also published a work on the same 
 subject. t Edit. 1818, p. 419. 
 
37 
 
 verted, by those who were entrusted to dispense it, to 
 sinister uses. 
 
 The rolls of the parliament held in the 9th of 
 Henry VI., 1430 ^^ contain a petition from Carpenter, 
 complaining of the nonpayment of a sum of four 
 marks "per annum, which had been devised for the 
 relief of the prisoners in Newgate, by Sir John Pul- 
 teney, knight, formerly mayor of London, to be paid 
 by the master and priests of the chapel of Corpus 
 Christi beside the church of St. Lawrence in Candle- 
 wick street, out of lands left to them, but which they 
 refused to pay, as no power was given by the will to 
 distrain for the same. Carpenter therefore prayed a 
 remedy, by the grant of a power to distrain upon the 
 lands charged with the payment thereof. The petition 
 was complied with, and he procured letters patent 
 from the king, dated 12th of January, 1431, autho- 
 rizing the mayor and chamberlain of the city for the 
 time being to distrain for the amount whenever it 
 should be in arrear Y. 
 
 This praiseworthy proceeding affords a happy illus- 
 tration to a remark of the quaint Dr. Fuller, who, in 
 his History of Cambridge, says, " I conceive this is 
 '' the best benefaction : to recover the diverted dona- 
 " tions of former benefactors ; partly because it keep- 
 " eth the dead from being wronged, restoring their 
 
 u Tom. iii. p. 367. x Rot. Pari., vol. iv. p. 370. 
 
 y RotuU Patentium 9 Hen. VI. pt. 1, m. 14 ; and Liber K^ fo. 86. 
 
38 
 
 " gifts according to their true intention ; partly be- 
 '^ cause it keepeth the living from doing wrong, and 
 _ _^ '' continuing their unjust detentions ^/^ 
 r On the 23d of February, 1431, the city granted to 
 
 Carpenter and his wife Katherine (and by this we 
 learn the fact of his being a married man) a lease of 
 some premises in the parish of St. Peter, Cornhill, in 
 the ward of Lime-street, for a term of eighty years, 
 on condition of annually rendering for the same a red 
 rose {unam rosam ruheam) ^, for the first thirty years, 
 and a yearly rent of twenty shillings for the remainder 
 of the term b. The document describes the premises 
 in question as adjoining on one side the garden of 
 Lord De la Zouch, whose house, we learn from Stow ^, 
 abutted on the high street, then called Cornhill street, 
 but now Leadenhall street. As it is clear that Carpen- 
 ter resided in these premises (for he mentions the fact 
 in his wiU), it is worth recording that the spot now 
 forms part of the market at Leadenhall. 
 
 The terms on which Carpenter obtained this grant 
 appear singularly favourable, and perhaps may have 
 been designed as some acknowledgement of his past 
 services to the city (for he had at that time been Town 
 Clerk about fourteen years), or at least may be re- 
 
 z Fuller's History of Cambridge, p. 72. 
 
 a The red rose was the distinguishing badge of the Lancaster family, 
 of which Henry the Sixth, then king, was a member. 
 ^ Liber K, fo. 86 b. c Stow's Survey, p. 153. 
 
39 
 
 garded as a mark of the estimation in which they were 
 held. This view is somewhat confirmed by another 
 grant of a difierent kindy made some years later. 
 
 On the 14th of December^ 1436^ the city^ in order 
 to show their sense of the value of the services he had 
 rendered them_, and that he might thereafter enjoy 
 the greater quiet and tranquillity,, granted him a pa- 
 tent of exemption^ under their common seal^ from all 
 summonses^ watches^ assizes^ juries^ recognizances^ 
 inquisitions^ and assemblies whatsoever^ within the 
 city^ and from being compellable against his will to 
 take any other burthen or ofSce than that which he 
 then sustained <^. This privilege^ which must have 
 been a very important one in those days^ was possess- 
 ed by but very few persons^ and was never conferred 
 on any one but under some special circumstances^ 
 such as the rendering of important public services, 
 and not unfrequently in return for the payment of a 
 considerable sum of money. 
 
 The terms of this grant would appear to indicate 
 that Carpenter at this time began to entertain a wish 
 to be relieved from the burthen of some of the pubUc 
 duties to which he was liable, and to prepare for re- 
 tirement into private life ; but it shows the high place 
 which he occupied in the esteem of his fellow-citizens, 
 as well as the generous character of his own feelings, 
 
 d Liber K, fo. 165. 
 
40 
 
 that, notwithstanding this privilege of exemption, 
 he in the same year was elected one of the represen- 
 tatives of the city in a parliament summoned in the 
 first instance to meet at Cambridge, but subsequently 
 determined to be held at Westminster. The election 
 for the city was made in an assembly of the mayor, 
 aldermen, and commonalty, and is recorded in these 
 words : 
 
 '^ Tuesday the 20th day of November, in the 
 '' fifteenth year of Henry the Sixth (1436). 
 
 " This day Henry Frowyk and Thomas Catworth, 
 " aldermen, were elected for the Parliament, by the 
 " said mayor and aldermen; and John Carpenter, 
 " junior, and Nicholas Yoo, draper, were elected for 
 ^' the Parliament by the commonalty e/^ 
 
 One of the chief reasons for holding this parlia- 
 ment, which met on 21st January, 1437^ was to obtain 
 money to carry on the war in which the country was 
 involved with France; and accordingly, amongst other 
 measures, a grant was procured of a tenth and a fif- 
 teenth, to be levied on the property of the laity, and 
 to be payable, the one half within the ensuing year, 
 and the other half in the year following ^. 
 
 Upon a grant of this sort being made in parlia- 
 ment, the representatives of each particular county, 
 city, and borough were, in the estimation of the law, 
 
 e Journal No. 3, fo, 1 and 129 b. f Rot. Pari., vol. iv. p. 502. 
 
41 
 
 looked upon as having made it so far as regarded their 
 respective localities^ and were required to nominate 
 tlie collectors^ and return their names to the Chan- 
 cery; upon which letters patent^ appointing the per- 
 sons so named_, and requiring them to account for 
 their collections to the Exchequer^ were issued by the 
 crown g. The nomination made by Carpenter and his 
 colleagues^ of the collectors of the tax imposed as 
 above mentioned,, is^ in accordance with his charac- 
 teristic love of order and preciseness^ entered on the 
 city^s records in the form of a Latin document^ of 
 which the following is a translation : 
 
 " The present indenture witnesseth that Henry 
 " Frowyk and Thomas Catteworth^ aldermen, John 
 ^^ Carpenter, junior, and Nicholas Yoo, commoners, 
 " the four citizens elected for the city of London 
 " to be in the parliament of our lord the king, held 
 ^' at Westminster on the 21st day of January in the 
 " fifteenth year of his reign, have nominated the four 
 '' persons underwritten, to levy, collect, and receive 
 " the tenth granted to our lord the king in the same 
 " parliament, by the men of the city aforesaid ; viz. 
 
 " Thomas Bernewell and ) 
 
 rr T X, A XI, -1 ( Aldermen. 
 
 " John Atheile, ) 
 
 " William Deer, pewterer, ) ^ 
 
 cc y X. ^liT XX J \ Commoners h/^ 
 
 '^ John Wotton, draper, j 
 
 g Rot. Pari, vol. v. p. 25. h Liber K, fo. 165 b. 
 
42 
 
 The important position which Carpenter occupied 
 at this time is also evident by a curious and interest- 
 ing fact connected with the corporate history of the 
 city of Norwich. 
 
 In the year 1437^ in consequence of various con- 
 tests between the citizens of Norwich and the autho- 
 rities of several ecclesiastical establishments there and 
 in the neighbourhood,, in which the citizens rendered 
 themselves liable to the displeasure of the crown^ their 
 liberties were seized into the king^s hands^ who^ dis- 
 placing the mayor and other fanctionaries^ appointed 
 as custos or warden of the city^ John Welles^ an alder- 
 man of London^ who had been lord mayor in 1431. 
 WelleSj although armed with arbitrary power^ seems 
 to have used his authority with great discretion^ and 
 in a conciliatory spirit ; and^ after holding the office 
 about a year, he promoted an application to the crown 
 for a restoration of the hberties. Amongst the means 
 employed for this purpose was the obtaining the coun- 
 sel and aid of John Carpenter, to whom a joint ap- 
 plication was made by Welles and the citizens of 
 Norwich, to request his intercession with the king's 
 council. The pressing necessities of the king occa- 
 sioned by the continued war in France, and the offers 
 of voluntary aid on the part of the citizens, operated in 
 furtherance of the desired object ; and when, through 
 the interference of Carpenter, the matter was brought 
 under the notice of the privy council (although a 
 
43 
 
 disposition was shown by the king^s advisers to take 
 advantage of so favourable an opportunity of making 
 heavy exactions from the citizens) ^ it was agreed that 
 the terms of submission should be prescribed and set- 
 tled by the archbishop of York i and Carpenter ; and 
 the result was that_, in 1439^ the citizens of Norwich 
 had their liberties and franchises fuUy restored to 
 them K 
 
 Some time about this period Carpenter resigned 
 his office of Town Clerk_, which he had held upwards 
 of twenty-one years. It is somewhat singular that no 
 entry is to be found in the city^s records of his resig- 
 nation, as in the case of his predecessor, though there 
 is one of the appointment of his successor, a Richard 
 Barnet, or Bernat, on the 4th of October, 1438 K 
 
 In the following year the king issued a writ, dated 
 36th September, 1439, convening another parliament; 
 and on this occasion Carpenter was again selected to 
 represent the city, in conjunction with Sir William 
 Estfeld, knight, and Robert Clopton, aldermen, and 
 Galfrid Feldyng, commoner. In the record of this 
 
 i John Kemp, who had been successively bishop of Rochester, 
 Chichester, and London. He was at this time lord treasurer, and 
 afterwards became a cardinal, lord chancellor, and archbishop of Can- 
 terbury. He died in 1454. — Heylin's Help to English History ; Turner's 
 History of England, vol. iii. pp. 164, 169, IT'S. 
 
 fe Blomefield's History of Norwich, I?' 95, p. 106; Sir Harris Nico- 
 las's Proceedings, <Scc., of Privy Coimcil, vol. v. pp. xxxii.-xxxiv. 
 
 1 Journal No. 3, fo. 164. 
 
V 
 
 44 
 
 election he is described as " late common clerk of the 
 ^' city in." He was the only one of the four who had 
 been sent to the preceding parliament ; and as it was 
 the general practice at that time to choose men who 
 had not served the city in that capacity before,, his 
 selection a second time may be regarded as a strong 
 testimony of the estimation in which his fellow-citi- 
 zens held his sendees. 
 
 This parliament assembled at Westminster on the 
 12th November, and continued its sittings there until 
 the 21st December, when it was prorogued until the 
 14th of January, and ordered to meet at Reading. 
 
 In connection with this parliament the records of 
 the city contain two or three very curious entries, 
 which are well deserving of notice. One of them, 
 which is dated the day preceding the meeting at West- 
 minster, is to the following effect ; viz,, " Wednesday 
 '' the 11th day of November [18 Hen. VI., 1439, the 
 mayor and thirteen aldermen being present]. This 
 ^^ day very many of the more notable citizens of the 
 '^ city were appointed to consider of those things 
 ^^ which might seem advantageous for the city and 
 ^^ the kingdom, and to intimate them to Sir William 
 ^^ Estfeld, knight, and his fellows elected for the par- 
 ^^ liament now coming °." That a written communica- 
 tion of the kind alluded to was made in consequence 
 
 m Journal No. 3, fo. 25 b. This election is not mentioned in the list 
 of representatives in Maitland's History of London, vol. ii. p. 1197. 
 
45 
 
 to the city members is apparent by an entry_, of a date 
 subsequent to tbe adjournment to Reading, in these 
 words : ^' Thursday, 25th day of February [1440] . 
 '^ Let a letter be written to Sir William Estfield to 
 parliament o/^ And afterwards there is another brief 
 but significant entry that, " This day was declared the 
 report of the knights who were at the parliament ; 
 viz. J Estfeld, Clopton, Carpenter, and Feldyng P." 
 
 These particulars clearly present to view the fact 
 that the doctrines which have sometimes been put 
 forth in modern times, with regard to the relative 
 positions of a representative and his constituents, may 
 derive some support from the precedents of a former 
 age. For, in the instance before us, it appears that 
 the representatives of the city were instructed as to 
 the views and opinions of their constituents, upon 
 matters of both local and general importance, and 
 that they afterwards rendered an account of their 
 proceedings, for the satisfaction of those whom they 
 represented. ^„..™^ 
 
 It appears now to have become a settled desire with ' 
 Carpenter to retire from public life altogether, for we 
 find that, in 1439, the year of his last election to par- 
 liament, he obtained letters patent from the king, 
 dated 3d of December, 18th of Henry VI., exempting 
 him for the whole of his life from all military and 
 
 n Journal No. 3, fo. 29. o lUd, fo. 35 b. 
 
 P lUd, fo. 3/^ b. 
 
k 
 
 46 
 
 civil duties whatsoever, among which are included be- 
 ing returned to parliament^ and receiving the honour 
 of knighthood q. This patent,, the original of which is 
 still extant amongst the Cottonian manuscripts in the 
 British Museum ^, is to the following eflPect : 
 '^ R. H.s 
 '^ The King to all his bailiffs and faithful people 
 '^ greeting. Know ye that of our special grace, at the 
 " humble request and for the ease of our dearly be- 
 " loved John Carpenter the younger, late secretary of 
 " our city of London, who in services to us and our 
 ^^ progenitors there and elsewhere, from the times of 
 " his youth, not without great pains and unwearied 
 " loyalty, as well commendably as faithfully hath la- 
 ^^ boured earnestly, we have given and granted, for us 
 '^ and our heirs, as much as in us is, to the same John, 
 '^ that he for the whole of his life shall have these 
 " liberties, that is to say. That he shall not be placed 
 
 q By a statute of the time of Edward the Second, persons who had 
 land of 201. ayear in fee or for hfe were obliged to take the order of 
 knighthood. (Fosbroke's Encyclopcedia of Antiquities, vol. ii. p. 7'48.) 
 In Maitland's History of London, vol. i. p. 12?', will be found a copy 
 of a writ, addressed to the sheriffs, 18 Edw. III., 1344, requiring all 
 citizens who possessed 40?. ayear in fee to become knights. This was 
 done to assist the king in raising means for prosecuting his wars in 
 France. And at the very time that Carpenter obtained the above 
 gTant, many persons who were liable to the imposition of knighthood, 
 and refused to receive it, were obliged to submit to fines. Indeed the 
 practice of extorting fines on this pretence was carried to such an ex- 
 tent, that the Commons petitioned that it might be enacted that no 
 man should be fined twice for not receiving knighthood, but the Crown 
 
47 
 
 " nor impanelled in any great assize arrayed or to be 
 '' arrayed witHn onr realm of England^ nor in any 
 " other assizes,, juries^ inquisitions^ attaints^ or reviews 
 " whatsoever^ although they may affect us or our 
 ^^ heirs ; nor be sworn or placed upon the trial of any 
 ^^ arraignment^ assize^ or panels before whatsoever jus- 
 ^' tices of us or our heirs to be taken. And that he 
 ^' shall not be appointed nor assigned a leader^ tryer^ 
 ^^ or array er of men at arms, hobellers *, or archers ; 
 '^ nor custumer, searcher, comptroller, taxer, or col- 
 ^^ lector of any customs, taxes, talliages, aids, or subsi- 
 ^' dies whatsoever, to us or our heirs howsoever grant- 
 ^^ ed or to be granted. And that henceforth he shall 
 '^ not be nor be elected knight for any county, nor 
 " citizen for any city, to come to the parliaments of 
 '^ us or our heirs. And that he shall not be made 
 ^^ mayor, sheriff, escheator, coroner, constable, bailiff, 
 ^^ justice of the peace or of sewers, nor other commis- 
 
 refased its assent to the bill. — Nicolas's Proceedings, &c., of the Privy 
 Cowicil, vol. V. preface, p. xxiii.-xxiv. 
 
 r Bibl, Cotton., Vespasian C. xiv. fo. 277. 
 
 s These initials are in the king's autograph. It was a customary 
 practice in Saxon times for sovereigns to attach their royal mark or 
 sign to charters and grants. Several of the early charters of the Con- 
 queror exist, bearing his mark ; but after the conquest it is rare to find 
 any such, the general use of seals having entirely superseded for many 
 centuries the custom of manual subscription. — Archceological Jownal, 
 No. 15, September, 1847, p. 251. 
 
 t Horsemen very lightly mounted for reconnoitering, carrying in- 
 telligence, haiTassing, <&c., similar to the Cossacks. — Fosbroke's Ency- 
 clopcedia of Antiquities, vol. ii. p. 840. 
 
48 
 
 " sioner^ officer_, or minister whatsoever of us or our 
 '^ heirs. And that he shall not by any means be con- 
 '^ strained or compelled by us or our heirs_, nor by the 
 " justices or ministers of us or our heirs whatsoever^ 
 *' to take upon him the degree of knighthood_, or any 
 " of the burthens, offices, or employments aforesaid, 
 " or hereafter to undergo, perform, or occupy any 
 " other office, but therefrom shall be wholly free and 
 " entirely exempted by these presents. And further 
 " of our abundant grace we have given and granted to 
 " the same John, for us and our heirs, that although 
 '' he may be hereafter chosen, ordained, or assigned to 
 " any of the burthens, offices, or employments afore- 
 '^ said, or to undergo, perform, or occupy any other 
 " office, contrary to the force, form, or effect of this 
 " our present grant, and shall refuse to undertake, 
 ^' perform, or occupy such offices or burthens, yet by 
 '' occasion of such contempt he shall not in any wise 
 " incur any fine, forfeiture, loss, or damage, in body 
 " or goods, but that our own present charter of ex- 
 " emption, by the aforesaid John or any other whom- 
 " soever in his name, before whatsoever justices and 
 " ministers of us and our heirs in whatsoever place of 
 " record through our whole realm aforesaid, shown," 
 '' upon such showing shall surely take effect and be 
 ^' allowed to the same John without any other writ or 
 " process for that purpose further to be prosecuted, 
 ^^ or proclamation to be made. And therefore we 
 
49 
 
 '^ command that the same John be not contrary to 
 '^ our present grant in any manner disturbed or bur- 
 " thened. In testimony whereof^ ^c. 
 " Witness, ^cJ' 
 
 " W. P. LE Bardolf, Chamberlain u/^ 
 
 Although Carpenter was now free from the ties of A 
 
 office, and the obligation to perform any kind of pub- 
 Kc duty, it is quite certain that he did not lead a life 
 of inactivity. He continued to devote a portion of his 
 time to voluntary acts of usefulness, and probably to 
 engage with increased devotedness in the duties inci- 
 dent to the connection which we shall presently see 
 he had formed with several religious brotherhoods in 
 the city. Besides this, it would appear that the city 
 were stUl desirous of occasionally availing themselves 
 of his acquaintance with municipal affairs, and his 
 general legal knowledge and abilities. Hence we find 
 that, on the 10th of June, 1440, the mayor and alder- 
 men voted him twenty marks for certain labours which 
 he had performed for the city, but what they were is 
 not specified ^. Again, in the following year he was 
 engaged as counsel for the city in the Star-chamber, 
 in a suit instituted by the dean of the collegiate church 
 of St. Martin-le-grand, complaining of the sheriffs of 
 
 u This document^ which is in Latin, has been published in the 
 Proceedings and Ordinances of the Privy Cowncil, edited by Sir Harris 
 Nicolas, 8vo, 1835, vol. v. p. 111. x Journal'^o.Z, fo. 44. 
 
50 
 
 the city having violated the privilege of sanctuary be- 
 longing to that churchy by the forcible seizure of an 
 offender who had fled thither after being rescued from 
 the custody of one of their officers. There is stiU ex- 
 tant in the records of the city a petition from the 
 sheriffs to the common council^ setting forth the facts 
 which had occurred_, and that they had been griev- 
 ously menaced by the authorities of the church for 
 what they had done ; and they prayed that the matter 
 might be communed of with the counsel of the city^ 
 J/ and in especial with John Carpenter; and that the 
 
 defence might be conducted at the common cost of 
 the city, ^' considering" (as they say) " that this cause 
 ^^ is every freeman's cause, and the good and true 
 " keeping and defending of the liberties of this fa- 
 '^ mous city is the welfare of every man that is inha- 
 " bitant therein y". Stow says^, on the authority of 
 a book written by one of the officers of St. Martin's, 
 that '^ the complaint and suit was learnedly answered 
 '^ by the citizens, by their counsel Markham, Ser- 
 '^ jeant-at-law, and John Carpenter, late Common 
 " Clerk of the city, who offered to prove that the said 
 " place of St. Martin had no such immunity or liberty 
 '^ as was pretended;'' and that Carpenter (so con- 
 fident and so earnest was he) ^' offered to lose his 
 ^^ livelihood if that church had more immunity than 
 
 y UUr K, fo. 189. z Sv.wey, p. 309. 
 
51 
 
 " the least church in London." So serious an assault 
 upon a privilege which the church in those times 
 cherished with extreme tenacity was hardly likely to 
 be successful^, and the matter terminated in judge- 
 ment being given in favour of the dean and against 
 the city. But the case led to several improved regu- 
 lations being laid down with regard to the privilege 
 of sanctuary at St. Martin's a. 
 
 About the same time that he was thus serving the 
 city^ by stoutly defending their liberties against the 
 mischievous abuses and encroachments of ecclesias- 
 tical power^ we find him acting the humbler part of 
 an arbitrator for the settlement of differences between 
 two private individuals. On Thursday the 16th of 
 March, 1441, it is recorded that '' This day T. Seynt 
 " John and William Morys mutually promised to 
 '^ stand by the arbitrement of the Recorder and John 
 '' Carpenter, in all causes pending between the afore- 
 /^ said parties b/^ So acceptable were his services as a 
 man of probity, uprightness, and sagacity, that the 
 king and his council, a municipal body, or a private 
 individual, were equally ready to confide matters of 
 importance which concerned their interests to his 
 judicious management and decision. 
 
 a Liler K^ fo. 298 b ; and Kempe's Historical Notices of the Collegiate 
 Church of St. Martin-le-grand (where the arguments employed on each 
 side are set forth at some length), pp. 123-130, and p, 146. 
 
 b Journal No. 3, fo. 80. 
 
 e2 
 
52 
 
 In the same year in which the last-mentioned 
 events occurred_, namely 1441, it appears a grant was 
 made by the king, of the manor of Thebaudes (or 
 Theobalds), in the village of Cheshunt in the county 
 of Hertford, with its appurtenances, to John Carpen- 
 ter, master of St. Anthony^s hospital in London, John 
 Somerset, chancellor of the king^s Exchequer c_, and 
 John Carpenter junior, citizen of London; to hold 
 the same of the crown by the annual render of one 
 bow of the value of two shillings, or two shillings in 
 money, and one barbed arrow of the value of three- 
 pence, or three-pence in money ^. And shortly after- 
 wards the same persons received from the king a grant 
 of divers privileges and exemptions in the said manor e. 
 The person here styled " John Carpenter junior" was 
 the subject of the present memoir; the other person 
 of the same name was a man of some note, who had 
 been provost of Oriel college in Oxford, and in 1437 
 was chancellor of that university ; in 1444 he was ap- 
 pointed bishop of Worcester, and filled that see until 
 his death in 1476. He was a great benefactor to the 
 cathedral church and diocese of Worcester, as weU as 
 
 c Fuller mentions him as a '* learned writer/' and a benefactor to 
 King's college, Cambridge. He was also one of the compilers of the 
 statutes of that college on its foundation by Henry the Sixth in 1444. 
 Eot. Pari, vol.v, pp. 87, 163. 
 
 d Lysons's Environs of London, vol. iv. p. 29 ; Calendarium Rotido- 
 rum Patentium, p. 283, 19 Hen. VI. 
 
 e Rot Pat. 19 Hen. VI. part 2, m. 27. 
 
53 
 
 to the university of Oxford,, in wMcli he had been 
 brought up. He was buried at his native village of 
 Westbury upon Trin^ near Bristol, where a plain altar 
 monument was erected to his memory, with a skele- 
 ton lying on the top of it f. 
 
 The hospital of St. Anthony, for whose benefit the 
 above grants were made, was an establishment in 
 Threadneedle street, founded in the reign of Henry 
 the Third, by the brethren of St. Anthony of Vienne 
 in France s : it consisted of a master, two priests, a 
 schoolmaster, and twelve poor brethren, besides their 
 proctors and other officers and servants, and it would 
 appear that our John Carpenter was at this time con- 
 nected with it as one of the members or officers. 
 
 The school at St. Anthony^s hospital appears to 
 have long enjoyed a high celebrity, and in the scho- 
 lastic disputations amongst the grammar schools in 
 London, according to the testimony of Stow, com- 
 monly presented the best scholars. He says, " out 
 " of this school have sprung divers famous persons. 
 
 f Thomas's Account of the Bishops of Worcester, 1736, p. 196 ; Green's 
 History of Worcester, 1796, vol. i, p. 196 ; A. Wood's History of the Uni- 
 verdty of Oxford, by Gutch, 1786, pp. 96, 124-6, 674, and App. p. 47. 
 An interesting account of the condition in which the sepulchre of 
 Bishop Carpenter was recently discovered, by the Rev. William Massie 
 of Chester, is given, with several engravings, in the Journal of the 
 Chester Archaeological Society, part iii. (1854), p. 352. 
 
 g Tanner's Notitia Monastica, by Nasmith, 1787 : Middlesex, viii. 
 London, 28. The building lately known as the Hall of Commerce now 
 occupies part of the site of St. Anthony's hospital. 
 
54 
 
 *' whereof^ although time hatli buried the names of 
 ^^ many_, yet in mine own remembrance may be num- 
 ^' bered these following : Sir Thomas More, knight, 
 " lord^chancellor of England, Dr. Nicholas Heath, 
 " some time bishop of Rochester, after of Worcester, 
 " and lastly archbishop of York and lord chancellor 
 '^ of England, Dr. John Whitgift, bishop of Wor- 
 " cester and after archbishop of Canterbury, ^c.'^^\ 
 The celebrated Dean Colet, the founder of St. PauFs 
 school, was also educated at St. Anthony's i. 
 
 Carpenter's life of active usefulness was now draw- 
 ing to a close. Although not an aged man, his evident 
 desire to withdraw from the fatigues and cares of pub- 
 lic life, and the language employed in the grants of 
 exemption which he procured both from the city and 
 the crown, seem to imply that he may have been the 
 subject of impaired health, or of some bodily infirmity 
 tending to shorten life. 
 
 The writer of this biography has not been able to 
 trace any event in Carpenter's hfe subsequent to the 
 date of the occurrences last mentioned. The gift 
 which he made to the city for purposes of education 
 had long caused it to be an object of great desire that 
 his Will, by which the trust is supposed to have been 
 estabhshed, but of which no copy had ever been known 
 
 li Stow's Survey f p. J'5. i Knight's Life of Colet. 
 
55 
 
 to be in the possession of the corporation^, should be 
 brought to light; but^ after very diligent search in 
 many probable quarters_, that important document is 
 still undiscovered. The search_, however,, has not been 
 entirely a fruitless one^ for the writer had the grati- 
 fication^ a few years back^ of discovering amongst the 
 records of the Commissary Court of London^ kept in 
 the cathedral of St. Paul^ a will of John Carpenter^ 
 whichj although it does not relate to the disposition 
 of his lands and tenements (which, according to a 
 common practice in his time, formed the subject of a 
 separate will), yet supplies valuable information on 
 many other points, and gives a most interesting in- 
 sight into a variety of particulars of a personal cha- 
 racter, which could not possibly have been acquired 
 at this remote period from any other source ; and for 
 much of what remains to be said of him we are in- 
 debted to this document. 
 
 We have been able to trace a considerable portion 
 of what may be termed the public life of John Car- 
 penter; and now we have fortunately the means of 
 displaying him a little in his more private capacity. 
 
 We learn by this will, which is dated 8th March, 
 1441, that he lived (and most likely died) in the house 
 which, as already mentioned, had been granted to 
 him by the city. This house he describes as his new 
 tenement or hostel, wherein he dwelt, in the parish 
 of St. Peter in Cornhill, with the garden adjacent. 
 
56 
 
 and tlie houses, cellars,, soUars, and other appurte- 
 nances, situate as well on the north side of the same 
 hostel, towards the high street, as on the south side 
 of the said garden, near the ancient chapel of Leaden- 
 hall. This description seems to imply that it was a 
 residence of some magnitude, and one befitting a 
 person of good position in the social scale. Indeed 
 there is reason to believe that Carpenter was the 
 possessor of considerable wealth, that he lived in a 
 style of comfort and even luxury, and that he main- 
 tained no very small household of servants and de- 
 pendants. 
 
 There are many deeds of conveyance enrolled in 
 the Court of Hustings which show that he was con- 
 stantly acquiring fresh property. There are also in the 
 will of which we possess a copy, allusions to his other 
 will, which prove that he left thereby considerable 
 landed property. Besides this, the quantity of plate 
 which he appears to have possessed, and the numerous 
 bequests of money which he left, with other circum- 
 stances, clearly indicate that his means were very 
 ample. He speaks in his will, in a style of humility 
 and self-reproach, of ^^ my silver vessels which have 
 " very often served me for the unreasonable and vain 
 " glory of the world ;'' and also of ^^ my furred gowns 
 '^ and other sumptuous vestments, which, God forgive 
 " me, I have many times abused in superfluous and 
 ^^ useless observances.'^ 
 
57 
 
 Another thing which throws some light upon his 
 circumstances in life_, as well as his domestic charac- 
 ter, is, that he appears to have had a chaplain resident 
 with him, and to have been provided with other ac- 
 cessories for the administration of the services of reli- 
 gion in his own house, in the same manner that the 
 nobility and other persons of rank of his time were. 
 In one part of his will is this clause, ^^ I give and be- 
 ^^ queath to Sire William Taillour, chaplain \ dwelling 
 '^ with me, as a memorial of me, my book De Medi- 
 " tationibus et Orationibus Sancti Anselmil/^ and, 
 in another part, he says, " I give and bequeath, for 
 ^' the service in the church of St. Martin Outwich, 
 ^^ where my parents lie buried, my great missale, and 
 ^^ my best silver-gilt cup, together with my silver-gilt 
 '^ paxarium, and my two phials or cruets of silver, 
 ^^ and my casula of white damask, with all its trim- 
 " ming ^J' 
 
 k Those of the clergy who had not graduated were entitled " sir/' 
 and graduates were called either '' master" or '' doctor." — Fosbroke's 
 Encyclopaedia of Antiquities, vol. ii, p. 801. 
 
 1 For notes on this and other hooks hereafter mentioned see the 
 Appendix, No. I. 
 
 m Of these articles, dedicated to sacred uses, the following explana- 
 tions may be given : the missal is the book containing all things to be 
 daily said in the service of the mass ; the silver-gilt cup was doubtless 
 intended for a chalice ; the pax {paxarium or paxboard) was an image 
 or representation of our Lord's passion, or some other sacred emblem, 
 painted or embossed on a piece of wood or metal. Sometimes (as pro- 
 bably in the present case) it formed the cover of the chalice used at 
 mass. At the words Pax Domini sit semper vohiscvm (the peace of the 
 
58 
 
 Carpenter appears to have had no cliildren of his 
 own_, but yet he evidently took pleasure in having a 
 family circle about him. He bequeaths substantial 
 tokens of his regard to several nephews and nieces, 
 the sons and daughters of his two brothers ; and one 
 of these, Katherine, daughter of his brother Robert, 
 he speaks of as having been with him from her youth. 
 And, in another place, a legacy is left to a " little 
 Christopher,^^ who had been with him from his cradle. 
 Many of his servants also he names, and leaves lega- 
 cies to ; and to some who were old and poor, he leaves 
 annuities for their lives. 
 
 We have seen that he was in some way connected 
 with the religious establishment of St. Anthony in 
 Threadneedle street ; and his will has brought to light 
 the fact, that he was also a brother of the convent of 
 the Charterhouse, London ", and likewise of the frater- 
 nity of Sixty Priests of London. It may appear rather 
 singular that a person not under monastic vows should 
 
 Lord be always with you)^ it was kissed by the priest, and then handed 
 to the people for the same purpose, as a substitute for the ancient kiss 
 of charity which communicants gave each other. The phials or cruets 
 were vessels in which the wine and water were presented at the altar 
 before consecration. The casula (or chasuUe) was the principal vest- 
 ment of the priest at mass. It was always constructed of rich mate- 
 rials, and frequently profusely embroidered, and trimmed in a costly 
 manner.— (Hart's Ecclesiastical Records, pp. 236, 238, 251, 256 ; Boul- 
 teel on llonumental Brasses, c&c, p. 97). An inventory of the church 
 ornaments of St. Martin Outwich, made in 1515, mentions, amongst 
 other articles, the following, which not improbably were those be- 
 
59 
 
 be a brother of a conventual establishment^ and that a 
 layman should be a member of a fraternity of priests. 
 But examples of a similar kind are not so rare as 
 might be supposed. Benefactors were frequently re- 
 ceived into confraternity with a monastery. "Without 
 any renunciation of the worlds this entitled them to 
 a participation in all the prayers and merits of the 
 brethren during life, and to masses after death. The 
 privilege was conferred by a formal document en- 
 grossed upon vellum, often beautifully illuminated, 
 and sealed with the common seal of the brotherhood o. 
 The following are a few apposite instances of the 
 practice : John Ewin, citizen and mercer, who was a 
 great benefactor to the mendicant order of Grey 
 Friars, entered the order as a lay brother P. Sir Wil- 
 liam Walworth, the celebrated lord mayor who slew 
 the rebel Wat Tyler, described himself in his will as 
 a brother of the fraternity of Chaplains in London ; 
 and left to every chaplain thereof two shillings, that 
 
 queathed by Carpenter : "A chales parsell geylte, wytlie a skr3rpture 
 " abowte the foote, -v/eying xvij uncs of Troye ;" and '' a pexe of syl- 
 " ver for the sakerment;, weying xv uncs di. of Troye," — Malcolm's 
 Londinium Redivivum, vol. iv. p, 408. 
 
 n Established by Sir Walter Manny, in 1371, for monks of the 
 Carthusian order. 
 
 o Hart's Ecclesiastical Records, p. 78 ; and Lewis's Life of Wiclif, 
 Svo, 1820, pp. 24 and 301, where a copy is preserved of one of these 
 letters of fraternity, granted by the Prior of Christ church, Canter- 
 bury, to the mother of Dean Colet. 
 
 P Brayley's Londiniana, vol. ii. p, 145. 
 
60 
 
 they might have his soul remembered in their masses 
 and prayers,, and attend his burial <l. Sir Thomas More 
 also seems to have been a brother of the Charter- 
 house, London, for, according to his biographer, ^- he 
 '^ gave himself to devotion and prayer in that place, 
 '' religiously living there, without vow, about four 
 " years r/-' 
 
 It is said to be a safe clue to a man's character to 
 know who are his chosen associates and friends ; and 
 if we were left to form a judgement of Carpenter by 
 this rule, our conclusion could not fail to be a highly 
 favourable one. 
 
 His association with his learned namesake Doctor 
 John Carpenter, bishop of Worcester, in a public 
 trust, has already been alluded to (p. 52) ; but it is evi- 
 dent that there must have been a connection beyond 
 this subsisting between them, viz., a private intimacy, 
 for Carpenter not only leaves to his reverend friend, 
 ^' as a memorial'^ of him, ^^ that book on architecture 
 " which Master William Cleve^^ gave to him, but he 
 likewise appoints him, in conjunction with his own 
 brothers, as one of the supervisors and coadjutors of 
 the executors of his will. This '^ learned and good 
 
 q Excerpta Historica, quoted in Herbert's History of St. Michael 
 Crooked Lane, p. 135. 
 
 r Roper's Life of Sir Thomas Mdre, by Singer, p. 5. This was in 
 the earlier part of his career, and before he married. 
 
61 
 
 " man^^ (as Mr. Endell Tyler calls him) was feUow- 
 student with and intimate friend of Prince Henry 
 (afterwards Henry the Fifth) when residing at Ox- 
 ford, and pursuing his studies under his uncle Henry 
 Beaufort s. He was not raised to the episcopal dignity 
 till after our John Carpenter's death. He established 
 a fellowship and several scholarships at Oxford, by 
 which, and by other liberal benefactions, he showed 
 himself to be a great promoter and encourager of 
 learning. 
 
 Carpenter's friend Master* William Cleve, who 
 had given him the book on architecture just men- 
 tioned, was also an ecclesiastic, and besides that, like 
 some others of his class, was a skilful architect. He is 
 described in the proceedings of the privy council as 
 the king's chaplain, and clerk of the works ; and by 
 a petition of his, which is there set forth, he appears 
 to have executed considerable works for the king at 
 the palaces of Eltham, Shene, and Westminster, and 
 also at the Tower of London u. 
 
 Sir John Neel, another ecclesiastic, was also one 
 of Carpenter's intimate friends. He was master of the 
 house or hospital of St. Thomas of Acres (or de Aeon) 
 in Cheapside, and held the adjoining living of Cole- 
 
 s Memoirs of Henry the Fifth, vol. i. p. 27. 
 t See note (^) on p. 57. 
 
 u Nicolas's Acts, &c., of Privy Coimcil, vol. vi. p. 32 ; Brayley's and 
 Britton's Palace of Westmimter, p. 315. 
 
62 
 
 churcli X. He was one of the four clergymen who^ in 
 1447, presented a petition to parliament, setting forth 
 the lack of grammar schools and good teachers in the 
 city of London, and praying leave (which was granted 
 to them) to establish schools, and appoint competent 
 masters in their respective parishes of Allhallows the 
 Great, St. Andrew Holborn, St. Peter Cornhill^ and 
 St. Mary Colechurch. In support of their application 
 the petitioners made the following quaint but sen- 
 sible averment : ^^ It were expedyent/^ say they, ^^ that 
 ^^ in London were a sufficient number of scholes, 
 ^^ and good enfourmers in gramer; and not for the 
 ^^ singular avail of two or three persones grevously 
 ^' to hurt the moltitude of yong peple of al this land. 
 ^^ For wher there is grete nombre of lerners and few 
 ^^ techers, and al the lerners be compelled to go to 
 ^^ the few techers, and to noon others, the maistres 
 ^^ waxen rich of monie, and the lerners pouerer in 
 *' connyng, as experyence openlie shewith, agenst all 
 ^' vertue and ordre of well publik y." The only one 
 
 X This hospital was founded in the reign of Henry the Second, for 
 a master and brethren, by the brother-in-law and sister of Thomas 
 Becket, in honour of his memory, and on the spot where he was 
 born, — Stow's Survey, p. 27'1. Colechurch stood in the Old Jewry. 
 A former incumbent, Peter of Colechurch, was the builder of the first 
 London bridge in stone, about 1176. — Ibid., p. 23. 
 
 y Rotuli Parliamentorum, vol. v. p. 137 ; Maitland's History of Lon- 
 don, vol. i. p. 193. Fosbroke, in his Encydopcedia of Antiquities, vol. i, 
 p. 450, ascribes to this measure the origin of fi:-ee grammar schools pro- 
 perly so called. 
 
63 
 
 of tlie schools established in consequence of this pe- 
 tition which has survived to the present time is the 
 Mercers^ school^ which was formerly held at St. 
 Thomas de Aeons (the site of Mercers' Hall)_, and of 
 which John Neele may be said to be the founder. 
 Carpenter's friendship towards him is shown by the 
 bequest of a book_, which he describes as " that book 
 ^' cum Secretis Aristotelis_, and De Miseria Condi- 
 ^^ tionis Humanse, and other notable things^ which 
 '^ my master Marchaunt gave to me.'' 
 
 Master William Lichfeld^ rector of Allhallows in 
 the Eopery (or Allhallows the Great^ Upper Thames 
 street) _, was another of Carpenter's friends^ and to him 
 he left a legacy of twenty shillings. He also was one 
 of the petitioners for the establishment of additional 
 grammar schools in London. Stow says '^ he was a 
 " great student,, and compiled many books both moral 
 " and divinCj in prose and in verse." He mentions 
 one intituled " The complaint of God unto sinfal 
 ^^ man ;" and adds that '^ he made in his time three 
 " thousand and eighty-three sermons^ as appeared by 
 " his own handwritings and were found when he was 
 ^^ dead z." Warton describes one of Lichfeld's poems 
 as '' a metrical dialogue between God and the peni- 
 ^^ tent soulj which is preserved in manuscript at Caius 
 '' college^ Cambridge." He mentions him as a doctor 
 
 z Stow's Swvey, p. 236. 
 
64 
 
 in theology^ who shone most in prose a. He was one 
 of the ^^ famous preachers^^ who inveighed with such 
 boldness against the evil practices and enormities of 
 the privy council of Henry the Sixth, that some of 
 the courtiers told the king they caused insurrections 
 amongst the people against him ; and it is said that 
 sermons to this purport were sometimes addressed to 
 the king himself; and that_, in consequence, " Lord 
 '^ Say, with others, would not suffer any one to preach 
 '^ before the king unless they saw his written sermon 
 " first, or unless he would swear not to preach against 
 " his ministers' actions or councils ^J' 
 
 Dr. Reginald Pecok, another celebrated divine, 
 was also amongst the number of Carpenter's friends, 
 and was remembered by him by a money legacy. He 
 and Master William Lichfeld were likewise entrusted 
 with a discretionary power in the bestowment of some 
 of Carpenter's ^^ good or rare books," which are not 
 specifically named. Master Pecok was at that time 
 the master of Whityngton's college of St. Michael 
 Eoyal. He was one of the eminent scholars patro- 
 nized by the duke of Gloucester — the '' good Duke 
 Humphrey." In 1444 he was appointed bishop of 
 St. Asaph, and was translated to Chichester in 1449. 
 He was one of the most learned men of his age, and 
 
 a Warton's History of English Poetry, vol, ii. p. 310. 
 t Turner's ^istor?/ of England, vol. iii. p. 89-90, referring to Cotton. 
 MSS. VitelHus C. 9, p. 155-6, iScc. 
 
65 
 
 was as much distinguislied for his moderate and con- 
 ciliatory spirit as for his high talents and extensive 
 acquirements. His writings upon certain doctrines 
 and practices of the church drew down upon him the 
 hatred and jealousy of some of the hierarchy. He 
 was charged with favouring the tenets of the Lollards ; 
 and was cited_, in 1457^ to appear at Lambeth Palace^ 
 before twenty-four learned doctor s^ with his books. 
 He was convicted of heresy^ and would have been 
 burnt but for his abjuration of the opinions he had 
 promulgated. This abjuration he had to make in the 
 presence of thousands of spectators at St. Paulas Cross^ 
 deUvering at the same time^ with his own hand^ four- 
 teen of his books^ to be there destroyed by fire. Al- 
 though he thus saved his life_, he did not obtain his 
 liberty : " he was sent to Thorney abbey in the Isle 
 " of Ely^ there to be confined in a secret closed cham- 
 ^' ber, out of which he was not to be allowed to go. 
 '^ The person who made his bed and his fire was the 
 ^^ only one who might enter and speak to him without 
 " the abbot^s leave^ and in his presence. He was to 
 '^ have neither pen_, ink^ nor paper ; and to be allowed 
 " no books except a mass-book^ a psalter_, a legendary, 
 " and a bible c." Pecok is said to have died in his 
 prison after a confinement of about three years. Not- 
 withstanding all the efforts of the church to destroy 
 
 c Southey's Book of the ChurcJi, i. 392. 
 F 
 
66 
 
 them_, some of his works still remain^ especially an 
 answer to certain of the more extravagant opinions 
 of the Lollards,, which, it has been remarked by Mr. 
 Hallam, ^' contains passages well worthy of Hooker, 
 " both for weight of matter and dignity of style ^/^ 
 The cruel treatment of Bishop Pecok has left a stig- 
 ma upon the authorities of his time which will never 
 be effaced. 
 
 Master William Byngham, another distinguished 
 promoter of learning, had this friendly notice taken 
 of him by Carpenter : ^^ I give and bequeath to Master 
 " WiDiam Byngham, as a memorial of me, that book 
 ^^ which Master Roger Dymok made, ' contra duo- 
 " decim errores et hereses LoUardorum,^ and gave to 
 " King Eichard, and which book John Wilok gave 
 '^ to me.^^ This William Byngham was rector of St. 
 John Zachary, London. He petitioned Henry the 
 Sixth, in 1439, in favour of his grammar scholars, for 
 whom he had erected a commodious house at Cam- 
 bridge, called God^s house, adjacent to Clare Hall, to 
 the end that twenty-four youths, under the direction 
 and government of a learned priest, might be there 
 perpetually educated, and be from thence transmitted 
 in a constant succession into different parts of Eng- 
 
 d Middle Ages, vol, iii. p. 45^6 ; Pictorial History of England, vol, ii. 
 p. 147' ; Lewis's Life of PecoTc, <Scc. 
 
 e Pat. 17 Hen, VI., part 2, m, 16; Warton's History of English 
 Poetry, vol. ii, p, 552; Potts's Liher Cantahrigiensis, p, 291, 
 
67 
 
 land, to those places where grammar schools had 
 fallen into a state of desolation. The king granted 
 a charter of incorporation to the establishment, which 
 was subsequently removed to another site, and even- 
 tually merged into Christ^s college ^. 
 
 These were some of the men whose friendship was 
 cultivated by Carpenter, and with whom he lived on 
 terms of intimacy : men occuppng positions of note 
 amongst the learned of their times, diligent students 
 themselves, and at the same time actively endeavour- 
 ing to promote the spread of knowledge, and inculcate 
 the love of learning in others. It is pleasing to be 
 able to trace the community of feeling subsisting be- 
 tween such men and our venerated founder. That 
 he shared in their taste for literature is evident from 
 the collection of books which he had formed — a col- 
 lection which, in an age when books were a rare 
 possession, and printing was unknown, must have 
 been a very valuable one f. And that he participated 
 in their desire to disseminate knowledge is abun- 
 dantly proved in two ways ; first, by the gift he made 
 
 f It is interesting to observe that lie mentions several of these books 
 to have been gifts from his friends^, a proof both of their personal es- 
 teem, and of their regarding him as a man of letters. 
 
 In order to give a better idea of what Carpenter's collection of books 
 consisted of, a list of those which are mentioned in his will is given 
 in the Appendix (No. I.), with a few bibliographical notices, which the 
 writer trusts will illustrate in some degree the literature of the period, 
 and the character of Carpenter's reading. 
 
 F 2 
 
68 
 
 for the special purpose of promoting education^ and 
 whicli has resulted in the establishment of our City 
 School; and secondly_, by the direction in his will^ 
 that_, if any good or rare books should be found 
 amongst the residue of his goods^ which by the dis- 
 cretion of Master William Lichfeld and Reginald 
 Pecok might seem necessary to the common library 
 at Guildhall (which^ it will be recollected^ he had 
 been partly instrumental in having built), for the 
 profit of the students there, and those discoursing to 
 the common people, then that those books should be 
 placed by his executors, and chained in that library, 
 under such form that the visitors and students thereof 
 might be the sooner admonished to remember him 
 in their prayers S. 
 
 The list of men of note with whom Carpenter was 
 brought into close and friendly association might be 
 extended much further ; but, as it would be tedious 
 to mention all, a few more only shall be named from 
 amongst those who sustained high offices in the city, 
 and are most distinguishable for their public virtues 
 and charities. 
 
 Of the famous Sir Richard Whityngton sufficient 
 
 g This interesting bequest proves the library at Guildhall to have 
 been not merely a private collection^ but designed for general use, and 
 is an early instance of the existence of a public library properly so 
 called. The books bequeathed to it by Carpenter were no doubt in- 
 cluded in the spoliation by the Protector Somerset, as mentioned in a 
 former note (}>), p. 28. 
 
69 
 
 has already been said to render unnecessary any 
 furtlier notice, but tbe following civic worthies are 
 deserving of remembrance in the catalogue of Car- 
 penter^s friends. 
 
 Sir William Sevenoke_, grocer, mayor in 1419; a 
 man who rose from obscurity to great eminence, and 
 founded and endowed the grammar school and alms- 
 houses in his native place of Sevenoaks in Kent, and 
 which are in existence to this day. He is the first on 
 the long list of citizens of London who are distin- 
 guished as founders of grammar schools K 
 
 Sir Robert Chicheley, grocer, mayor in 1411 and 
 1422 i. " He appointed by his testament" (says 
 Stow), " that on his mind day [dies commemorationis] 
 '' a competent dinner should be ordained for two 
 '^ thousand four hundred poor men, householders of 
 " this city, and every man to have two-pence in 
 " money. More, he gave one large plot of ground 
 ^^ thereupon to build the new parish church of St. 
 ^^ Stephen, near unto Walbrook, ^c.^^' 
 
 Sir John Rainwell, fishmonger, mayor in 1427, 
 who gave certain lands and tenements to the city to 
 discharge the inhabitants of three wards in London 
 
 t The writer of the present biography has been long collecting ma- 
 terials for a series of memoirs of these worthies ; and, amongst others, 
 has completed a full account of the life of Sir William Sevenoke. 
 
 i Brother to Henry Chicheley, archbishop of Canterbury and 
 founder of All Soul's college, Oxford, and to "William Chicheley, alder- 
 man, sheriff in 1409. ^ Stow's Survey, p. 110. 
 
70 
 
 (Billingsgate,, Dowgate^ and Aldgate) from payments 
 for fifteentlis ^j and for other public purposes ^. 
 
 Sir John Welles, mayor 1431, who has been already 
 mentioned as being appointed by the king custos or 
 warden of Norwich «. He was a great benefactor to 
 the new building of the chapel by the Guildhall, and 
 was there buried. ^^ Of his goods the standard in 
 " West Cheap was made, to which he caused fresh 
 " water to be conveyed from Tyburn, for the service 
 ^^ of the city o." 
 
 Sir William Estfeld, mercer, mayor 1429 and 1437, 
 and knight of the Bath ; one of the representatives of 
 the city with Carpenter in the parliament of 1439. 
 He also had water conveyed from Tyburn to a con- 
 duit in Aldermanbury, and to another in Fleet street, 
 and from Highbury to Cripplegate P. 
 
 Sir Stephen Browne, grocer, mayor 1438 and 1448. 
 In his first mayoralty there was a great famine, and 
 wheat being at a high price in London, he sent vessels 
 to Prussia, and caused corn to be brought from thence 
 in great quantity, whereby he brought down the price 
 from three shillings the bushel to less than half that 
 sumq. 
 
 Phihp Malpas, one of the sheriffs 1440 (the year 
 of the dispute with the dean of St. Martinis about 
 
 1 A Fifteentli was a tax levied by parliament, amounting to a fif- 
 teenth of every man's personal estate. — Jacob's Law Dictionary, 1732. 
 m Stow's Survey, pp. 110, 209, 236. 
 
71 
 
 sanctuary) . He gave by his testament one hundred 
 and twenty-five pounds to relieve poor prisoners ; and 
 every year for five years four hundred shirts and 
 smocks,, forty pairs of sheets^ and one hundred and 
 fifty gowns of frieze to the poor; to five hundred 
 poor people in London six shillings and eight-pence 
 each; to poor maids^ marriages one hundred marks; to 
 highways one hundred marks ; twenty marks ayear to 
 a graduate to preach ; twenty pounds to preachers at 
 the Spital^ the three Easter holidays^ S^c.^ He dwelt 
 very near to Carpenter^ in the ward of Lime street^ of 
 which he was the alderman. 
 
 Robert Large^ mercer, mayor 1439. He gave to 
 the church of St. Olave Jewry two hundred pounds ; 
 towards rebuilding St. Margaret^s Lothbury, twenty- 
 five pounds; to the poor, twenty pounds; towards 
 repairing London bridge after part of it had fallen 
 down, one hundred marks ; towards vaulting over the 
 water-course of Walbrook, by St. Margaret^s church, 
 two hundred marks; to poor maids^ marriages, one 
 hundred marks; to poor householders, one hundred 
 pounds, §-c.s He was the person to whom William 
 Caxton served his apprenticeship, and whose mer- 
 cantile dealings in foreign parts afforded Caxton the 
 opportunity of becoming acquainted with the in- 
 
 n See p. 42, o gtow's Swvey, pp. 110^ 523. 
 
 P Stow's Survey, pp.110, 523. q lUd, pp.110, 523. 
 r lUd., pp.111; 169, 523. s lUd., p. 111. 
 
72 
 
 vention of printings which he introduced into this 
 country *. 
 
 These particulars serve to give some idea of the 
 character of the times in which Carpenter livedo and 
 of the men with whom he was wont to associate. 
 
 But it is time to notice more particularly his own 
 benefaction, to which posterity is so much indebted, 
 and which has furnished the occasion for the present 
 biographical notice of him. Interesting as the other 
 facts in his history are, they are made more so to us 
 by that one great fact, which has not only contributed 
 more than any other circumstance to preserve his 
 name from oblivion, but, from the important results 
 to which it has led, and the advantages that have ac- 
 crued and are likely to accrue from it to the present 
 and future generations, will cause his memory to be 
 cherished with increased and lasting interest. 
 
 The writer regrets deeply that he is able to present 
 no better account of the origin and nature of that gift 
 of John Carpenter which formed the basis of the City 
 School, than what is furnished by the meagre but 
 yet valuable statement recorded by Stow, that ^^ he 
 '*" gave tenements to the citye for the finding and 
 ^^ bringing up of foure poore men^s children with 
 '^ meate, drinke, apparell, learning at the schooles in 
 
 t Knight's Life of Caxton. 
 
73 
 
 " the universities^ ^c._, until they be preferred^ and 
 ^^ then others in their places for ever u." 
 
 This is the earliest description that is now extant 
 of Carpenter^s benefaction_, but yet it is a century and 
 half later than the period of the gift. Although it is 
 not known precisely what authority Stow relied upon 
 for his statement^ there is no room to doubt that^ in 
 its essential points^ the account given by the vene- 
 rable historian of our city is perfectly correct. His 
 character_, as a painstaking investigator and accurate 
 relater of facts_, is a guarantee for the authenticity of 
 his statement,, which^ if no other proofs existed^ would 
 go far towards establishing its correctness ; but^ we 
 have in addition a continuous tradition to the same 
 effect^ corroborated by a carefully preserved rent-roll 
 of the property derived by the city from Carpenter. 
 There is besides the evidence of long usage as to the 
 application of his bounty^ which^ although falling 
 short in some respects of what is described as being 
 his intentions^ serves to strengthen the probability of 
 the account given being a correct one. 
 
 The oldest book of accounts which the city now 
 possesses (the earlier ones having been destroyed in 
 the great fire of 1666^ and a later conflagration at 
 Guildhall in 1786) is for the year 1633; it contains 
 a description of the property in question^ in its then 
 
 ^1 Stow's Swi'vey, p. 110. 
 
74 
 
 existing state^ and an account of what it produced ; 
 and also an account of the annual payments at that 
 time under Carpenter^s bequest. These are the ear- 
 liest particulars that can be referred to^ and therefore 
 are here introduced : 
 
 ^^ The Eentall of the lands and tenem^s sometyme 
 ^' Mr. John Carpenter^ sometimes Towne Clarke 
 " of the Citty of London. 
 
 '' Robert Child, for the tenem* Beade, 
 ^' against St. Buttolph church in Thame- 
 " streete_, to him demised for xxxv yeares 
 '^ from Xpmas 1615 - - - - viij^i 
 
 ^' Mary Leake, late Richard Edmond, for 
 '^ the tenem<^ Peacock in Thamestreet, to the 
 ^' said Edmonds demised, for xxxj yeares 
 '^ from Xpmas 1612 - - - - vijli 
 
 '^ Robert Rowden, late William Hicks, for 
 " the tenem* Crowne against St. Magnus 
 ^' church, to John Vaux demised, for xl 
 '^ yeares from MicF as 1600 - - vjli xiijs iiijd 
 
 ^^ Daniel Hills, late John Beeston, for the 
 ^' tenem* Greene Dragon in Bridge streete, 
 ^^ to him demised for xlv yeares from MicVas 
 " 1626 iiijli 
 
 ^^ John May, executor of Margarett Pen- 
 " nell, for a close with th'appurtenncs con- 
 '^ teyning by estimation five acres more or 
 " lesse, and being in the parish of St. Giles 
 
75 
 
 '^ in the feilds_, to her demised for xxj yeares 
 
 '' from the Annunciacon 1626 - - iiijli 
 
 " Edward Gurdon^, assignee of EolandWil- 
 " son_, assignee of Daniel Winch^, executor 
 " of Daniel Winch grocer^ deceased,, for the 
 '^ tenem* Three Crownes in West Cheape, 
 " neare the signe of the George late called 
 ^^ the Ramping Lyon^ being parcell of the 
 " lands late S^ Nicholas Bacon^, knight, late 
 " lord keeper of the great scale of England, 
 ^^ and by him conveyed to the use of the 
 ^' citty by exchange, to Daniel Winch, fa- 
 ^^ ther of the said Daniel, demised for xxv 
 ^^ yeares from Mich^as 1616 - - - x^i 
 
 ^' William Carpinter, for certayne tenem^s 
 ^' and gardens in Hounsditch, to him de- 
 ^^ mised for xlj yeares from Mich' as 1626, 
 '^ with coveiin^^ to new build within five 
 ^^ yeares, which tenem^s and gardens were 
 " heretofore conveyed to the citties use as 
 '^ aforesaid, and of late the said lord keeper's x^i 
 
 ^' Suma - . - - xlixli xiijs iiij^ 
 
 " Payments due by the bequest of Mr. John Car- 
 ^^ penter. 
 ^^ Paid to this accomptant [Mr. Robert 
 '^ Bateman, Chamberlein of the Cittie of 
 '^ London] for overseeing foure poore chil- 
 
76 
 
 " dren being found at sclioole and learning,, 
 " by the bequest of the said Mr. John Car- 
 " penter^ due for this yeare^ vjs viijd ; and 
 " to the comptroller of the chamber for like 
 ^^ consideracon^ vjs viij^ _ _ - - xiijs iiijd 
 
 ^^ Paid to the rent-gatherer, for gathering 
 " the rents ^ and potacon mony of the said 
 " Mr. John Carpenter - - - xxiijs iiijd 
 
 " Paid to the freinds of the said foure chil- 
 " dren, for harbor, schoole, hose, shoes, and 
 " other necessaries for the said foure chil- 
 ^' dren, due for this year - - - iiijH 
 
 '' Paid for the comons of the said foure 
 " children, due for lij weekes ended at 
 '' Mich' as 1633, after the rate of iijs yjd the 
 " week ------- ix^i ijs 
 
 " Paid to the freinds of the said foure chil- 
 ^^ dren, for YJ yards of London russett for 
 ^^ the coats of the said foure children against 
 " Christide 1632, xxxvjs; and for vj yards 
 " of new cullor for the coats of the said 
 
 X There are two entries of a much earlier date in the city's records, 
 which seem to illustrate this item. The first is dated 17th April, 1492, 
 and relates to the profits of the clerk of the chamber. It mentions, 
 amongst other sums, 3s. id. per annum to be payable to him by the 
 will of Carpenter {Liber L, fo. 293 b). The other entry is dated 8th 
 March, 1526, and is to the efiect that, upon considering a complaint 
 of a person against the then chamberlain, concerning the coUectorship 
 of the rents and tenements belonging to the Chamber, and also of 
 
77 
 
 ^' foure children against Wliitsontide 1633^ 
 " xxxvjs ; and for xxiiij yards of cotten^ with 
 ^^ buttons,, and making the said eight coats^ 
 ^^ xxvjs . _ > _ _ iiijli xviijs 
 
 '^ Paid to the deane and chapter of West- 
 " minster^ for quitt-rent out of the tenem* 
 " Crowne, over against the north side of 
 " St. Magnus church neare London bridge^ 
 " late in the tenure of John Vaux^ due for 
 " YJ yeares ended at Midsomer 1633^ at iiijs 
 ^^ ayeare^ xxiiij ^ ; and to the same for quitt- 
 " rent out of the tenem* Greene Dragon in 
 " Bridge streete^ due for like tyme^ at iiijs 
 ''^ ayeare^ xxiiij s. Suma - - - - nihil Y. 
 
 ^^ Paid to Mr. Robert Marsh the citties 
 ^^ sollicitor^ for so much by him disbursed 
 " for respite of homage due to the king^s 
 " matie for a close in the parish of St. Giles 
 '' in the fields^ v^ iiijfl ; and for his own fee^ 
 '^ iijs iiijd z. Paid more to him for charges 
 '^ disbursed for a discharge of issues lost 
 
 Rainwell's lands and Carpenter's, the court of Aldermen decreed that 
 the oflB.ce belonged to the chamberlain for the time being, — Repertory 
 No. 7, fo. 93 b. 
 
 y The arrears were paid in the following year. Although not paid 
 regularly, these quit-rents were an annual charge of Ss. 
 
 z These two amounts appear to have been regular annual charges, 
 as they occur in the accounts of subsequent years ; but the next charge 
 was not an ordinary one, and does not occur in the following years. 
 
78 
 
 ^^ returnable against S^ James Cambell and 
 
 '^ others about the same close,, xxvjs viij^. 
 
 " Suma^ as by two bills appeareth - xxxvs iiijd 
 
 ^' Suma tots of the paym^s due by 
 
 " the bequest of the said Mr. John 
 
 " Carpenter - - - xxjli xijs 
 
 From these particulars it appears that^ in 1633^ the 
 rental of the property amounted to 49/. 13^. 4^d. per 
 annum, and the charges upon it to 201. 135. 4^?. per 
 annum. 
 
 We are unable to trace the gradual increase in 
 value which the property subsequently underwent; 
 but whatever it was^ the surplus was absorbed in the 
 general funds of the city^ and the charity remained 
 on the same limited footing until nearly two centu- 
 ries later. 
 
 In the year 1823 the commissioners for inquiring 
 into charities made a report on those under the ma- 
 nagement of the corporation of London^ including 
 that of John Carpenter^ in which they set forth^ that 
 great pains were stated to have been taken, by search- 
 ing the archives of the corporation and other places 
 for the will of John Carpenter^ without effect^ but that 
 it was understood that Carpenter charged certain pay- 
 ments for charitable purposes upon lands and tene- 
 ments in Thames street^ Bridge street^ St. Gileses in 
 the Fields^ Westcheap^ and Houndsditch ; and that 
 the corporation have property in those several places, 
 
79 
 
 answering^ or pretty nearly so, to the description of 
 the property mentioned in the account book of 1633, 
 as derived by them from Carpenter. 
 
 The commissioners gave an extract from the book, 
 so far as concerns the payments in respect of the 
 charity, that is to say, omitting the items in respect 
 of quit-rents and homage ; and conclude with the 
 following statement : 
 
 " The same payments continue to be made under 
 " the vrill of John Carpenter (except the sum of 
 " 65. Sd. formerly payable to the comptroller of the 
 ^^ chamber, which is now merged in the general com- 
 " pensation he receives for his duties), being a total 
 '' of 19^. IO5. This 19/. 10s. is payable in the foUow- 
 ^^ ing manner : To the chamberlain, as receiver of the 
 '*" rents, and for attending to the application of the 
 ^' charity, 1/. IO5.; the remainder, being 18/., is paid by 
 " the chamberlain in four sums quarterly, to four per- 
 '^ sons, freemen of London, selected by him as proper 
 ^^ objects, to enable each one to pay for the edu- 
 " cation of a son, from the age of seven to fourteen. 
 
 '^ The chamberlain requires the parents from time 
 " to time to bring the copy-books of their children, 
 ^^ and other specimens of their progress, to satisfy him 
 " of the proper application of the testator^ s bounty, 
 ^^ and this has been the practice for many years back. 
 <' Very little remains out of the respective shares of 
 ^' the persons benefited, after the object of education 
 
80 
 
 " is satisfied^ to be applied in clotliing. The parents 
 " or friends of the children are required, quarterly, to 
 " give to the chamberlain receipts for the payment 
 " of their children's education, which receipts are 
 ^^ entered in the city's acquittance book^/^ 
 A The income derived from Carpenter's estate had by 
 
 this time increased to several hundred pounds ayear, 
 but the commissioners expressed no opinion as to the 
 extension of the charity. The attention of the corpo- 
 ration however being directed, in consequence of the 
 commissioners' report, to the state of the several cha- 
 rities under their management, and the possibility of 
 increasing their efficiency, the common council, on 
 the 18th of January, 1827, after several reports from 
 the committee for letting the city's lands, to whom 
 the consideration of the subject had been referred, 
 agreed that the management and appropriation of 
 Carpenter's charity should be altered and extended 
 in the following manner; namely, that four boys from 
 the age of eight to sixteen years, sons of freemen of 
 London, to be nominated from time to time by the 
 lord mayor, should be sent to the grammar school at 
 Tonbridge in Kent^, under the management of the 
 Skinners company and the superintendence of Dr. 
 Knox, there to receive the benefit of a classical and 
 
 a Tenth Report of Charity Commissioners (dated 28th June^ 
 1823), p. 180. 
 
 b Founded by Sir Andrew Judd, knt,, lord mayor in 1551. 
 
81 
 
 commercial education, and religious instruction in the 
 principles of the Established Church of England,, and 
 to be boarded and clothed at the city^s expense ; and 
 that the parents or friends of each boy, on his attain- 
 ing the age of sixteen, upon certificate of his merit 
 and good conduct during the period of his being at 
 the school, should be entitled to the sum of one hun- 
 dred pounds, to be applied towards his advancement 
 in life ; and that the general superintendence of the 
 charity, and the providing of clothing for the boys, 
 should be under the direction of the committee of 
 city lands, assisted by the chamberlain of London 
 for the time being. 
 
 By this arrangement, the annual expenditure in 
 respect of the charity was increased from 191. 10s. to 
 about 420/. c But this change in the administration 
 of the charity, although a great improvement, yet 
 having from the first been objected to by some mem- 
 bers of the corporation on the ground of the expen- 
 diture of such a sum upon so inconsiderable a number 
 of beneficiaries, and of the religious restriction ^j was, 
 
 c Proceedings of Common Council, 21st June, 1826, p. 69 ; 20th 
 July, 1826, p. 82 ; 14th December, 1826, p. 126 ; 18th January, 182^, 
 p. 13; 5th December, 1833, p. 160. 
 
 d On the 18th December, 1828, a notice of motion "was given in 
 common council by Mr. Richard Taylor, for a reference to a committee 
 to report on the best means of making the sum voted for the purposes 
 of education, as above mentioned, available for the benefit of the largest 
 possible number of the sons of bond fide freemen-householders of the 
 city, and none other; but on the 1 1th May following it was withdrawn . 
 
 G 
 
82 
 
 in the course of a few years, superseded by another 
 alteration, which merits still higher commendation, 
 and deserves to be particularly detailed. 
 
 Until about the year 1829, there existed in the city, 
 under the authority of an Act of Parliament passed 
 in the reign of Charles the Second e, an establishment 
 called the ^^ London Workhouse," which was for the 
 relief and employment of the poor, the punishment 
 of vagrants and disorderly persons, and the mainte- 
 nance, education, and apprenticing of poor children. 
 This establishment was supported by assessments upon 
 the inhabitants of the several parishes in the city, the 
 produce of the labour performed by the inmates, and 
 some property which it had become possessed of by 
 several bequests ; but the institution having gradually 
 decayed and ceased to be of any real utility, the in- 
 habitants of the city became anxious to be relieved 
 from the expense of its continuance. The corporation 
 therefore, in the year 1829, applied to parliament and 
 obtained an actf for discontinuing the workhouse, 
 and appropriating the produce of the property with 
 which it had been endowed, amounting to about three 
 hundred pounds per annum, for the support of a school 
 for the maintenance and education of poor and desti- 
 tute children, and for apprenticing such children to 
 honest and industrious trades; and, in furtherance 
 
 e 13 and 14 Car. II. cap. 12. f 10 Geo. IV. cap. 53, private. 
 
83 
 
 of that object^, the corporation also agreed to con- 
 tribute out of their own funds the sum of two thou- 
 sand pounds. 
 
 Under the authority of this act_, an attempt was 
 made to found a school of the description therein 
 mentioned^ and for that purpose to raise fands in aid 
 of the above endowment by voluntary contributions ; 
 but though the corporation agreed,, as already men- 
 tioned, to contribute the sum of two thousand pounds, 
 and upwards of a thousand pounds more were received 
 from other sources, principally in sums of twenty 
 pounds each, which was the qualification for a gover- 
 nor, owing to the restrictive character of the school, 
 as imposed by the act during its progress through 
 parliament, and other causes, after a lapse of several 
 years the object remained still unaccomplished. 
 
 The governors, having been unable to procure suit- 
 able premises in the city whereon to erect a school, 
 presented a memorial to the common council on the 
 1st of August, 1833, requesting their assistance in 
 obtaining that object by a grant of a part of the city^s 
 estates. The committee for letting the city^s lands, 
 to whom the memorial was referred by the court, 
 finding, upon examination, that there were many 
 diflficulties in the way of the establishment of the 
 institution in the manner then contemplated, pre- 
 sented a report on the subject, recommending that, 
 as Honey-lane market yielded but little profit to the 
 g2 
 
84 
 
 corporation and afforded no convenience to the pub- 
 lic_, the market should be discontinued and the site 
 thereof appropriated as requested ; provided an Act of 
 Parliament could be obtained to authorize the same, 
 and such alterations were made in the general ar- 
 rangements of the school as to secure to the citizens 
 of London the education of children on the most 
 liberal and improved principles, and upon a more ex- 
 tensive scale than that contemplated by the existing 
 Act of Parliament. 
 
 The same committee subsequently presented an- 
 other report (in consequence of a reference which 
 had been made to them on the 30th of May, 1833, 
 respecting the propriety of consolidating Carpenter^s 
 charity with the intended school), in which they stated 
 that, although it was considered that the trust re- 
 quired to be performed under the will of Carpenter 
 extended only to the providing of education, clothing, 
 and commons for four boys, yet, as the estates be- 
 queathed for the purpose had considerably increased 
 in value, and then produced upwards of 900/. per an- 
 num, they were of opinion that, provided the altera- 
 tions in the constitution of the school were effected 
 which were recommended in their former report, the 
 sum of nine hundred pounds should, after its opening, 
 be annually contributed by the corporation towards 
 its support ; and that, instead of four boys being sent 
 to Tonbridge school, a like number should be selected, 
 
85 
 
 according to merit^, as vacancies might arise,, to be 
 clothed^ boarded^ and educated at the expense of the 
 new establishment, up to the age of sixteen years, 
 and, upon quitting, become entitled to the sum of one 
 hundred pounds each, upon receiving a certificate of 
 merit and good conduct while at the school. 
 
 The court of common council having agreed to 
 these several recommendations, and to a further re- 
 port recommending an application to parliament to 
 carry the arrangement into effect g, a Bill was intro- 
 duced into the House of Lords for the purpose. This 
 bill met with considerable opposition in the upper 
 house, which led to the omission of those parts of it 
 relating to the funds originally belonging to the Lon- 
 don Workhouse, thus leaving the institution in the 
 same imperfect state that it was then in, but at the 
 same time authorizing the carrying into effect all the 
 other arrangements proposed, by the establishment 
 of a school altogether separate and distinct from it, 
 with the endowment from the estates of John Car- 
 penter. With this alteration the bill passed both 
 houses of parliament, and received the royal assent 
 on the 13th day of August, 1834. ^ ^ 
 
 It is intituled " An Act to establish a school on the 
 " site of Honey-lane market in the city of London b/^ 
 
 g Proceedings of Common Council, 7th November, 1833; p.l63; 5th 
 December, 1833, p. 160; 19th February, 1834, p. 25. 
 h 4 and 5 Will. IV. cap. 36, private. 
 
86 
 
 It recites that the corporation were desirous of esta- 
 blishing a school in the city for the instruction of 
 boys in the higher branches of literature ; that the 
 yearly sum of 19/. 10s. had for many years been paid 
 out of the rents and profits of lands and tenements 
 belonging to them^ which were usually called the es- 
 tates of John Carpenter, formerly Town Clerk_, to- 
 wards the education and clothing of four boys, sons 
 of freemen of the city, which payment was believed 
 to be made in pursuance of the will of the said John 
 Carpenter, but that such will could not be found ; and 
 that the corporation were willing, instead of paying 
 the said annual sum, to charge the property called 
 the Carpenter estates, together with other property 
 belonging to them, with the payment of the perpetual 
 annual sum of nine hundi'ed pounds towards the sup- 
 port of such school ; and also that the market called 
 Honey-lane market, which belonged to them^ should 
 be abolished, and the site thereof appropriated for 
 the purposes of such school. The enactments which 
 follow, for the purpose of carrying these objects into 
 effect, declare (amongst other things) that the market 
 shall be discontinued from the 25th day of December, 
 1834, and the site appropriated for a school, which 
 shall be for ever maintained by the corporation " for 
 ^^ the religious and virtuous education of boys, and for 
 ^^ instructing them in the higher branches of litera- 
 ^^ ture, and all other useful learning.^^ That the com- 
 
87 
 
 mon council shall make regulations for the manage- 
 ment of the school,, in which regulations provision 
 shall be made that the authorized version of the Holy- 
 Bible be used and taught^ and that morning and 
 evening prayers be read in the school. That the first 
 and second masters shall at all times be chosen from 
 such candidates only as shall be certified to be best 
 qualified for the duties by six professors of King^s 
 college^ and University college^ London. That the 
 estates derived from Carpenter^ which are set forth 
 in the schedule to the act^ shall be charged with the 
 payment of 900/. per annum towards the support of 
 the school^ and the yearly sums payable in pursuance 
 of his will be deemed to be included in such sum of 
 900/. i The act also authorizes the common council 
 to delegate to a committee the general superinten- 
 dence of the affairs of the school. 
 
 Under the powers thus obtained^ the corporation 
 gave up the site of ground occupied by Honey-lane 
 
 i The endowment of 900Z. ayear did not absorb the whole amount 
 of rental which, at the time of passing the act, was derived from Car- 
 penter's bequest. The property has since become enhanced in value ; 
 and in a few years, when many of the existing leases expire, will yield 
 a very greatly increased revenue. Considering the intention with 
 which the property was originally bestowed, and the generous inte- 
 rest taken by the corporation in the promotion of education, it is not 
 improbable that at some future day it may become a question with 
 them whether the entire income of Carpenter's estates should not be 
 devoted to the purposes of education. The property, according to the 
 description in the schedule to the act, appears to comprise the follow- 
 
88 
 
 market k^ and erected thereon^ at an expense of nearly 
 20^000/.^ the spacious and commodious edifice thence- 
 fortli known as Tlie City of London School^ from 
 competitive designs furnislied by J. B. Bunning_, esq.^ 
 whose talented services have since become devoted to 
 the corporation in the character of city architect. The 
 first stone of the building was laid on the 21st Octo- 
 ber_, 1835_, by Lord Brougham^ who had rendered 
 important aid in overcoming some of the difficulties 
 which occurred during the progress of the bill in par- 
 liament ; and the school was opened with upwards of 
 foui' hundred pupils on the 2d February^ 1837^ when 
 
 ing number of houses, several of which have coach-houses, stables, and 
 
 other buildings attached to them ; viz. 
 
 In Lower Thames street . . . 2 
 
 Cheapside 1 
 
 Houndsditch 2 
 
 Tottenham-court road, east side - 37 
 
 Alfred place, west side - - . - 21 
 
 Ditto, east side - - - - 20 
 
 South crescent - - - - 13 
 
 North crescent - - - - 14 
 
 Tottenham mews - - - - 3 
 
 Store street 5 
 
 Chenies street . . . . i 
 
 Making a total of 119 houses, 
 besides other buildings. Of which number of houses the leases of 
 thirty-two have but between seven and eight years to run ; those of 
 the others expire at various periods more remote. 
 
 k On this site formerly stood the two parish churches of AUhallows, 
 Honey lane, and St. Mary Magdalen, Milk street, which were both 
 destroyed in the great fire of 1666. Some remains of them were dis- 
 covered in digging for the foundation of the school. 
 
89 
 
 an inaugural address was delivered in the presence of 
 the lord mayor (Alderman Kelly) and a large assem- 
 blage of the members of the corporation^ !^c., by the 
 Rev. Dr. Eitchie^, professor of natural philosophy and 
 astronomy in University college,, London. 
 
 An institution was thus formed where the sons of 
 those who are concerned in the various tradings com- 
 mercial^ and professional pursuits that constitute the 
 wealth and importance of London^ may receive a 
 sound and liberal education^ suited to the advanced 
 state of society^ and calculated to qualify them for 
 any of the various situations in life that they may be 
 called to fill ; an establishment which^ while it reflects 
 honour upon the corporation for their liberality^ sheds 
 an additional lustre upon the memory of the indivi- 
 dual whose charitable bequest has enabled them to 
 accomplish so laudable an object 1. 
 
 Before quitting this subject^ justice demands that 
 it should be recorded that the merit of originating the 
 scheme for establishing the City of London School 
 belongs to Warren Stormes Hale^ esq.^ deputy^ a 
 member of the common council for the ward of Cole- 
 man street^ who^ amidst many public services of im- 
 portance to his fellow- citizens^ has especially distin- 
 guished himself by his devotedness to the promotion 
 of popular education^ and other benevolent works^ 
 
 1 Some particulars of the subsequent endowments and benefactions 
 bestowed on the school will be found in the Appendix, No. V. 
 
90 
 
 and has earned a title to the warmest gratitude and 
 respect of his contemporaries^ while his memory will 
 live in the hearts of thousands in future generations. 
 
 During the years 1833 and 1834_, in which the sub- 
 ject was under the notice of the committee of city 
 lands_, he presided over the committee as chairman ; 
 and^ being cordially supported both by the committee 
 and the corporation generally,, his exertions were 
 crowned with the success which has been mentioned. 
 Through the same generous support of the corpora- 
 tion he has had the happiness of seeing a scheme^ sub- 
 sequently brought forward by him^ for founding an 
 asylum for orphans of the freemen of the city^ carried 
 out in the recently established school at Brixton^ 
 for the maintenance and education of one hundred 
 orphan children^ which, with the sanction of parlia- 
 ment, enjoys the endowment formerly belonging to 
 the London Workhouse, and which was denied to be 
 granted to the City of London School. In compli- 
 ment for such services, and in acknowledgement of 
 the interest continuously taken by him in promoting 
 the welfare of both these establishments, Mr. Hale 
 has, from the commencement of each of them, been 
 appointed from time to time the chairman of their 
 respective committees of management. 
 
 Having disposed of this matter, let us refer again 
 to Carpenter^ s "Will, in order briefly to set forth the 
 
91 
 
 manner in whicli some portions of his property were 
 bequeathed which have not yet been specified. 
 
 The introduction to this interesting document J^ is 
 characterized by an impressive seriousness^ which is 
 well deserving of being quoted. It is in these words : 
 " In the name of God^ Amen. I John Carpynter 
 ^^ junior^ citizen of London^ cogitating with earnest 
 " meditation how brief are the days of man_, and that 
 '^ many persons_, losing their time in leisure and en- 
 " joyment, are suddenly beset with trials, and die 
 <^ very often intestate : Willing therefore,, with God 
 " as my guide^ whilst yet in the enjoyment of life 
 " and health, and before languor clouds my reason, 
 " so to dispose of my frail and transitory goods, that 
 ^' at the time of my departure from this world I may 
 '^ more calmly direct my whole mind to the Lord God 
 '' my Saviour and Redeemer, and return him thanks 
 '' for benefits bestowed, and humbly ask pardon for 
 " my transgressions : it is for this that, being sound 
 " in body and mind, thanks be to God, I do now 
 '^ make, ordain, appoint, and declare this my last will 
 ^' and testament." 
 
 After commending his soul to God and the whole 
 college of saints above, he directs his ^' vile corpse to 
 ^^ be buried near the pulpit, before the entrance of 
 '' the chief chancel of the church of St. Peter of 
 
 m A translation of the entire Will is given in the Appendix, No. II. 
 
92 
 
 ^^ Cornliill » -^^ and lie gives minute directions for the 
 manner in which his funeral shall be performed^ and 
 the religious ceremonies which^ according to the cus- 
 tom of the age_, should be observed and kept_, and what 
 payments should be made to the clergy and the poor 
 who should be present thereat. 
 
 To his wife he bequeaths (over and above those 
 twenty librates of land <>_, and rent,, which he had be- 
 queathed and assigned to her by another will^ made 
 of his lands and tenements P) one hundred marks ster- 
 ling in ready money, and fifty marks weight of his 
 bettermost gold and silver jewels and vessels not be- 
 queathed in his present will, together with the moiety 
 of all his kitchen vessels and utensils pertaining to 
 his house or hostel in London. Also he gives to her 
 the house itself (which has been before described) for 
 a term of twenty years ; and for the remainder of the 
 term he had in it he gave it to the rector and church- 
 
 n The hope of obtaining the prayers of the living was one of the 
 chief reasons which induced the desire to be buried where attention 
 might be attracted to the tomb in frequented churcheS;, and in the 
 most conspicuous parts of them. — Quarterly Review, on Sepulchral Mo- 
 numents, Sept. 1842; p. 430. 
 
 o A librate of land {Ubrata terrce) contained four oxgangs, and every 
 oxgang thirteen acres ; but, according to some opinions, a librate was 
 so much land as was worth twenty shillings ayear (Co well's Interpreter). 
 In Henry the Third's time, he that had quindecim libras terrce was to 
 receive the order of knighthood. 
 
 P It is most likely that, by the will here referred to, Carpenter be- 
 queathed to the city the lands and tenements which they acquired 
 from him. 
 
93 
 
 wardens of St. Peter^s_, Cornhill,, to provide for certain 
 religions observances^ for the relief of the poor, and 
 towards the repair of the church. 
 
 He left ten marks to be disposed of and distributed 
 whilst he was lying at the point of death, or within 
 two days after his death, amongst his poorer neigh- 
 bours % and twenty marks afterwards, within the next 
 year, at the good discretion of his executors. 
 
 Then follow a number of legacies to his relations ; 
 viz. 
 
 To his brother Robert, as a memorial, and to super- 
 intend the execution of his will, one of those two 
 silver-gilt cups with a lid, which Thomas KnoUe gave 
 him, weighing twenty-five ounces. 
 
 And in like manner to his brother John the other 
 of the same cups, of the same weight. 
 
 To Richard, son of his brother Robert, for the in- 
 crease of his estate, when he should arrive at full age 
 and mature discretion, one hundred shillings. 
 
 q The distribution of gifts, or doles, under such circumstances was 
 of frequent occurrence in Roman CathoHc times. The intention ap- 
 pears to have been to excite the recipients to pray for the soul of the 
 dying person. The practice did not immediately cease at the Reforma- 
 tion ; for, in 1561, Sir Rowland HiU (said to be the first protestant 
 lord mayor), in his last illness, caused twelve pence to be distributed 
 to every householder in each ward of the city (Machyn's Diary, p. 270); 
 and, in 1566, Sir Martin Bowes, alderman, gave directions for thirty 
 pounds, which he kept ready told out in a little bag in his iron chest, 
 to be distributed amongst the poor of his ward at the time he was near 
 dying (Will of Sir Martin Bowes in Prerogative Court). 
 
94 
 
 And to Jolin, son of his brother John, other one 
 hundred shillings. 
 
 To Joan, daughter of the said Robert, at her mar- 
 riage, one hundred shilHngs, and a silver piece (de- 
 scribed as " unam hassam peciam'^), with a lid chased 
 after the manner of a rose, with a little round apple 
 and a sun gilt at the summit, and a salt-cellar, and 
 twelve silver spoons. 
 
 To Katherine, another daughter of the same Ro- 
 bert, who had been with him from her youth ^, at her 
 marriage ten marks sterling, and articles of plate 
 like those bequeathed to her sister. 
 
 To Margery, daughter of his brother John, a be- 
 quest similar to that above mentioned to her cousin 
 Joan. 
 
 To the Charterhouse of Shene ^, the Charterhouse 
 near London, and the fraternity of Sixty Priests of 
 London (of which two last he was a brother), forty 
 shillings each. 
 
 r As she bore the same christian-name as Carpenter's wife she was 
 probably their god-child^ and so had been adopted by them. She after- 
 wards became the wife of Piers Hulk (See Will of Carpenter's wife). 
 
 s In Surrey. Founded by Henry the Fifth in 1414 (Dugdale's Mo- 
 nasticon, vol. i. p. 973). By command of Henry the Seventh, Shene 
 changed its name to Richmond, which was the title of nobility he 
 bore before gaining the throne. 
 
 t This h ospital for the poor was founded by Rahere, minstrel of King 
 Henry the First, between 1123 and 1133.— Stow's Survey, p. 376. 
 
 u A college ofi&cer, now called manciple, whose duty is to provide 
 victuals for the establishment. — Fuller's Histoo-y of Cambridge, p. 39. 
 
95 
 
 To Jolin Bukberdj master of tlie hospital of St. 
 Bartholomew,, West SmitMeld *, twenty sMHings. 
 
 To Sir Eeginald Pecok^ master of the college of 
 St. Michael in Royal (Whityngton^s college)^ twenty 
 shillings ; to every chaplain of the college^ three shil- 
 lings and fourpence ; to every other chaplain^ not 
 being a fellow^ two shillings ; to every clerk^ twenty 
 pence ; to the choristers^ to be shared equally between 
 them^ forty pence; and to the mancipium^, twenty 
 pence. 
 
 To the poor of the hospital near the said college^ 
 twelve pence. 
 
 To every recluse ^ in London^ and for seven miles 
 rounds three shillings and fourpence. 
 
 To the prioress of Halywelly^ and to every mm 
 therCj twenty pence. 
 
 To the prioress of Stratford^ and to every nun there^ 
 twenty pence z. 
 
 To every house of the four orders of friars mendi- 
 
 X A person who, under a religious vow, led a life of seclusion in a 
 cell or hermitage. Such persons were supposed to hold celestial inter- 
 course, and to possess peculiar sanctity. — Fosbroke's Encydopcedia of 
 Antiquities, vol. ii, p. 803. 
 
 y Haliwell, a priory of Black Nuns, near Shoreditch, founded be- 
 tween 1108 and 1127. — Newcourt's Eepertoriitm, vol. i. p. 664. 
 
 z The nunnery at Stratford, Essex, was an establishment which for 
 many generations was celebrated as a school. Amongst Chaucer's 
 Canterbury pilgrims was a Nun, of whom he says, 
 
 '' And French she spake fal fayre and fetisly 
 " After the schole of Stratford atte Bow." 
 
96 
 
 cant and friars of tlie Holy Cross in London^ thirteen 
 shillings and fourpence ; and to every brother^ a priest 
 of the same houses,, three pence a. 
 
 To every poor lay brother and sister of the hospital 
 of St. Mary within Cripplegate ^ ; and also to every 
 poor sister in the hospitals of St. Mary without 
 Bishopsgate <^^ St. Bartholomew in Smithfield, St. 
 Katherine near the Tower ^^ and St. Thomas in 
 Southwark ^, twelve pence. 
 
 To be disposed of, at the discretion of his execu- 
 tors^ amongst the poor lepers at Holborn^ Locks^ 
 and Hackney ^ and the poor madmen at Bethlem s^ 
 forty shillings. 
 
 a The orders of mendicant or begging friars were limited by the 
 Council of Lyons to four; viz., the Dominicans or preachers, called 
 Black Friars ; the Franciscans or Minorites, called Grey Friars ; the 
 Carmelites, or White Friars ; and the Augustins (Stow's Survey, p. 280). 
 These orders, but particularly the Dominicans, very much resembled 
 the Jesuits of modern times. In them were found the most learned 
 men and the most popular preachers of the age (Gelding's History of 
 St. Thomas's Hospital, p. 24), The friars of the Holy Cross were called 
 Crossed, Crutched, or Crowched Friars (Newcourt's Reperiorium, 
 vol. i. p. 328). 
 
 b Founded by "William Elsing, citizen and mercer, for one hundred 
 blind people, and called Elsing spital. The site is now occupied by 
 Sion college. — Newcourt's Repertorium, vol. i. p. 347-8. 
 
 c Called St. Mary Spital : founded in 1197 by Walter Brune, sheriflF 
 of London, and his wife. It had one hundred and eighty beds for the 
 poor. — Stow's Survey, p. 498. 
 
 d Founded by Maud, wife to King Stephen, for a master, brethren, 
 sisters, and almswomen (Stow's Survey, p. 498). Removed, on the 
 formation of St. Katherine's docks, to Regent's park. 
 
 e First founded by the prior of Bermondsey in 1213. — Stow, p.416. 
 
97 
 
 To be disposed of by turns, in food or money, 
 amongst tbe poor prisoners of Newgate, Lndgate, 
 the Fleet, Marshalsea, and King's Bench, and also in 
 the prison of Convicts at Westminster, one hundred 
 shillings ^. 
 
 His books, such of them as have not been before 
 mentioned, he disposed of as follows : 
 
 The book " Biblise abbreviatse,^' with the " Historise 
 Provinciarum" at the end, which John Sudbury gave 
 him ; to Sir David Fyvian, rector of St. Benet Fink i, 
 and five marks to undertake the execution of his will. 
 
 That little book called " Prosperus de vita contem- 
 
 f Persons afflicted with leprosy were not allowed to remain in the 
 city, but were removed to lazarhouses or hospitals provided for them 
 in the suburbs. The one at Holborn was the hospital of St, Giles in 
 the fields ; the Lock was in South wark, at the end of Kent street. 
 A district in the neighbourhood is still called Lock's fields (Stow's 
 Survey, pp. 444, 500). See an interesting paper on leper hospitals by 
 Mr. Pettigrew, in the Journal of the British Archaeological Associa- 
 tion, vol. xi. pp. 9, 95. 
 
 S The hospital of St. Mary of Bethlem, for lunatics, was founded 
 in 1247, by Simon Fitzmary, sherifi" (Stow's Survey, p. 166). It was 
 removed from Moorfields to St. George's fields, Southwark, in 1815. 
 
 h Ludgate, a prison for debtors being freemen of the city, now forms 
 part of the Debtors' prison in Whitecross street. The Fleet and the 
 Marshalsea have been consolidated with the King's Bench, under the 
 name of the Queen's prison. The prison of Convicts at Westminster 
 was a prison belonging to the Bishop of London, for clerks convict, 
 and formed part of the gate-house of the monastery. It stood at the 
 western entrance of Tothill street, and was pulled down in 1776. — 
 Walcott's Memorials of Westminster, pp. 273-278. 
 
 i It is a curious circumstance that, after the lapse of four centuries, 
 the rectory of St. Benet Fink, being imited to that of St. Peter -le-poor, 
 is at the present time held by Dr. Vivian. 
 
 H 
 
98 
 
 plativa/^ with other things in the same,, and five marks 
 sterling; to William Chedworth^ another executor. 
 
 The book called '^ Speculum morale regium/^ made 
 for a some time king of France ; to Robert Langford, 
 late his clerk. 
 
 His little book containing " Alanus de planctu/^ 
 with other notable things ; to John Crouton^ late his 
 clerk. 
 
 His other little book containing '' Alanus de Anti- 
 claudiano/^ and other notable things; to Richard 
 Mordan^ late his clerk k^ with thirteen shillings and 
 fourpence. 
 
 All his books in French, which belonged to Sir 
 Thomas Pykworth chivaler ^, containing in the begin- 
 ning the ten commandments, the twelve articles of 
 faith, the seven theological virtues, and other things, 
 and at the end, '' Dispositio et regimen bellorum 
 duorum et acierum guerrarum -/^ to John Brown, late 
 his clerk. 
 
 All that paper book, containing " Philobiblon Ri- 
 cardi Dunelmensis," " Quidam de vetula,^^ " Alanus 
 
 ^ Carpenter's wife appointed Ricliard Mordan one of her executors, 
 and left him a rose piece of silver, chased. (See her Will). 
 
 1 Sir Thomas Pykworth was a man of considerable note in the reign 
 of Henry the Fourth. He was a member of the privy council, and 
 several times ambassador to the French, and afterwards became gover- 
 nor of Jersey and lieutenant of Calais (Nicolas's Proceedings, <fcc., of 
 Privy Council, vol. i. pp. 238, 246, 261, 353, d;c.). He was buried in 
 the priory of Bermondsey (Stow's Survey, p. 421). 
 
99 
 
 de planctu/^ and Tractatus dictaminis j^^ to Richard 
 De Lafeld^ his clerk. 
 
 The little book " De corpore pollecie/^ in French ; 
 to Richard Lovell_, late his clerk. 
 
 His little book ^' De parabolis Solamonis/^ '' Ec- 
 clesiasticus/^ '^ Seneca ad Callionem/^ '' De remediis 
 utriusque fortunse/^ and " De quatuor virtutibus car- 
 dinalibus/^ together with " Sententise diversoriim 
 prophetarum/' translated from Greek into Latin by 
 Master Peter de Alphense^ and ^^ Liber de regimine 
 dominorum/^ otherwise called " Secretum secretorum 
 Aristotelis ;" to Robert Blount_, late his clerk ; also to 
 the same Robert the use of all his little books or 
 quartos of the modes of entry and engrossing of the 
 acts and records as well according to the common law 
 of the realm as the custom of the city of London^ so 
 that^ after the decease of the same Robert,, they may 
 remain to the chamber of the Guildhall of London^ 
 for the information of the clerks there. 
 
 To Nicholas Mason and John Elys^ his clerks ^, he 
 bequeaths five marks, to be shared equally between 
 them, and so many of his little books or quartos '^ De 
 devotionibus, moralitatibus, et dictaminibus/^ as shall 
 seem fit by the discretion of his executors. 
 
 na John Elys appears to have continued in the service of Carpenter's 
 widow up to the time of her death in 1458. She leaves him several 
 bequests, and also desires that he shall be appointed to receive certain 
 rents devised by her. (See her Will). 
 
 LofC. h2 
 
100 
 
 To Agnes Page,, his old servant^ over and above her 
 salary^ forty shillings. 
 
 To Margaret Elys^ for her advancement when she 
 shall come to full age^ or be married^ five marks. 
 
 To little Christopher^ who had been with him from 
 his cradle^ when he shall come to full age^ if he be then 
 of good disposition^, five marks for his advancement. 
 
 To John Reynold II; twenty shillings. 
 
 To John PoUey, thirteen shillings and fourpence, 
 and one of his gowns at the choice of his wife. 
 
 To John Colop; twenty shillings. 
 
 To Agnes Vertesance °, ten shillings. 
 
 To Joan Gerard^ ten shillings. 
 
 To Robert Umfrey, twenty shillings^ over and above 
 the annuity which he had assigned him by his other 
 will in aid of his sustenance while he lives. 
 
 He wiUed that his wife^ out of his goods^ should 
 support and maintain the poor and impotent Richard 
 Gray^ so long as he was willing to stay with her ; but 
 otherwise^ that he should have in aid of his sustenance 
 sixpence every week^ or that annuity which he had 
 assigned to him for his life by his other will. 
 
 The residue of aU his goods and chattels not be- 
 queathed by his will; after payment of his debts^ if 
 
 n Carpenter's wife left several legacies to Reynold, whom she de- 
 scribes as " my cousin." (See her Will.) 
 
 o Carpenter's wife left " to Agneys Yertsanz, ancress of Seynt 
 " Mighell's, at Seynt Albons, vjs. viijc?." {Ibid.) 
 
101 
 
 any there were^ he left to his executors to dispose of 
 in works of piety and mercy_, as they might think 
 most pleasing to God_, and profitable to the salvation 
 of his soul. . 
 
 It is impossible to read such a description of the ^ 
 manner in which Carpenter disposed of his worldly 
 goods without being struck by the extent and variety 
 of his gifts, the thoughtful consideration with which 
 he bestows them, and the wide range of his compre- 
 hensive benevolence : the impulses of religion, — the 
 claims of relationship, of friendship, and of social and 
 domestic life, — the various duties incident to his fa- 
 voured position, and especially the claims of charity, 
 are all here shown to have met with that attention and 
 regard which indicate a character of mind that claims 
 for its possessor our warmest admiration. 
 
 He appointed as his executors his wife Katherine, 
 with the beforenamed David Fyvian and William 
 Chedworth ; and the beforenamed Master John Car- 
 penter (of St. Anthony^s hospital), and his own bro- 
 thers Robert and John, to be their supervisors and 
 coadjutors. No record has been discovered of the 
 exact date of his death ; but, as his wife left provision 
 by will for keeping an anniversary for him on the 12th 
 day of May in every year, it may not unreasonably be 
 assumed that that was the day of his decease, but 
 whether in the year 1441 or 1442 remains uncertain. 
 His will was proved by the executors in the Commis- 
 
102 
 
 sary Court of the Bishop of London, on the 12th of 
 May, 1442. According to the directions contained in 
 his will, he was buried under a tomb before the door 
 of the chancel or choir of the church of St. Peter 
 CornhillP; but the fact is not mentioned by Stow, 
 or any other writer who records the names of persons 
 buried there. 
 
 Some entries in the city^s records a few years after 
 his death show that, amongst his other public services, 
 he had acted as a kind of trustee in dispensing a large 
 bounty given by Cardinal Beaufort, bishop of Win- 
 chester, towards the repair of London bridge. 
 
 It appears that on the 14th of January, 1437, ^^ the 
 '^ great stone gate, and tower standing upon it, next 
 *' Southwark, fell suddenly down into the river, with 
 " two of the fairest arches of the bridge q f and Stow 
 says, to the repairing thereof divers wealthy citizens 
 gave large sums of money r. 
 
 It was probably at this time that the cardinal, 
 whose residence in Winchester house, in the imme- 
 diate neighbourhood of the catastrophe, w^ould prompt 
 him to assist in the work of restoration, entrusted to 
 Carpenter, as one on whom he could fully rely, the 
 appropriation of the sum of one thousand pounds, 
 munificently given by him for the works of the bridge. 
 
 P Wills of Katherine Carpenter. 
 
 q Thomson's Chronicles of London Bridge, p. 271. 
 
 ^ Stow's Survey, p. 61. 
 
103 
 
 A portion of this amount remained unexpended long 
 after Carpenter^s deatli_, in the hands of his executors. 
 The cardinal himself died on the 11th of April,, 1447^ 
 and^ on the 19th of August following^ an entry occurs 
 in the city records to this effect ; viz. 
 
 " Memorandum : to communicate with the execu- 
 '^ tors of John Carpenter^ on account of one thousand 
 " pounds of the money of the lord cardinal^ in what 
 '' manner it was expended about London bridge. 
 
 '^ And that the bridge-masters be called before the 
 " mayor and aldermen to say and certify where and 
 " in what manner the piles and stones purchased by 
 " John Carpenter were used«.^^ 
 
 There is no doubt that Carpenter's executors were 
 able to render a satisfactory account^ for we find that 
 two years later they still had a portion of the money 
 in their hands^ which had not been required to be 
 expended on the bridge^ and that they agreed to lend 
 the same for a limited time to the city^ on the per- 
 sonal security of the mayor and aldermen. The entry 
 of this rather curious transaction is as follows : 
 
 '' A common council^ held the 22d day of Decem- 
 ^' ber [1449] . This day by the said mayor and alder- 
 " men it is granted and agreed that the two hundred 
 " pounds sterling, hitherto remaining in the custody 
 ^'' of the executors of the testament of John Carpenter^ 
 
 s Journal No. 4, fo. 205. 
 
104 
 
 " lately granted by Henry^ of happy memory^ late 
 ^^ bishop of Winchester^ for the repairing of London 
 " bridge^ shall be borrowed for a time towards pay- 
 " ment_, ^c, of one thousand pounds, to be paid to 
 " the executors of the testament of Thomas Haseley, 
 '' knight_, for the purchase of the Billingsgate ; so that 
 '^ twenty aldermen, by their written obligation, shall 
 " be bound to the beforenamed executors of the said 
 " late John Carpenter, for security for repayment of 
 '' the same two hundred pounds to be made on the 
 '' feast of St. Michael next coming, viz.j every of the 
 " said aldermen in 10/., ^c. 
 
 " Also it is granted and agreed that two hundred 
 " pounds of that five hundred marks, to be levied at 
 ^' the feast of St. Peter ad vincula [August 1st] next 
 " coming, lately in common council granted to the 
 " use and in part payment of the said one thousand 
 ^^ pounds, shall be given up in satisfaction of the said 
 '' two hundred pounds in form aforesaid. 
 
 " Firstly, Thomas Chalton, mayor, is bound by his 
 '' written obligation to Katherine Carpenter, David 
 ^f Fyvian, clerk, and William Chedworth, executors 
 " of the testament of John Carpenter, in lOZ. sterling, 
 " the date whereof is the 23d day of December, in 
 ^' the twenty-eighth year of Henry the Sixth. 
 
 '^ Also Henry Frowik, alderman, by his written 
 " obligation of the aforesaid date, is bound to the 
 ^^ same executors in lOZ. sterling. 
 
105 
 
 ^' Also John Hatherle^ alderman j" and so on to 
 the number of twenty in all *. 
 
 And still later there is an entry to the following 
 effect; viz., " Saturday the 29th day of July [1452] 
 ^' came here Katherine Carpenter_, widow^ and ac- 
 ^' knowledged herself to have received and had of 
 ''■ German Lynch_, goldsmith_, 155/. sterlings which 
 " the same German had in his custody of the goods 
 ^' which the Lord Henry^ late cardinal of England 
 '' and bishop of Winchester^ during his life^ gave to- 
 " wards the repairs of London bridge ; of which 155/. 
 " the said Katherine doth acquit the said German_, 
 ^' according as by a certain acquittance in the rolls of 
 '' memoranda^ inrolled in the time of William Gre- 
 '' gory then mayor^ plainly appears ".^^ 
 
 Cardinal Beaufort was the third son of John of 
 Gaunt; duke of Lancaster^ and consequently uncle to 
 Henry the Fifth^, and great-uncle to Henry the Sixth. 
 He was made bishop of Lincoln in 1398^ and trans- 
 lated to the see of Winchester in 1405 ; he was sub- 
 sequently raised to the degree of a cardinal, and also 
 several times held the office of lord chancellor. He 
 was the wealthiest and one of the most powerful per- 
 sonages in the realm, and repeatedly lent large sums 
 of money to the king, for which he held the king^s 
 jewels, and even his crown, in pawn. He lies buried 
 
 t Journal No. 5, fo. 31. « Jow^nal No. 5, fo. 83. 
 
'^■-^f. 
 
 
 106 
 
 under a magnificent tomb in the cathedral of Win- 
 chester. 
 
 In the year 1448 the city purchased of Carpenter^ s 
 widow some property belonging to her near Leaden- 
 hall^ for the purpose of enlarging the common garner 
 there for the store of corn for the supply of the city x; 
 and in 1453 she sold them some other ground there^ 
 which was occupied by a chapel that had been erected 
 by Simon Eyre^ late mayor of the city y. 
 
 She lived until the year 1458^ and left two wills, 
 one relating to her personal property, proved in the 
 Commissary Court of London, and the other relating 
 to real property, which was proved in the court of 
 Hustings of London. Both these documents are given 
 at length in the Appendix, Nos. III. and IV. 
 
 It will perhaps assist in some degree the attainment 
 of a just view of the life and character of John Car- 
 penter, and the formation of a right estimate of the 
 influences by which he was surrounded, to take a brief 
 survey of some of the events and circumstances of 
 contemporaneous occurrence and interest. 
 
 A very slight acquaintance with history will suffice 
 to show that the reigns of Richard the Second, Henry 
 the Fourth, Henry the Fifth, and Henry the Sixth 
 (which comprise the period within which Carpenter 
 
 X Journal No. 4, fo. 231, 242. y Journal No. 5, fo. 114. 
 
107 
 
 lived) were full of events of deep interest and impor- 
 tance^ both to that and succeeding ages_, whether view- 
 ed in relation to political^ social^, or religious afPairs. 
 
 In the events of political importance^ much promi- 
 nence is assignable to the long continued and deso- 
 lating wars which were carried on between England 
 and France^ and in which occurred the renowned 
 victories gained by English prowess at Agincourt and 
 other places. A more impressive picture of the horrors 
 of the strife between the two nations could scarcely 
 be drawn than is furnished by the instructions given 
 to the English ambassadors who were authorized to 
 attempt a pacification in the year 1439. They were 
 to represent '' that the wars for the crown of France 
 '^ had now lasted above a century ; that in this period 
 " more men had perished in the contest than the po- 
 " pulation of both kingdoms then amounted to ; and 
 " that all the world did not contain so many noble 
 ^' princes^ knights^ squires^ and men of feats as these 
 ^^ wars had destroyed. ^^ The orators were to add^ 
 " that it was too great sorrow and horror to think 
 ^^ or hear that so much blood had been shed; that 
 ^^ the Christian faith, which might have been dilated 
 '' through the world, had in consequence greatly de- 
 " creased ; and that either the conflict must be ter- 
 ^^ minated or one nation must destroy the other z.^^ 
 
 z Turner's History of England, vol. iii. p. 26. 
 
108 
 
 The dethronement and ignominious death of Ri- 
 chard the Second^ as the result of his arbitrary and 
 dissipated course ; together with the frequent insur- 
 rections and civil commotions which disturbed the 
 " able but remorseless career^^ of his vanquisher and 
 successor Henry the Fourth and the reigns of the two 
 following kings^ are also to be numbered amongst the 
 political occurrences of great moment which distin- 
 guish the period in question a. 
 
 As respects the social aspect of the age^ it may be 
 remarked as one of its distinctive characteristics that 
 the English government and constitution was through- 
 out this period gradually assuming a more settled form; 
 the royal prerogative was declining^ the king became 
 more dependant for his income upon parhamentary 
 aids and grants_, the power of the commons in control- 
 ling public affairs greatly increased,, and the general 
 condition of the people experienced many meliora- 
 tions and improvements b. 
 
 Under Edward the Third much had been done for 
 the advancement of domestic manufactures^ parti- 
 cularly that of woollen cloths^ and for the improve- 
 ment and extension of commerce. In his reign the 
 incorporation of many of the city companies^ with 
 
 a Pictorial History of England, book iv. chap, i., book v. chap. i. 
 
 b Pictorial History of England, book iv. c. 3 ; Taylor's Book of 
 Rights, or Constitutional Acts and Parliamentary Proceedings ; Hume's 
 History of England. 
 
109 
 
 grants of valuable privileges^ took place^ having most 
 of them previously existed only as voluntary guilds or 
 fraternities. Instances soon began to be of frequent 
 occurrence of individuals rising to great wealthy and 
 sometimes to rank and power^ through the successful 
 pursuit of trade c. The city of London in particular 
 went on increasing in wealth and importance,, and 
 showing signs of progress and improvement. To have 
 the support and assistance of the citizens became an 
 object of great importance to successive kings^ from 
 whom they were^ on that account^ enabled to obtain 
 many valuable charters of privileges. In municipal 
 history '' the reign of Richard the Second is a re- 
 ^' markable sera^ as we must refer to this period the 
 " constitution of the city government as at present 
 " established in the commonalty in common council 
 '^ assembled ^/^ We may judge of the consideration 
 in which the citizens were held at this time from the 
 circumstance that in the assessment of the famous 
 poll-tax^ which gave rise to Wat Tyler^s rebeUion^ the 
 lord mayor was taxed the same as an earl^ and the 
 aldermen as barons e. 
 
 Amongst other events at this period^ of importance 
 to London^ may be mentioned the visitation of a de- 
 
 c Pictorial History of England, book v. chap. iy. 
 d Norton's Commentaries, chap. xiii. p. 152. 
 
 e Norton's Commentaries, p. 154^ quoting Cotton's Abridgement of 
 the Records. 
 
no 
 
 structive plague^ in 1407, which carried off thirty 
 thousand victims f. 
 
 In 1411 the corporation, feeling the inadequacy of 
 the small building in which they had been accus- 
 tomed to meet (and which gave the name to the street 
 where it was situate, now called Aldermanbury), 
 commenced the erection of their present spacious 
 Guildhall s. Other improvements and works of pub- 
 lic utility, equally indicative of the city's progression, 
 occurred about the same time; as for instance, in 
 1410, the erection of the Stocks market on the site 
 where the Mansion-house now stands \ In 1414 an 
 additional gate or postern in the city walls was erected 
 at Moorgate i. In 1415 the first attempt was made at 
 lighting the streets ; when the mayor, Sir Henry Bar- 
 ton, ordered housekeepers to hang out lanterns in 
 the winter evenings between AUhallows and Candle- 
 mas 1^. In 1419 Leadenhall was erected as a public 
 granary, in which corn might be stored against a time 
 of dearth 1 ; and, in 1423, Newgate was rebuilt by the 
 executors of Sir Eichard Whityngton, and conduits 
 were erected in several places for better supplying the 
 
 f Maitland's London, vol. i. p. 185. S Stow's Survey, p. 273. 
 h Fabian's Chronicle, part vii. p. 351. 
 i Stow's Survey, p. 521. k Stow's Survey, p. 521. 
 
 1 Mabitl&nd's London, vol. i. p. 187. 
 m lUd., p. 188. 
 
 n 'Nichols's London Pageants, 1S31; Taylor's Glory of Hegality, 1820, 
 book v.; Knight's Life of William Caxton, 1844, p. 33. 
 
Ill 
 
 city with water "i. Public processions and pageants 
 of great splendour were also frequently indulged in 
 during the period under review n. 
 
 With regard to religious affairs^ the period is full of 
 interest. It was then that WiclifPe^ " the morning star 
 " of the reformation/^ by his teaching and his writings,, 
 was spreading doctrines which^ in the language of a 
 writer of the Eomish church «_, '' were soon to revolu- 
 ^^ tionize the minds of many^ and to shake the pillars 
 '^ of papal power/^ He gave to his countrymen the 
 first translation into the English language of the en- 
 tire Scriptures P^ and maintained the right of every 
 one to read them for himself. By his erudition and 
 intellectual capacity^, and his vigorous exposure of the 
 errors and abuses of the churchy his followers became 
 so numerous that they were supposed to amount to 
 one half the kingdom q. The Lollards, as they were 
 called, became the objects of the bitterest hatred and 
 persecution by the clergy, who, although losing their 
 hold on the popular mind ^^ yet had influence enough 
 to procure (but not, it would appear, without recourse 
 to surreptitious means «) the hateful enactment for 
 putting those whom they adjudged to be heretics to 
 
 o Rev. Joseph Berington, Literary History of Middle Ages, book \d. 
 p Thomson's Ilhistrations of British History, vol. i. p. 68. 
 q Ibid., p. 65. 
 
 r Pictorial History of England, vol. ii. pp. 137-139. 
 s Hannay's History of the Representation of England, 1831^ p. 118^ 
 on the authority of the Rolls of Parliament, 2 Hen. V. 
 
112 
 
 death by burning. This detestable law * was passed in 
 1401; and it was not suffered long to remain inopera- 
 tive. The first victim under it was William Sawtre_, 
 a priest of St. Osith^s in London u_, who was brought 
 to the stake in Smithfield^ in March^ 1401. In 1410, 
 one Badby, called in some accounts a tailor, in others 
 a smith, suflPered a similar death in the same place, on 
 which occasion the Prince of Wales (afterwards Henry 
 the Fifth) was present, and tried, without avail, aU 
 his powers of persuasion to shake the constancy of 
 the poor man, and induce him to recant his heretical 
 opinions ^. Other victims followed from time to time, 
 the foremost amongst them being a man of noble 
 rank, who had been a friend and associate of the king 
 himself, viz.j the famous Lord Cobham y. 
 
 The period of which we are speaking was also di- 
 stinguished for the great schism which prevailed in 
 the church of Rome, and tended much to weaken its 
 influence through the contending claims of two and 
 even three rival popes, all pretending to infallibility 
 at the same time. The council of Constance, convened 
 
 t Stat. 2 Hen. IV. c. 15. 
 
 u Now called St. Benet Shereliog. Stow's Survey, p. 262, 
 X Holinshed's Chronicles; Thomas Walsingham's Historia Anglice. 
 y Pictorial History of England, book v. chap. ii. Rapin says of Lord 
 Cobham^ he was the first nobleman who suffered for the reformed reli- 
 gion. For courage^ learning, and capacity he had few if any equals 
 in the age he lived in ; and his memory has been honoured in all subse- 
 quent times (Hannay's History of the Representation, p. 124). 
 
113 
 
 in 1414^ asserted the superior authority of general 
 councils over the nominal head of the church_, by de- 
 posing each of these pontiffs^ and attempted to restore 
 the peace of the church by electing another. By de- 
 crees of this council the celebrated John Huss was 
 condemned to the stake in Bohemia_, and vengeance 
 wreaked upon the lifeless corpse of the English re- 
 former Wicliffe^ by his remains being dug up from 
 his grave and burnt^ and ignominiously thrown into 
 a river z. 
 
 Notwithstanding the existing discouragements and 
 impediments to mental advancement,, various influ- 
 ences were at work in this age^ in different parts of 
 Europe^ tending to the revival of learning^ and the 
 spread of knowledge amongst the people. The labours 
 of Dante^ Petrarch^ and Boccaccio^ the cultivation of 
 Grecian literature^ the introduction into Europe of 
 algebra from the Arabians % the encouragement given 
 to learning by the family of Medici in Florence^ are 
 circumstances the influence of which conferred on this 
 period a peculiar importance and interest b. 
 
 With regard to England in particular^ the sera is 
 remarkable for its being that in which English litera- 
 
 z Waddington's History of the Church, chap. 23, 25; SceTies from 
 the History of the Christian Church, 1846, p. J' 7. 
 
 a Bell's View of Universal History and Literature, 1833. 
 
 b Berington's Literary Histwy of the Middle Ages, bookvi, ; Hallam's 
 Introduction to the Literature of Europe, vol. i. chap. 1, 2. 
 
114 
 
 ture may be said to have liad its origin. It was the 
 age which produced the numerous works of Wicliffe, 
 Chaucer^jGower^Maundeville, the accomplished James 
 the First of Scotland,, and other English writers, 
 whose labours contributed so much to the cultivation 
 and improvement of the language and literature of 
 this country c. 
 
 Brief and imperfect as it is^ this review of the pe- 
 riod in which it was Carpenter's lot to live will suffice 
 to show that it was one of stirring interest to those 
 who were contemporary with it, and fraught with re- 
 sults of enduring importance to succeeding ages. 
 
 The details which have been given of the life and 
 actions of John Carpenter carry with them so clear 
 an indication of the general character of the man, that 
 it would be superfluous to extend this narrative by 
 any elaborate disquisition on the subject. But still 
 there are some strongly marked facts and features 
 which may without impropriety be alluded to in draw- 
 ing this memoir to a close, as tending to enhance our 
 interest in him, and to increase our reverence for his 
 memory. 
 
 In the first place, it is worthy of remark that from 
 his early youth to the close of his life he seems to 
 have been constantly engaged in pursuits intimately 
 
 c Pictorial History of England, hook \y. chap, v.; Turner's History 
 of England, vol. v. 
 
115 
 
 connected with the public interests^ and especially 
 those more immediately affecting the welfare of his 
 native city ; and there is ample evidence both of the 
 great usefulness of his labours for the public good, 
 and of the high degree in which they were appreci- 
 ated at the time. His whole course seems to en- 
 title him to be regarded as a man habitually acting 
 under the influence of religious principles,, and in the 
 exercise of a piety eminently practical ; and there are 
 decided proofs that he was a staunch lover of justice, 
 and an inflexible opponent to wrong doing, however 
 influential the quarters in which it might be exhi- 
 bited. His taste for literature, and his intimate asso- 
 ciation with men of learning, who were distinguished 
 for their efforts to promote the advancement of so- 
 ciety in a degree beyond most of their contemporaries, 
 confer also a peculiar interest upon his personal his- 
 tory. And the genial benevolence of mind which 
 seems to have marked the whole course of his life, 
 and is especially evident in the disposition which he 
 made of his property, adds a charm to his character 
 which will ever render it worthy of endearing remem- 
 brance. These and other points which might be re- 
 ferred to, which will doubtless occur to the mind of 
 an attentive reader of the foregoing memoir, must, 
 we think, lead to the conviction that the individual 
 who forms the subject of it was something more than 
 an ordinary every-day man, and that his career was 
 
 i2 
 
116 
 
 strongly marked by characteristics which claim di- 
 stinctive admiration and applause. 
 
 It only remains to add that the corporation of Lon- 
 don_, who have good reason to exult in the eminent 
 position which the City of London School has attained 
 under their fostering care^ have_, in a spirit of just 
 gratitude^ honoured the memory of John Carpenter, 
 by causing a statue of him to be placed in a conspi- 
 cuous part of the building,, with an inscription, which 
 presents a faithful outline of his character and good 
 deeds, and will form an appropriate conclusion to the 
 present narrative. It occupies five sides of an octa- 
 y gonal pedestaL and is as follows : 
 
 To the Memory of 
 JOHN CARPENTER, 
 
 an eminent citizen of London 
 
 and member of the Company of Mercers, 
 
 who lived during the reigns of 
 
 Henry V. and Henry VI. 
 
 and who bequeathed 
 
 to the corporation of this city 
 
 certain lands and tenements 
 
 for the purpose of 
 
 maintaining and educating four boys 
 
 and sending them to the Universities ; 
 
 from which bequest resulted 
 
 the foundation and endowment of 
 
 The City of London School, 
 
 under the authority of 
 
 an Act of Parliament, 
 
 A.D. M.DCCC.XXXIV. 
 
117 
 
 He was distinguished by 
 
 his general attainments and learning ; 
 
 his knowledge of the 
 
 laws customs and privileges of this city ; 
 
 his integrity of character, and universal benevolence. 
 
 From his earliest youth he was devoted 
 
 to the service of his fellow-citizens, 
 
 and throughout the course of his life 
 
 proved himself 
 
 a ready defender of their rights 
 
 and a zealous promoter of their interests. 
 
 He was elected 
 Common Clerk or Town Clerk of London, 
 
 A.D. M.CCCC.XVII., 
 
 and held that office for twenty-one years, 
 
 during which period 
 
 he compiled the valuable treatise still extant 
 
 under the title of " Liber Albus." 
 
 He likewise 
 
 represented the city in Parliament, 
 
 A.D. M.cccc.xxxvi. and m.cccc.xxxix. 
 
 As one of the 
 
 Executors of Sir Richard Whittington, 
 
 he conferred essential benefits 
 
 on the city 
 
 by promoting various public works, 
 
 especially 
 
 the erection of Conduits, 
 
 the rebuilding of Newgate, 
 
 the enlargement of the Hospital of Saint Bartholomew, 
 
 the completion of the Guildhall, 
 
 and the formation of a Library attached thereto, 
 
 to which he subsequently bequeathed 
 
 sundry rare books 
 
 for the benefit of students 
 
 resorting to the same. 
 
 In token of his eminent services, 
 
 he was honoured 
 
 both by his sovereign and fellow-citizens 
 
 with peculiar immunities 
 
 and privileges. 
 
118 
 
 He left munificent bequests 
 
 to the Charterhouse, 
 
 and the Fraternity of Sixty Priests in London, 
 
 of which brotherhoods he was a member, 
 
 as well as to many other 
 
 religious establishments and persons ; 
 
 also 
 
 to the hospitals of 
 
 Saint Mary within Cripplegate, 
 
 Saint Mary Avithout Bishopsgate, 
 
 Saint Bartholomew in Smithfield, 
 
 Saint Katherine near the Tower, and 
 
 Saint Thomas in South wark ; 
 
 to the houses 
 
 for poor licpers at Holborn, Locks, and Hackney, 
 
 and for poor Madmen at Bethlem ; 
 
 and 
 
 to the poor prisoners in Newgate, Ludgate, 
 
 the Fleet, Marshalsea, and King's Bench, 
 
 and the Prison of Convicts 
 
 at Westminster. 
 
 He died 
 on the xiith of May, M.cccc.xLii.; 
 
 and was buried 
 
 before the chancel of the church of 
 
 Saint Peter, Cornhill, 
 
 of which parish 
 
 he was an inhabitant and a liberal benefactor. 
 
 Thus 
 
 his comprehensive charity 
 
 embraced all the necessities 
 
 of his fellow men ; 
 
 and 
 
 the general conduct of his life 
 
 exhibited the character 
 
 of one who 
 
 (in the words of Holy Writ) 
 
 desired 
 
 " To do justly, love mercy, 
 
 and 
 
 " walk humbly with his God." 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 I. 
 
 LIST OF 
 BOOKS BELONGING TO JOHN CARPENTER, 
 
 WHICH AEE MENTIONED IN HIS WILL, 
 
 WITH BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES, cfcc. 
 
 1. " My little book containing ' Alanus de Anti- 
 " claudiano/ and other notable things." 
 
 The " Anticlaudianus" is a Latin poem of nine books, 
 much in the manner of Claudian, and written in defence of 
 Divine Providence against a passage in that poet's Rufinus. 
 It was a famous book in the middle ages (Warton's History 
 of English Poetry, vol. i. p. cxxxii., and vol. ii. p. 166). '' It 
 " treats," says Mr. Turner {History of England, vol. iv. 
 p. 166), " on the seven arts and sciences, and morals, with 
 " great fluency of versification and some good precepts." 
 Chaucer alludes to the work in his House of Fame, book ii. 
 Hne478. There are as many as three copies of it in the 
 Cottonian MSS. in the British Museum, viz., Vespasianus 
 A X. (1) fo. 1 ; Titus D XX. (18) fo. 138 ; Cleopatra B vi. 
 (3) fo. 87. There is also an old French translation of it in 
 Bibl. Reg. Paris. MSS. cod. 7632. 
 
122 
 
 Alanus de Insulis (or Alan de I'lsle), a poet and divine, 
 who died in 1202, is described as one of the greatest of the 
 schoolmen (Newman's Life of St. Stephen Harding, chap, 
 vii. p. 69). Mosheim says of him he was " a logician who 
 " made no mean figure among the disputatious tribe ; who 
 '' applied himself also to the study of chemistry, and pub- 
 " lished several moral discourses, in which there are many 
 " wise and useful exhortations and precepts" {Ecclesiastical 
 History, vol. i. p. 618). It is not clear whether he was an 
 Enghshman or not. An account of his life and writings 
 may be read in Tanner's Bibliotheca Britannico-Hibernica, 
 p. 16. (Turner's History of England, vol. iv. p. 166). 
 
 2. " My little book containing *^ Alanus de planctu/ 
 " with other notable things." 
 
 " De planctu naturae," the plaint of nature, by the same 
 author as the last, is a work partly prose and partly me- 
 trical. It is quoted by Chaucer in his poem The assembly 
 of Foules, line 316. Several copies of it exist in the British 
 Museum, Cottonian MSS. Vespasianus B xxiii. (4) fo. 84 ; 
 Cleopatra B vi. (4) fo.l54 ; and Harl. MSS. 492. 
 
 3. Alanus de planctu. 
 
 The same work, with other tracts, in a paper book. 
 
 4. ^^ My book ^ de meditationibus et orationibus 
 '^ Sancti Anselmi'." 
 
 Anselm was archbishop of Canterbury in the reigns of 
 William the Second and Henry the First. He died in 1109. 
 His comprehensive knowledge and intellectual powers 
 caused him to rank in literature as the first man of his age. 
 
123 
 
 He delighted in the interior exercises of devotion, and was 
 one of the most eminent masters in the contemplative way. 
 His meditations and prayers have been extoUed as exhibit- 
 ing a most tender and exalted devotion, and a deep know- 
 ledge of the spirit of Christianity (Mohler's Life ofAnselm 
 translated by Rymer, introd. p. xii. pp. 20-23 ; Butler's 
 Lives of the Saints, April 21; Berington's Literary History, 
 bookiv. p. 172). Anselm's works were printed in 1675, and 
 again in 1721. A MS. copy of the Meditations exists in the 
 Harleian collection. No. 178 : I have an old Enghsh trans- 
 lation in manuscript, and a copy printed at Rome 1697. 
 
 5. ^' That book on architecture which Master Wil- 
 " liam Cleve gave to me.^^ 
 
 For an account of Master Cleve see page 61. 
 
 6. " That book ' cum Secretis Aristotelis/ ^fc, 
 " which my master Marchaunt gave to me.^^ 
 
 7. Liber de regimine dominorum, otherwise called 
 Secretum secretorum Aristotelis. 
 
 The " Secreta Secretorum" was a very popular book in 
 the middle ages. It was a sort of an abridgement of the 
 Aristotehc philosophy, which, it is pretended by the mystic 
 writers, Aristotle made in his old age, and addressed to his 
 pupil Alexander the Great. The work was treated as ge- 
 nuine, and explained with a learned gloss by Roger Bacon. 
 It was also transcribed and illustrated with a commentary 
 for the use of Edward the Third ; but it was a spurious 
 compilation, filled with many Arabian innovations and ab- 
 surdities. It was partly translated into English verse by 
 
124 
 
 Lidgate, and Gower also was indebted to it for the greatest 
 part of the eighth book of his Confessio Amantis. It is al- 
 luded to by Chaucer in the Canon Yeoman's Tale (v. 16915). 
 Manuscript copies of it exist in the Vatican library at Rome^ 
 the Bodleian Kbrary at Oxford, and in the Cottonian and 
 Harleian collections in the British Museum, where also are 
 some printed editions both in Latin and Enghsh. In the 
 pubhc library at Cambridge is an early English edition, with 
 the following title : '* The secret of secrets of Aristotyle, 
 " with the governale of princes and every manner of estate ; 
 " with rules of helth for body and soul, very profitable for 
 " every man, very gode to teche children to rede English. 
 " Newly translated out of French, and emprented at Lon- 
 *' don by Eobert Copland, in 1528." (Warton's History of 
 English Poetry, vol. ii. pp. 230-1 ; Tyrwhitt's Notes on 
 Chaucer, 8^c.). I have in my possession a rare Latin copy, 
 printed in Gothic letter at Lyons, in 1528. 
 
 8. " That book ' Biblise abbreviatse/ ^c.j which 
 " John Sudbury gave to me.^^ 
 
 (Including also No. 15). 
 
 9. A book ' De corpore pollecie/ in French. 
 This is now an uncommon book. An English translation 
 
 of it, printed upon vellum in 1521, is in the pubhc library 
 at Cambridge, with the following title : " The book which 
 '' is called the Body of Policye : and it speketh of vertues 
 " and good maners. Imprinted at London, without New- 
 '' gate, in St. Pulker's parysh, by John Skot, the year 
 " Mcccccxj." (Hartshorne's Book Rarities in the University 
 of Cambridge, p. 164.) 
 
125 
 
 10. De miseria conditionis humanse. 
 
 (Contained in the book given him by his master Mar- 
 chaunt. No. 6.) 
 
 This work was written about the year 1200, by Cardinal 
 Lotario, afterwards Pope Innocent the Third. An edition 
 of it was printed at Cologne, 1496 (Warton's History of 
 English Poetry, vol. i. p. ceii.). A manuscript copy (per- 
 haps the very one that had belonged to Carpenter, was, in 
 1448, in the hbrary of Elsing spital in London Wall (Mal- 
 colm's Londinlum Redivivum, vol. i. p. 29). Other copies 
 are still to be found in the British Museum, amongst the 
 Cottonian MSS. Vespasian D xiii. No. 4, fo. 98 ; and in 
 the Harleian MSS. No. 323, 17, and No. 325, 12. 
 
 11. De remediis utriusque fortunse. 
 
 A treatise " on the remedies of both extremes of fortune," 
 written in Latin by Petrarch in 1358, in the form of dia- 
 logue. It made a great noise when it appeared, and was 
 quickly translated into French, Italian, and Spanish. It was 
 printed as early as 1471. Though generally attributed to 
 Petrarch, Dr. Dibdin says it was written by Hadrian, a 
 Carthusian monk {B'lbliotheca Spenceriana, vol. iii. p. 452). 
 I have in my possession a Latin copy printed in 1616 ; and 
 also a curious black-letter EngHsh version, entitled " Phy- 
 " sicke against fortune, as well prosperous as adverse ; writ- 
 " ten in Latin by Francis Petrarch, and now first englished 
 " by Francis Twyne : London, 1579." For a character of 
 the work see Life of Petrarch, by Thomas Campbell, 1841. 
 
 12. Dispositio et regimen bellorum duorum et 
 acierum guerrarum. 
 
126 
 
 13. ^'^ That book which Master Roger Dymok made^ 
 " ^ contra duodecim errores et hereses LoUardorum/ 
 " and gave to King Richard^ and which book John 
 ^' Wilok gave to me/' 
 
 Roger Dymok was a learned Dominican and professor of 
 theology. His work against the doctrines of WicliiFe and 
 the Lollards was addressed to Richard the Second, and was 
 also openly attached for pubhc perusal to the gate of West- 
 minster hall at the time a parhament was assembled (Tan- 
 ner's Bibliotheca Britannico-Hibernica, p. 243). A copy is 
 mentioned by Leland as existing in the library of Croyland 
 abbey {Collectanea^ vol. iii. p. 30) ; and it appears to have 
 had a place also in the hbraries of several other religious 
 houses. (Hunter's English Monastic Libraries). 
 
 14. Ecclesiasticus. 
 
 15. Historise Provinciarum. 
 
 16. Law books of forms and precedents. 
 Described as " books of the modes of entry and engross- 
 
 *' ing of the acts and records, as well according to the 
 " common law of the realm as the custom of the city of 
 " London." 
 
 17. Philobiblon Ricardi Dunelmensis. 
 
 A remarkable treatise on " the love of books," written 
 about 1343, by Richard de Bury, bishop of Durham, chan- 
 cellor and treasurer of Edward the Tlind. Mr. HaUam says 
 of him, " we may justly praise Richard of Bury for his zeal 
 in collecting books" (he is said to have possessed more 
 
127 
 
 books than all the bishops of England together : Warton's 
 Hist, of English Poetry, vol. i. p. cxv.) ; " and still more for 
 " his mnnificence in giving his library to the university of 
 " Oxford, with special injunctions that they should be lent 
 " to scholars." {Literary History, vol. i. p. 105). The work 
 is still worthy of being read, as containing some curious 
 illustrations of the state of literature. Its object peculi- 
 arly was " to excite a love of general study ; an encourage- 
 " ment of new books ; a desire to collect them j a taste for 
 " the liberal arts ; indulgence for poetry ; and an increased 
 " facility to students to read the books that were obtained." 
 (Turner's History of England, vol. v. p. 458-9). Copies of 
 the work exist in the Harleian MSS. No. 492, and the Cot- 
 tonian MSS. App. iv. No. 4, fo. 103. It has been several 
 times printed, viz., at Cologne, 1473 ; Spires, 1483; Paris, 
 1500 ; Oxford, 1598 ; Leipsic, 1674. An Enghsh transla- 
 tion, with notes by Mr. Inglis, was published in London in 
 1832 (of which I possess a copy) ; and another more re- 
 cently, by Mr. W. S. Gibson of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. 
 
 18. " That little book called ^ Prosperus de vita 
 ^' contemplativa^' with other things in the same.^^ 
 
 St. Prosper was a learned layman of Aquitaine, hving 
 A.D. 403-463, and secretary to the pope St. Leo the Great. 
 His work on the contemplative life is mentioned by Petrarch 
 as being in use in his time as a school book (HaUam's Lite- 
 rary History, vol. i. p. 110). But Butler, in his account of 
 St. Prosper {Lives of the Saints, June 25th), considers this 
 work not to have been written by him. A copy, printed in 
 1487, is included in Osborne's catalogue of the Harleian 
 library, vol. v. No. 7392. 
 
128 
 
 19. Quidam de vetula. 
 
 An hexameter poem in three books, formerly attributed 
 to Ovid. It is quoted as his in the PhUobiblon (edit. 1832, 
 p. 62), and is printed in some of the early editions of his 
 works {ibid. p. 140, note). Mr. HaUam, in his Literary 
 History (vol. i. p. 105) caUs it " a wretched poem." War- 
 ton says it was translated into French by Jean le Fevre, by 
 command of Charles the Fifth ; and adds in a note the fol- 
 lowing particulars respecting it : " Polycarpus Leyserus 
 " supposes this piece to be the forgery of one Leo Protono- 
 " tarius, an officer in the court at Constantinople, who 
 " writes the preface {Hist. Poes. Med. JEv. p. 2089). He 
 " proves the work supposititious from its several arabicisms 
 " and scriptural expressions, 8^c. Bradwardine cites many 
 " lines from it {Advers. Pelag. p. 33), as does Bacon in his 
 " astrological tracts. It is condemned by Bede as heretical : 
 " in Boeth. de Trinit. : Selden intended a dissertation on 
 " this forgery {De Synedr. iii. 16)." History of English 
 Poetry, vol. ii. p. 316. 
 
 20. Seneca ad Callionem. 
 
 A copy of this work, by Lucius Annseus Seneca, a cele- 
 brated Stoic philosopher born about the beginning of the 
 Christian sera, is in the Cottonian MSS. Vespasian E xii. 
 (13) fo. 115 b. 
 
 21. Seneca de quatuor virtutibus cardinalibus. 
 
 This work on the four cardinal virtues (Prudence, Jus- 
 tice, Temperance, and Fortitude) was a great favourite in 
 the theological ages, and is attributed to Lucius Annseus 
 Seneca (mentioned above) . But Warton says, " It is sup- 
 
129 
 
 " posititious. It was forged about the year 560, by Martia- 
 " nus, an archbishop of Portugal, whom Gregory of Tours 
 " calls the most eminent writer of his time." {History of 
 English Poetry, vol. ii. p. 318). A manuscript copy exists 
 among the Cottonian MSS. Vespasian E xii. (10) fo. 106 ; 
 and I possess a curious Latin copy, printed in black letter 
 at Nuremberg, in 1507. 
 
 22. Sententise diversorum prophetarum : trans- 
 lated from Greek into Latin^ by Peter de Alphense. 
 
 Peter Alphonsus was a converted Jew, in 1106. He pub- 
 lished a dialogue, which seems to have been no contemptible 
 defence of Christianity against his countrymen. He was 
 eminent for sacred and profane Hterature (Milner's Church 
 History, vol. iii. p. 89). He compiled in Latin, under the 
 title of DiscipUna Clericalis, a collection of stories derived 
 from the East, many of which were very popular in the 
 twelfth, thirteenth, and fourteenth centuries {Gesta Roma- 
 norum, translated by Rev. C. Swan, vol. i. p. xlviii., vol. ii. 
 pp. 449-50). 
 
 23. " My little book ' de Parabolis Solamonis'." 
 
 (Included in the same volume with Nos. 11, 14, 20, 21). 
 
 The " Paraboles of Salomon" are also mentioned by 
 Chaucer as being joined with other works in forming a sin- 
 gle volume (Wife of Bath's Prologue, Hne 6251-63). A copy 
 of the Parabolce Salomonis is mentioned as being in the 
 library belonging to Elsing spital, London Wall, in 1448 
 (Malcolm's Lond. Eediv. ,yo\. i. p. 27). There are two copies 
 in the British Museum, one in the Cottonian MSS. Vesp. 
 D vi. No. 1, the other in the Harleian MSS. No. 211 (147). 
 
 K 
 
130 
 
 24. Speculum morale regium. 
 
 This work was probably the second part of an encyclo- 
 paedic compilation, made about the middle of the thirteenth 
 century, by Vincent de Beauvais, who lived under Louis the 
 Ninth of France, and, on account of his extraordinary eru- 
 dition, was appointed preceptor to that king's sons. The 
 entire collection consists of ten volumes, and is entitled 
 " Speculum naturale, morale, doctrinale, et historiale." The 
 Speculum morale is chiefly a compilation from Thomas 
 Aquinas and other theologians of the same age. (Hallam's 
 Literature of Europe ^ vol. i. p. 160 ; Warton's History of 
 English Poetry, vol. i. p. 140). 
 
 25. Theology. '' My book in French,, which be- 
 ^' longed to Sir Thomas Pykworth^ containing the 
 '' ten commandments^ the twelve articles of faith^ the 
 " seven theological virtues, and other things." 
 
 For a note respecting Sir Thomas Pykworth see p. 98 (b). 
 
 26. Tract atus dictaminis. 
 
 A copy of " Tractatulus de natura epistolaris dictaminis" 
 exists among the Cottonian MSS. Cleop. B vi. (8) fo. 230. 
 
 Also sundry books " de devotionibus^ moralitatibus^ 
 et dictaminibus ;" and sundry ^^ good and rare books/^ 
 of which no particular description is given. 
 
 ( 
 
131 
 
 II. 
 
 WILL (No. 2) a OF JOHN CARPENTER. 
 
 From the Eegistry of the Commissary Court of London. 
 
 (translation.) 
 
 In the name of God, Amen. I John Carpynter junior, 
 citizen of London, cogitating with earnest meditation how 
 brief are the days of man, and that many persons, losing 
 their time in leisure and enjoyment, are suddenly beset with 
 trials, and die very often intestate : Willing therefore, with 
 God as my guide, whilst yet in the enjoyment of life and 
 health, and before languor clouds my reason, so to dispose 
 of my frail and transitory goods that at the time of my 
 departure from this world I may more calmly direct my 
 whole mind to the Lord God my Saviour and Redeemer, 
 and return him thanks for benefits bestowed, and humbly 
 ask pardon for my transgressions : it is for this that, being 
 sound in body and mind, thanks be to God, I do now make, 
 ordain, appoint, and declare this my last will and testament 
 in form following. In the first place, with all possible de- 
 votedness, I do commend my sinful soul to the Lord Jesus 
 Christ my Saviour and Redeemer, and to his glorious mother 
 
 a So numbered because in it is recognized (as appears on pp. 134, 142) 
 the existence of another will, relating to his lands and tenements, but 
 which unfortunately has not hitherto been discovered. 
 
 k2 
 
132 
 
 Mary, and the whole college of all the saints above ; and my 
 vile corpse to be buried near the pulpit before the entrance 
 of the chief chancel of the church of St. Peter of Cornhill ^, 
 where I am a parishioner ; willing that my funeral shall be 
 made in an humble manner, to wit, mth a black wooUen 
 cloth to be put upon my bier, and a wax taper of ten or 
 twelve pounds at my head, and another at my feet, and 
 with four or six torches at the most to be held around me, 
 without any attendance of the rich or other worldly pomp. 
 And I will that the torch-bearers be honest and virtuous 
 poor indigent persons, to be chosen according to the discre- 
 tion of my executors ; and that each of them shall have for 
 his labour, and to pray for my soul, twenty pence, and one 
 gown with a hood of strong russet cloth, lined with blanket. 
 And that my same executors, after my funeral is over, shall 
 bestow the aforesaid black cloth upon some poor and de- 
 vout person, man or woman, to clothe himself therewith, and 
 to pray for my soul. And I wiU also that the wax tapers 
 aforesaid, after my said exequies, shall serve, as long as 
 they will last, at the burial of the poor in the church of 
 St. Peter aforesaid ; and that the torches aforesaid hkewise, 
 as long as they will last, shall serve at the celebration 
 of divine service in the same church, and in the church 
 of St. Martin Outwich where my parents He buried. For 
 I bequeath to the high altar and to the rector of the said 
 church of St. Peter, for my tithes and oblations, if any 
 there be forgotten or unpaid, thirteen shillings and four- 
 
 b His wife, in her Will No. 1 (Appendix III.), desires to be buried 
 " in the chirche of Sejoit Petre in Cornhull, before the quere doore there, 
 " where John Carpynter my late husbande lieth." 
 
133 
 
 pence ; and to the same rector devoutly to keep and cele- 
 brate my exequies in the same church during one month 
 after my death, and to each of the other chaplains there to 
 pray for my soul, and to be present at my said exequies 
 during the same month, six shillings and eightpence ; and 
 also to each of the parish clerks of the same, three shillings 
 and fourpence ; and to the fabric or repairs of the same 
 church forty shillings. Also I bequeath for the sustenance 
 and finding of a fit and devout priest to celebrate divine 
 service daily in the same church for my soul, and the souls 
 of my said parents and of all the faithful deceased, during 
 the three years next after my death, twenty pounds c. I 
 bequeath also to the fabric of the said church of St. Martin 
 forty shillings ; and to the rector of the same, to keep* my 
 exequies in form aforesaid during the month, ten shillings ; 
 and to each of the other chaplains of the same church, to 
 pray for my soul and the souls of my same parents and of 
 all the faithful deceased, and to be present at my same exe- 
 quies, and to celebrate daily in the same church for the same 
 souls during the said month next after my death, six shil- 
 lings and eightpence ; and to the parish clerk there, three 
 shilhngs and fourpence. Also, to the praise and honour of 
 God and of St. Martin, and that my soul, and the souls of 
 Katherine my vrife and of my said parents, may be the more 
 heartily remembered in the devotions and divine services 
 henceforth to be made within the same church of St. Martin, 
 I give and bequeath for the service in the same church my 
 
 c Both he and his wife left subsequent provision for the continuance of 
 a like daily service. And she also provided for a perpetual anniversary on 
 the 12th of May, in the same church, and on other days in other places.— 
 See p. 135 of this Will : and her Will (No. 2) in Appendix IV. 
 
134 
 
 great missale, and my best silver-gilt cup, together with my 
 silver-gilt paxarium, and my two phials or cruets of silver, 
 and my casula of white damask, with all its trinmiing. Also 
 I ^dll and bequeath that out of fifty marks weight of my 
 silver vessels, which have very often served me for the un- 
 reasonable and vain glory of the world, shall be made and 
 provided, according to the discretion of my executors, eccle- 
 siastical vessels and ornaments, for continual service in the 
 said churches of St. Peter and St. Martin, to the praise and 
 honour of God. In like manner, I will that my furred 
 gowns and other sumptuous vestments, which, God forgive 
 me, I have many times abused in superfluous and useless 
 observances, may be sold, and with their price be purchased, 
 and given out to poor devout persons having need thereof, 
 competent clothing, according to the discretion aforesaid. 
 Moreover, I give and bequeath to the said Katherine my 
 wife, over and above those twenty hbrates of land, and rent, 
 which I have bequeathed and assigned to her by another 
 will made of my lands and tenements, one hundred marks 
 sterling in ready money, and fifty marks weight of my bet- 
 termost gold and silver jewels and vessels not bequeathed 
 in my present will, together with the moiety of all my kit- 
 chen vessels and utensils pertaining to my house or hostel 
 in London. Also I give and bequeath to the same Katherine 
 all that my new tenement or hostel wherein I dwell, in the 
 parish of St. Peter in Cornhill, together with the garden 
 adjacent, and the houses, cellars, soUars, and other appur- 
 tenances situate as well on the north side of the same hostel 
 towards the high street, as on the south side of the said 
 
 d For particulars of this grant see page 38. 
 
 I 
 
135 
 
 garden, near the ancient chapel of Leadenhall, in which 
 said tenement or hostel, with the garden, cellars, sollars, 
 and the other appurtenances aforesaid, I the aforesaid John 
 Carpynter have an estate and term of seventy years and up- 
 wards now to come, by grant of the mayor and commonalty 
 of the city aforesaid, as in divers indentures thereof made 
 between us fully appears ^: to have and hold all the afore- 
 said tenement or hostel, with the garden adjacent, and the 
 houses, cellars, sollars, and other its appurtenances, to the 
 aforesaid Katherine, for the term of twenty years next fol- 
 lowing after my death, if the same Katherine shall happen 
 so long to Hve 6; but aU my estate and term therein to come 
 after the said twenty years, and immediately after the death 
 of the same Katherine if she shall die in the mean time, I 
 give and bequeath to the rector of the church of St. Peter 
 aforesaid, and the wardens of the works and ornaments of 
 the same church, to have and to hold to them and their 
 successors during all the same term thereafter to come, for 
 the exhibition and finding, with the emoluments and profits 
 of all the said tenement or hostel, with the houses, cellars, 
 sollars, gardens, and all other its appurtenances, a fit and 
 honest chaplain to celebrate divine service in the church of 
 St. Martin aforesaid, during five years after the said hostel 
 with the said appurtenances shall come into their hands, 
 for my soul and the soul of the said Katherine, and also the 
 souls of our parents, benefactors, and all the faithful de- 
 ceased ; and after the same five years, to dispose and distri- 
 bute, out of the same emoluments and profits, yearly, during 
 the whole term thereafter to come in the aforesaid tenements 
 
 e She lived about fifteen years after him. 
 
136 
 
 with the appurtenances, four pounds sterling amongst the 
 poorer honest persons of the parishes of St. Peter and St. 
 Martin aforesaid ; that is to say, in each of the same parishes 
 forty shillings, at the terms within written, to wit, on Christ- 
 mas eve, on Easter eve, the eve of the nativity of St. John 
 the Baptist, and the eve of St. Michael, by equal portions, 
 and this according to the discretion and conscience of the 
 rector and wardens of the churches aforesaid for the time 
 being ; and all the residue which shall remain out of the 
 like profits, over and above the due repair and charges of 
 the tenement aforesaid, to be disposed of yearly about the 
 necessary repair of the works and ornaments of the church 
 of St. Peter aforesaid : Saving always and reserved out of the 
 emoluments and profits aforesaid, twenty-six shillings and 
 eightpence sterhng, to be taken and yearly divided between 
 the rector and wardens of the same church for the time 
 being, in equal portions, for their labour and diligence done 
 and apphed about the fulfilment of the premises. Also I 
 bequeath ten marks to be disposed of and distributed whilst 
 I am lying at the point of death, or within two days after 
 my death, amongst my poorer neighbours in the parish of 
 St. Peter and in the next parishes ; and twenty marks after- 
 wards by turns, within the next year, at the good discretion 
 of my executors. Also I give and bequeath to my brother 
 Robert, as a memorial, and to superintend the execution of 
 my present will, one of those two silver-gilt cups with a lid 
 which Thomas KnoUe gave me, weighing twenty-five ounces ; 
 and in like manner I give and bequeath to my brother John 
 the other of the same cups, being of the same weight. Also 
 I give and bequeath to my kinsman Richard, son of my 
 said brother Robert, for the increase of his estate when he 
 
137 
 
 shall arrive at full age and mature discretion, one hundred 
 shillings sterling. Also in like manner to John, son of my 
 brother John, other one hundred shillings sterling. Also I 
 give and bequeath to Joan, daughter of the said Robert, at 
 her marriage, one hundred shillings sterhng, and " unam 
 bassam peciam," with a lid chased after the manner of a 
 rose, with a little round apple and a sun gilt at the summit, 
 and a salt-cellar, and twelve silver spoons. Also I bequeath 
 to Katherine, another daughter of the same Robert, who has 
 been with me from her youth, at her marriage f, ten marks 
 sterling, and " unam bassam peciam," with a lid with a little 
 round apple on the summit of the cover, weighing twenty- 
 three ounces and a half, with a salt-cellar and twelve silver 
 spoons. Also I bequeath to Margery, daughter of my said 
 brother John, one hundred shillings at her marriage, and 
 " unam peciam stantem,"' with a lid with a red flower {cum 
 hlodio fiore) enamelled as well on the bottom of the piece 
 as on the cover, and a salt-cellar, and twelve silver spoons. 
 Also I bequeath to the prior and convent of the Charter- 
 house of Shene forty shillings. Also I bequeath to the prior 
 and convent of the Charterhouse near London, of which I 
 am an unworthy brother, forty shillings ; and to the frater- 
 nity of Sixty Priests of London, whereof I am likewise a 
 brother, forty shillings. Also I give and bequeath to Master 
 John Carpynter, warden of the hospital of St. Anthony &, 
 as a memorial of me, that book on architecture^ which 
 Master William Cleve i gave to me ; and in Hke manner I 
 
 f See note respecting her on page 94 (r). 
 g For particulars respecting him see pp. 62, 60. 
 
 ^ For notices of the several books mentioned in this will see Appen- 
 dix I., p. 121. i See page 61. 
 
138 
 
 give and bequeath to Sir Jolin Neell \ master of St. Thomas 
 de Aeon, that book " cum Secretis Aristotehs," and " De 
 miseria conditionis humanse," and other notable things, 
 which my master Marchaunt gave to me. Also I give and 
 bequeath to John Bukberd, master of the hospital of St. 
 Bartholomew in West Smithfield, twenty shillings. Also I 
 give and bequeath to Master William Lichfeldl, rector of 
 AUhallows in Roperia, twenty shillings ; and to Sire Regi- 
 nald Pecok ^, master of the college of St. Michael in Riola, 
 twenty shiUings ; and to every chaplain of the said college, 
 three shiUings and fourpence ; and to every other chaplain, 
 not being a fellow, celebrating in the same church or col- 
 lege, two shillings ; and to every clerk of the same college 
 or chm'ch, twenty pence. And I humbly beseech the said 
 priors, convents, and other priests, my most dear fathers, 
 that they will deign to have me heartily and especially re- 
 membered in their devout orisons as long as they shall 
 please. Also I give and bequeath to the choristers of the 
 said college, to be shared equally amongst them, forty pence ; 
 and to the " mancipium" of the same college, twenty pence. 
 Also I bequeath to the tutor, and to each of the poor of the 
 hospital near the said college, heartily to pray for my soul, 
 twelve pence. Also I give and bequeath under the same 
 form to every recluse in London, and for seven miles round, 
 three shillings and fourpence. Also I bequeath to the prio- 
 ress of Halywell, and to every nun there, under the same 
 form, twenty pence ; and in hke manner to the prioress of 
 Stratford, and to every nun there, twenty pence. Also I 
 give and bequeath to every house of the four orders of Friars 
 
 k See p. 61. 1 See p. 63. m See p. 64. 
 
139 
 
 Mendicant and Friars of the Holy Cross in London, thirteen 
 shilhngs and fourpence ; and to every brother, a priest of 
 the same houses, three pence to pray for my soul. Also I 
 bequeath to every poor lay brother and sister of the hospital 
 of St. Mary within Cripplegate ; and also to every poor sis- 
 ter in the hospitals of St. Mary without Bishopsgate, St. 
 Bartholomew in Smithfield, St. Katherine near the Tower, 
 and St. Thomas in Southwark, twelve pence. Also I give 
 and bequeath forty shillings sterhng to be disposed of, at 
 the discretion of my executors, amongst the poor lepers at 
 Holborn, Locks, and Hackney, and the poor madmen at 
 Bethlehem. Also I bequeath one hundred shillings to be 
 disposed of by turns in food or money, according to the 
 discretion of my executors, amongst the poor prisoners of 
 Newgate, Ludgate, the Fleet, Marshalsea, and King's Bench, 
 and also in the prison of Convicts at Westminster. Also I 
 give and bequeath to Master William Byngham ^, as a me- 
 morial of me, that book which Master Roger Dymok made, 
 " contra duodecim errores et hereses LoUardorum," and gave 
 to King Richard, and which book John Wilok gave to me. 
 Also I give and bequeath to Sire William Taillour, chaplain 
 dwelling with me, as a memorial of me, my book " de medi- 
 tationibus et orationibus Sancti Anselmi,'' beginning " Me- 
 ditationes quse me consolantur," S^c, so that he may bestow 
 that book after his decease upon some devout person to pray 
 for our souls. Also I give and bequeath to Sir David Fyvian, 
 rector of the church of St. Benet Fink, as a memorial to 
 think of my soul, that book " Biblise abbreviatse,"^ with the 
 " Historise provinciarum" at the end, which John Sudbury 
 
 n See p. 66. 
 
140 
 
 gave to me. And moreover I give and bequeath to the same 
 Sir David five marks sterling to undertake the execution of 
 my present will. Also I bequeath to William Chedworth 
 that Httle book of mine called '* Prosperus de vita con- 
 templativa," with other things in the same, and five marks 
 sterhng to undertake the like execution of this my will. 
 Also I bequeath to Robert Langford, late my clerk, as a me- 
 morial of me, that book of mine called " Speculum morale 
 regium," made for a sometime king of France ; and to John 
 Crouton, late my clerk, as a like memorial of me, my little 
 book containing "Alanus de planctu," with other notable 
 things ; and to Richard Mordan o, late my clerk, in like 
 manner thirteen shillings and fourpence, and my other httle 
 book containing " Alanus de Anticlaudiano," and other 
 notable things. Also I bequeath to John Brown, late my 
 clerk, as a like memorial of me, aU my book in French which 
 belonged to Sir Thomas Pykworth chivaler, containing in 
 the beginning the ten commandments, the twelve articles of 
 faith, the seven theological virtues, and other things, and at 
 the end " Dispositio et regimen bellorum duorum et acierum 
 guerrarum." Also I bequeath in hke manner to Richard 
 De Lafeld, late my clerk, aU that paper book containing 
 " Philobiblon Ricardi Dunelmensis," " Quidam de vetula," 
 " Alanus de planctu," and " Tractatus dictaminis." Also 
 in hke manner I give and bequeath to Richard Lovell, late 
 my clerk, the httle book " De corpore poUecie," in French. 
 Also I give and bequeath in like manner to Robert Blount, 
 late my clerk, my httle book " de Parabohs Solamonis," 
 " Ecclesiasticus," '^ Seneca ad Calhonem," " De remediis 
 
 o See note Q^) on page 98. 
 
141 
 
 utriusque fortunse," and " De quatuor virtutibus cardinali- 
 bus/* together with " Sententise diversorum propbetarmn," 
 translated from Greek into Latin by Master Peter de Al- 
 phense, and " Liber de regimine dominorum/' otherwise 
 called " Secretmn secretorum Aristotehs." Also I will that 
 the same Robert may have for the whole of his life, if he 
 will, the use of aU my little books or quartos of the modes 
 of entry and engrossing of the acts and records as well ac- 
 cording to the common law of the realm as the custom of 
 the city of London, so that, after the decease of the same 
 Robert, they may remain to the chamber of the Guildhall of 
 London, for the information of the clerks there. Also I be- 
 queath to Nicholas Mason and John Elys P, my clerks, five 
 marks sterling, to be shared equally between them, and so 
 many of my httle books or quartos " de deyotionibus, mo- 
 ralitatibus, et dictaminibus" as shall seem fit to be done by 
 the discretion of my executors. Also I bequeath to Agnes 
 Page my old servant, over and above her salary, forty shil- 
 lings sterhng. Also I bequeath to Margaret Elys, for her 
 advancement when she shall come to full age or be married, 
 five marks. And to little Christopher in like manner, who 
 has been with me from his cradle, when he shall come to 
 full age, if he be then of good disposition, five marks for 
 his advancement. Also to John Reynold, twenty shillings. 
 Also I give and bequeath to John Policy thirteen shillings 
 and fourpence sterhng, and one of my gowns at the choice 
 of my wife. Also I bequeath to John Colop twenty shillings 
 sterhng ; also to Agnes Vertesance q ten shillings ; and to 
 Joan Gerard ten shiUings ; and to Robert Umfrey twenty 
 
 P See note (m), page 99. q See note («), page 100. 
 
142 
 
 shillings, over and above the annuity which I have assigned 
 him in aid of his sustenance whilst he lives, as appears in 
 the other will made of my lands and tenements. Also I will 
 and ordain that my wife out of my goods shall support and 
 maintain the poor and impotent Richard Gray, so long as 
 he is willing to stay with her ; but otherwise, that the same 
 Richard shall have out of my goods in aid of his sustenance 
 whilst he hves, by the hands of my said wife, sixpence every 
 week, or that annuity which, in my other will made of my 
 lands and tenements, I have assigned to him for term of 
 liis life, at the choice of my aforesaid wife. And the residue 
 of all my goods and chattels not bequeathed in my present 
 will, after payment of my debts if any there be, I give and 
 bequeath to my executors within written, to dispose of them 
 in works of piety and mercy, as they may think most pleas- 
 
 r This clause is very curious and deserves particular notice. It furnishes 
 another instance (in addition to those mentioned on pages 37 and 49) of 
 Carpenter's opposition to the illegal encroachments of ecclesiastical autho- 
 rities, although it at the same time shows how difficult it was to avoid 
 succumbing to those abuses. The powers claimed by the clergy in matters 
 relating to wills were frequent subjects of contention in the middle ages. 
 They not only contrived to contravene the jurisdiction of the secular courts 
 in testamentary affairs, but, on the pretence of having jurisdiction in all 
 matters which concerned the regimen of souls, assumed to interfere in the 
 most serious manner with the power of testators to dispose of their pro- 
 perty. The ecclesiastical registry came to be considered as a tribunal to 
 judge of the propriety of the dispositions and expressions of the will of the 
 deceased, which, if not found agreeable to the clergy, they scrupled not to 
 alter or abrogate. Hence testators sometimes inserted prayers to the pope 
 or the church to maintain their wills. The canon law annexing to the 
 episcopal office the power of seeing to the execution of legacies given to 
 pious uses, parties were cited to appear before the bishop's court to produce 
 the will, which was subjected to the bishop's approval and interpretation, 
 in which ample scope was afforded for self-interest to exercise its influence. 
 
143 
 
 ing to God and profitable to the salvation of my sonl, with- 
 out making any inventory of such my goods and chattels 
 to any ordinary ; and, that the lord ordinary to whom the 
 insinuation and proof of my present will shall belong shall 
 not molest nor challenge my same executors for the like 
 inventory, as he neither ought nor is bound to do, especially 
 as the last wiUs of the deceased are to be observed most 
 carefully, I give and bequeath to the same lord ordinary 
 twenty shillings sterling ^. Provided always, that if any good 
 or rare books shall be found amongst the said residue of 
 my goods, which, by the discretion of the aforesaid Master 
 William Lichfeld and Reginald Pecok, may seem necessary 
 to the common library at Guildhall, for the profit of the 
 students there, and those discoursing to the common people, 
 then I will and bequeath that those books be placed by my 
 
 The state of open corruption and violence of the ordinaries in the reign of 
 Edward III. is evident from certain constitutions made by Archbishop 
 Stratford in 1342. The preamble of one of them recites that ecclesiastical 
 judges would not permit the executors of deceased persons to dispose of 
 their goods according to the directions of their testators, and the sanction 
 both of the law and the canons ; that they took to themselves the move- 
 ables of testators and of intestates (which, after payment of debts, should 
 be applied to pious uses) : and it ordained that bishops and other eccle- 
 siastical judges should not intermeddle in effects of testators, except so far 
 as the law permitted, under any pretence whatever, but should freely per- 
 mit the executors to dispose of them. It seems that it was against some 
 similar abuse and violation of law that Carpenter was desirous of recording 
 his protest, although it is evident how mistrustful he was of the respect 
 that would be paid to it, by his leaving to the ordinary a considerable 
 legacy expressly to obviate his interference with the intentions of his will. — 
 See an " Inquiry into the origin, the progress, the actual state, and the 
 attempted reformation of our testamentary jurisdictions, ecclesiastical and 
 lay," by Samuel Gale, esq., of Lincoln's inn, appended to the Fourth Re- 
 port of the commissioners on the law of real property, 1833. 
 
144 
 
 executors and chained in that library, under such form that 
 the visitors and students thereof may be the sooner admo- 
 nished to pray for my soul. And I do make, appoint, and 
 ordain to be my executors of this my will my said wife, 
 David Fyvian, and WilHam Chedworth ; Master John Car- 
 pynter and my aforesaid brothers to be their supervisors 
 and coadjutors. In testimony of all and singular which 
 things to this my present will I have set my seal. Dated 
 at London, on the eighth day of March in the year of our 
 Lord one thousand four hundred and forty-one, and in the 
 twentieth year of the reign of King Henry the Sixth after 
 the Conquest. 
 
 This present will was proved before us A. P. 
 commissaries, S^c, on the twelfth day of May, 
 in the year of our Lord, S^c, forty-two, and 
 administration, 8^c., was committed to the exe- 
 cutors named therein. 
 
145 
 
 III. 
 
 WILL (No. 1) OF KATHERINE CARPENTER, 
 WIFE OF JOHN CARPENTER. 
 
 From the Registry of the Commissary Court of London. 
 
 Ann'o Dni Mill^o CCCC«io Ivijmo. 
 
 In Dei nomine, Amen. The vij*^ day of the moneth of 
 February, the yere of our Lord Mcccclvjt^, and the yere of 
 the regne of Kyng Harry the VI*l^ after the conquest of 
 England xxxv*^, I Kateryn Carpynter of London, widow, 
 beyng in my gode and hole mynde, blessed be God, make 
 and ordeyne thus my present testament and last will in the 
 manner and fourme ensuyng. First, I recomende my soule 
 to Almyghti God my makar and my savyoure, to oure Lady 
 his blessid moder, and' to all the holy company of hevyn ; 
 and my body to be buried in the chirche of Seynt Petre in 
 Cornhull, before the quere doore there, where John Car- 
 pynter my late husbande heth. Also I woll that, at the tyme 
 of myne exequies and buryeng, that there be ij tapres, oone 
 at the hede an other at the fete, and no mo, with iiij torches, 
 of the which, after myne exequyes, I bequethe ij of theyme 
 to the said chirch of Seynt Petre and the other ij to the 
 chirch of Seynt Mighell in Basyngeshawe. Also I bequethe 
 to every of the iiij ordres of freres, vj^ viij^. Also I bequethe 
 to every recluse and ankresse abowte London, iij^ iiijd. Also 
 I bequethe to Agneys Vertsanz, ancrese of Seynt Mighells 
 
 L 
 
146 
 
 at Seynt Albons, vjs viij^. Also to tlie ancresse of Seynt 
 Peters at Seynt Albons, iijs iiij^. Also I bequethe to the 
 Charterliouse of London, vj^ viij<l. Also to the Charterhouse 
 of Shene, vj^ viij'^. Also I bequethe to the parson of Seynt 
 Petre in Cornhull my somer hallyng of taptestry-worke ^. 
 Also I bequethe to S^ William Taillour^, xiijs iiijd. Also I 
 bequethe to Dame Elenore my best cloke ; and to John 
 Elys c my best cloke next after. Also I bequethe to Master 
 Adam ^ which syngith in the said chirch of Seynt Petre for 
 my husband and me, my htle chasid pece with the covertHl 
 of sylver and overgilt. Also I bequethe to Kateryn dourter 
 of Robart Carpynter^ and wifF of Piers Hulk, my best 
 towell. Also I bequethe to Elyne, some tyme my serviit, 
 and now wiff to a fishmonger of Olde Fishstrete, my next 
 best toweU. Also I bequethe to Reynolde ^ my cousyn, and 
 to his brother, my ij masars S which I use dayly. Also I 
 
 a Halls and other chambers at this time frequently had their walls hung 
 with tapestry, which was suspended with hooks, and taken down, and 
 carried with the owner on a change of residence {Arcliceological Journal^ 
 June 1845, p. 172). According to Stow {Survey^ p. 275), Nicholas Alvvyn, 
 grocer, mayor in 1499, left by will 73Z. Qs. 8d. for a hanging of tapestry 
 to serve for principal days in the Guildhall ; but the historian adds, " how 
 " this gift was performed I have not heard." 
 
 ^ Mentioned in her husband's v/ill as chaplain dwelling with him. — 
 See page 139. 
 
 c One of the clerks of her husband, to whom he left a legacy (see 
 page 141). He is again mentioned in this will ; and in her second will is 
 appointed to collect certain rents devised by her. 
 
 d Mentioned in her second wiU as " Adam Gerard, chaplain." 
 
 e Mentioned in John Carpenter's will, as having lived with him from 
 her youth.' — See page 137. 
 
 f John Reynold also received a legacy imder her husband's will. — 
 See page 141. 
 
 g Mazer, a broad standing cup or drinking-bowl. — Bailey's Dictionary. 
 
147 
 
 bequethe to tlie said Reynold a cilour testour^, with the 
 hangyng of blu bokeram, which is in the chamber in the 
 gardyn, with my best fetherbed. Also to his brother an 
 other fetherbed. Also I bequethe to the said Reynold a co- 
 verlet, and a testour of tapstery work with a white bordour 
 powdrid with the name of JHS and roses i. Also I bequethe 
 to the said Reynold, and to his brother, my pewter vessels 
 dayly usid in my kechyn, evenly to be departed betwene 
 hem bothe. Also I bequethe to the said Reynold a peyre 
 of blanketts, and a chest stondyng at the bedis fete with 
 a dowble bottom. Also to his brother a litill chest of vir. 
 Also I woll there be do a masse and a dirige ^ for me in the 
 day of my sepulture, at the colage of Richard Whityngton, 
 at which dirige the master shall have viij^, and every felow 
 
 ^ The canopy or covering at tlie head of a bed. A contemporary manu- 
 script in the public library at Cambridge has a description of the interior 
 of a chamber in a castle, which contains the following lines : 
 " Hur bed was of aszure, 
 With tester and celure [canopy], 
 With a bryi't bordure 
 
 Compassyd ful clone. 
 * * * * 
 
 There was at hur testere 
 
 The kynges owne banere. 
 
 Was nevere bede rychere 
 
 Of empryce ne qwene." 
 
 ArcfuBological Journal^ Sept. 1844, p. 244. 
 
 i This description of a somewhat rich bed-head may be illustrated by 
 
 the following lines from Drayton's Poly-olhion, s. 26 : 
 
 " Who, led from room to room, amazed is to see 
 
 The furnitures and states, which all imbroideries be. 
 
 The rich and sumptuous beds, with tester-covering plumes ; 
 
 And various as the sutes, so various the perfumes," 
 
 k The " Dirige" formed part of the office for the dead. 
 
 l2 
 
148 
 
 ■vj<i, every conductor iiijd every clerk iiijd and every cho- 
 rister ijd. Also to the tutor of the Almouse howse vj^, and 
 to every poore man and woman of the Ahcnouse house m]^, 
 to be at my dirige. Also I bequethe to Letuse my serviit a 
 peyre of shets, and a coveryng that heth on her owne bed. 
 Also I bequethe to Rob*, clerk of Bassyngshawe, whom I 
 make myne executor l, a rose pece of silver, chasid. Also 
 Richard Joly, an other rose pece to be myne executo'', which 
 pece is of silver, and chasid. Also I bequethe to Ric. Mor- 
 don, to be over sear of my testament ^, a rose pece of silver, 
 and chasid. Also I bequethe to John Elys, my serviit, a 
 rose pece of silver with a covertle of the same, chasid ; also 
 myne hangyng branche of laton ^ that hangeth in my hall ; 
 also my htill morter of brasse with the pestell of iren. And 
 the residew of all my silver vessells, and of all my other 
 goods, I wolde they be solde be myne executors and geven 
 in almesse to pore peple for my sowle, prayeng theyme, and 
 as fer as I may chargyng theyme, godely to do for my sowle 
 as they wolde be do to. Furthermore, where as there be 
 xl^ expressid in my former testament o, of qwite rentz, and 
 of the pencon of the Gildehall, which I have ordeigned by 
 
 1 Described in her second will as Robert Welwyk. 
 
 ^ Mordan was a clerk to ber busband, who left him one of his books 
 (see his Will page 140). She also appointed him an executor of her second 
 will, in conjunction with Welwyk and Joly. 
 
 n Latten, a hard mixed metal, closely resembling brass. — Archceological 
 Journal^ June 1844, p. 154 ; September 1844, p. 210. 
 
 o This " former testament" was in all probability revoked and another 
 substituted for it ; as one applicable to the same description of property, 
 and for effecting similar purposes, was made subsequent to the date of this 
 wUL In it the bequest in favour of John Elys is repeated in more specific 
 terms. It will be found in Appendix No. IV. 
 
149 
 
 the said testament to be disposid by thadvice of myne 
 executours and other to the sustentacon and fyndyng of 
 a prest and other thyngs to be doon for my master John 
 Carpynter sowle and myne in the said chirch of Seynt Peter 
 in Cornhull, and in the chirch and colage of Ric. Wliityng- 
 don, and in the chirch of Seynt Martyns Otwiche, I woll 
 that be the suffraunce of y^ parson of Seynt Peter in Corn- 
 hull and chirchwardons for the tyme beyng, John Elys of 
 longe tyme my serviit have the office to receyve xx marcs 
 of the said Gddehall to me due for terme of yeris, and to 
 recej^e the quyte rentz expressid in my former testament, 
 and to delyver thayme and every parceU of theyme to the 
 seid parson and chirch wardons for the tyme beyng, accor- 
 ding to my seid testament of qwite rentz. Provided, for the 
 xls which of the xx marcs I have ordeigned to be disposid by 
 the said parson and chirch wardons for the tyme beyng to 
 the said chirch works and other thyngs, I woll be theire 
 suifi'aunce that the said John Elys have xxvj^ for his la- 
 boure and viij<l as longe as he dothe weU thereyn. And the 
 xiijs iiijd residue of the said xl^ I woll the chirch wardons 
 have it for her laboure of the other charge of my said tes- 
 tament. Yeven at London, the day and yere abovesaide. 
 
 Also I bequethe the same John Elys my htill cloth with 
 an image of our Lady and Seynt John Baptist over the 
 chamber doreP. 
 
 P Tliis " litill clotli" was probably a piece of embroidery. In the Archaso- 
 logical Journal for January 1845, is a paper by the Rev. C. H. Hartshome, 
 on " English mediaeval embroidery," which shows the various uses to which 
 that art was applied ; and it is somewhat singular that, amongst other in- 
 stances, he quotes one of an ornament, made by royal command, very similar 
 to that above alluded to. In 35 Hen. III., 1252, " Edward of Westmin- 
 
150 
 
 " ster is commanded to order a banner to be made of white silk, and in 
 " the centre of it there is to be a representation of the crucifixion, with 
 " the effigies of the blessed Mary and St. John, embroidered in orfrais, 
 " and on the top a star, and a new crescent moon" (Hardy's Introduction 
 to the Close Rolls, p. 46). Mr. Hartshorne says such modes of ornamenting 
 chambers are frequently alluded to in early wills. 
 
151 
 
 IV. 
 
 WILL (No. 2) OF KATHERINE CARPENTER. 
 
 From the Rolls of the Court of Hustings, London a. 
 
 (translation b.) 
 
 Comnion Pleas holden in the Hustings of London, on 
 the Monday next after the feast of St. Petronilla Vir- 
 gin [May 31st], in the thirty-sixth year of the reign 
 of King Henry the Sixth after the Conquest [1458], 
 The testament of Katerine Carpenter, late of London, 
 widow, rehet of John Carpenter. 
 
 On the said day and year came hither Robert Welwyk, 
 one of the executors of Katerine Carpenter, late of London, 
 widow, and made proof of the testament of the same Kate- 
 rine, as regards the articles touching lay fee, by John Py- 
 pond and John Elys, citizens of London, witnesses sworn 
 and dihgently examined ; who say upon their oath that they 
 were present when the same Katerine made her testament 
 in the manner following : 
 
 a On the 28th April, 1458, an order was made hy the lord mayor and 
 aldermen, fixing 3^. as the fine to he paid to the chamber for the inrolment 
 of this will, hy reason of divers quit-rents bequeathed in mortmain. 
 
 b My acknowledgements are due to the Rev. Joseph Harris, M.A., one 
 of the masters of the City of London School, for his friendly assistance in 
 making this translation. 
 
152 
 
 In the name of God, Amen. On Wednesday the last 
 day of the month of March, in the year of our Lord one 
 thousand four hundred and fifty-seven, and in the thirty- 
 fifth year of the reign of Henry the Sixth after the Con- 
 quest, I Katerine Carpenter, widow, citizen of London, rehct 
 of John Carpenter junior, formerly common clerk of the 
 said city, reflecting with careful meditation how short and 
 transitory are the days of man, and how many are suddenly 
 involved in calamities, while therefore I am sound in mind 
 and memory I conclude, make, and ordain my present testa- 
 ment, containing my last will <^, as regards the disposal of 
 certain quit-rents of mine below mentioned, issuing from 
 certain lands and tenements within the city of London, in 
 the following manner. 
 
 Imprimis : I give and commend my soul to Almighty God 
 my creator and redeemer, and to his mother the blessed 
 Virgin Mary, and to all his saints ; and my body to be bu- 
 ried as I have fully declared in another testament of mine 
 concerning my moveable goods previously made. 
 
 Item : I give and bequeath to Hugo Damelet d, rector of 
 the parish church of St. Peter in Cornhill, London, and to 
 the wardens of the works and ornaments of the same church 
 and to all the parishioners of that church, those thirty 
 and three shiUings annual free and quit rent, which I have 
 
 c This will seems to have been made to take the place of one of earlier 
 date.— See page 148 («). 
 
 d Damelet was rector from 1447' to 1476. — Newcourt's Repertorium^ 
 vol. i. p. 525. 
 
 e A large building in Guildhall yard (adjoining the south side of Guild- 
 hall chapel), which was purchased by the city of Thomas Bakwell, in the 
 reign of Richard the Second, and converted into a market for woollen 
 cloths. It was rebuilt in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, and again after 
 
153 
 
 yearly issuing from a certain tenement of the mayor and 
 commonalty of the city of London, called BakwelhaUe^, 
 with the appurtenances, situate in the parish of St. Michael 
 in Bassyeshawe, London, and from houses, lands, and tene- 
 ments of the said mayor and commonalty, with their appur- 
 tenances, situate in the parishes of St. Peter on CornhiU 
 aforesaid and of St. Botolph near Billyngesgate, London, 
 and which I the said Katerine lately held jointly with Wil- 
 liam Chedworth and Robert Langford ^ (who released to me 
 aU their right, interest, and claim therein by their writing 
 dated the twenty-first day of the month of April, in the 
 twenty-seventh year of the reign of King Henry the Sixth 
 after the Conquest), by the gift, grant, and confirmation of 
 John Gedney late mayor, and of the commonalty of the 
 city of London E : to have, levy, and receive annually the 
 aforesaid thirty and three shiHings annual free and quit 
 rent at the four principal divisions of the year in equal 
 portions, together with the power of distraining for the same 
 rent as often as it may be in arrear unpaid, to the aforesaid 
 rector, wardens, and parishioners and their successors for 
 ever, under the form and conditions following ; to wit, that 
 the said rector and wardens and parishioners and their suc- 
 cessors keep and observe, or cause to be kept and observed, 
 in the said church of theirs every year for ever, on the 
 
 the fire of 1666. In 1820-21 it was pulled down, witli the chapel, in order 
 to provide a site for the new courts of justice, <^c. — Brayley's Londiniama^ 
 vol. i. p. 114. 
 
 f Chedworth was one of her husband's executors, and Langford one of 
 his clerks. 
 
 g The grant here referred to seems to have been the consideration she 
 received for the property she parted with in 1448 to the city, as men- 
 tioned on page 106. 
 
154 
 
 twelfth day of the month of May if no lawful impediment 
 prevent, or within two days next preceding or following that 
 day, whichever may be better or more convenient, solemnly, 
 devoutly, and separately, one anniversary by note for the 
 soul of the said John Carpenter my late husband, and for 
 my soul, and for the souls of aU the faithful departed, in 
 the form following, to wit : a certain honest cloth being first 
 placed on the preceding evening before the door of the 
 chancel or choir of the same church, beyond the tomb where 
 the body of the said John my late husband resteth buried, 
 with one suitable wax candle at the head and another at 
 the feet of the same tomb burning, let the rector of the said 
 church, or his locum tenens, and all the chaplains and clerks 
 of the same church, devoutly and distinctly chant and sing 
 a Placebo and Dirige \ with lauds, and with the full service 
 for the dead used and accustomed on anniversaries of this 
 kind ; and on the morrow let them celebrate in the same 
 place one high mass of Requiem, by turns, by note reverently 
 and devoutly ; and let two of their chaplains separately cele- 
 brate two masses without note, with the special collects and 
 commemorations in the canons of their masses to be made 
 for the aforesaid souls ; and let each of the said wardens at 
 the said high mass offer to God, for the aforesaid souls, one 
 penny; but these exequies being finished, let the said rector 
 or his locum tenens, the chaplains and clerks, meet round 
 the said tomb, and sing this response," Libera me Domine," 
 
 li The phrase " with dirige and placebo" often occurs in the details of 
 funeral ceremonies. The Dirige, part of the 5th psalm, was borrowed from 
 the first noctnrn in the matins of the office for the dead. Placebo was taken 
 from the anthem " Placebo Domino," ^c, with which the vespers for the 
 dead open. — Fosbroke's EncyclopcBdia of Antiquities^ vol. ii. p. 814. 
 
155 
 
 with others used for the dead in such cases, and then let 
 them say the psalm " De profundis," with the appropriate 
 versicles and prayers for the souls aforesaid ; and let them 
 also strike the beU of the same church during the time of 
 the aforesaid exequies, as the custom is in other anniversa- 
 ries of this kind, that the devotions of those who hear that 
 striking may be more especially and more devoutly excited 
 to pray to God for the souls commemorated. And further, 
 that the same rector and wardens of the aforesaid church 
 of St. Peter for the time being do choose and cause to come 
 thirteen of the more virtuous poor of either sex, namely, 
 seven of the parish of St. Peter aforesaid, and six of the 
 parish of St. Martin Oteswich, London, to be present at the 
 said exequies throughout, and specially to pray for the 
 aforesaid souls ; provided always, that no common beggar, 
 nor any other who may have had daily food from any fra- 
 ternity or mistery of London or elsewhere, be nominated, 
 chosen, or be of the number of these thirteen poor. And 
 immediately on the complete finishing of this anniversary, 
 that the rector and wardens divide and distribute each year 
 sixteen shiUings from the said thirty and three shillings 
 rent, in form following ; namely, that they pay and distri- 
 bute to each of the chaplains of the said church of St. Peter 
 for the time being, for their labour and dihgence shown in 
 the premises, fourpence ; and to each of the parish clerks 
 of the same for the time being, officiating on the said anni- 
 versary, fourpence ; and to the same parish clerks between 
 them, for the striking of the said bell, two shillings ; and 
 to each of the said thirteen poor present and praying at the 
 said exequies, threepence ; and for the wax appointed and 
 used on the same anniversary, two shillings; also to the 
 
156 
 
 said rector, if he shall have been present at the aforesaid 
 exequies, twenty pence, and if he shall have been absent 
 only ten pence ; and that they receive and retain twenty-one 
 pence for each of the said wardens, for their labours and 
 dihgence in the collection of the said rent, and the keeping 
 of the said anniversary, and for their offering aforesaid ; and 
 that they honestly and faithfully lay out and distribute the 
 remainder of the same sixteen shillings, if any thing shall 
 remain, among the more virtuous poor parishioners of the 
 said church of St. Peter. And further, that the said rector 
 and wardens and parishioners receive, have, and retain for 
 themselves and their successors every year for ever seven- 
 teen shillings remaining rent out of the said thirty and three 
 shilhngs, for the support of the beam-light and other lights 
 of the same church, on condition that no poor parishioner 
 or servant of the said parish of St. Peter, at the holy paschal 
 season or at any other time whatever, at the Lord's table, 
 shall be kept back \_arceatur], or any way compelled to pay 
 for any paschal hght \ commonly called candel silver, about 
 the same paschal season, in the aforesaid church of St. Peter 
 ordered or to be ordered. And if it should happen that the 
 aforesaid anniversary, or the said payment or distribution 
 of sixteen shillings to be made in the form aforesaid, should 
 cease in any year after my decease, or be neghgently or 
 remissly withdrawn, delayed, or not take place, or that any 
 of the poor or servants of the aforesaid parish of St. Peter, 
 
 i An enormously thick wax candle, wliicli was lighted on the morning 
 of Easter-day, the wax itself being curiously adorned with grains of in- 
 cense, and inscribed with the epact, dominical letter, <^c. ; also the names 
 of the reigning pope, king, and bishop of the diocese, and the date of the 
 consecration of the church.' — Hart's Ecclesiastical Records, ^c, p. 240. 
 
157 
 
 in the same holy paschal season or at any other time what- 
 ever, at the Lord's table, are kept back, forced, or compelled 
 to pay for any light before mentioned, in the said church 
 at the same paschal season to be ordered or provided, then 
 I will and ordain that the fee simple and possession of 
 the same rector, wardens, and parishioners of the afore- 
 said church of St. Peter, and their successors, of and in 
 the aforesaid thirty and three shillings rent, shall altogether 
 finally cease and determine, and be null and void. Nay, 
 from thence accordingly I now give and will by this my 
 present testament the aforesaid thirty and three shillings 
 rent to the rector of the church of St. Martin Oteswich, 
 London, the wardens, and the parishioners of the same 
 church for the time being, to have, levy, and receive annu- 
 ally for themselves and their successors for ever, together 
 with the power of distraining for the same annual rent as 
 often as it shall be in arrear unpaid after any feast on which 
 it ought to be paid ; on condition that they each year on the 
 day aforesaid, or within two days next preceding or follow- 
 ing the same day, keep and observe with six chaplains and 
 the parish clerk of the same church of St. Martin for the 
 time being, if there shaU be so many stipendiary chaplains 
 in that church, or with other fit chaplains in the place of 
 those chaplains, failing either all or any of them of the 
 same church of St. Martin (to be elected for all future times 
 by the same rector and wardens of the same church of St. 
 Martin who for the time shall be), the anniversary for the 
 aforesaid souls in the same church of St. Martin, by note ; 
 also make and execute the payments to the chaplains and 
 clerk observing the same anniversary, and the distributions 
 among the poor, and aU and singular the other things in 
 
158 
 
 their said chiu'ch of St. Martin ; and that the same rector 
 and wardens of the same church of St. Martin for the time 
 being receive and take for their labour and pains in a simi- 
 lar manner and form as the aforesaid rector, wardens, and 
 parishioners of the aforesaid chm'ch of St. Peter in the same 
 church of St. Peter ought to make, execute, receive, and 
 take as beforesaid. 
 
 Item : I give and bequeath to Master John Breux, rector 
 of the aforesaid church of St. Martin Oteswich'^, and to 
 the wardens of the works and ornaments and the parishio- 
 ners of the same church, thirteen shillings and fourpence, 
 a third of an annual free and quit rent which I have annu- 
 ally issuing from a corner tenement, late of Robert Ramsey, 
 esquire, situate on Oyster hill in the parish of St. Magnus 
 near London bridge l, and which I lately had by the gift, 
 grant, and confirmation of David Fyvian, clerk, William 
 Chedworth, and Robert Langford, citizens of London, as by 
 their writing, which is dated on the twenty-fii'st day of the 
 month of April, in the twenty-seventh year of the reign of 
 King Henry the Sixth after the conquest of England, there- 
 upon to me made, fully appears ^: to have, levy, and receive 
 annually the aforesaid thirteen shillings and fourpence rent, 
 at the times when payment becomes due, together with the 
 
 k Rector from 1451 to 1459. — Newcourt's Repertorium, vol. i. p. 419. 
 
 1 " Then is there a water-gate at tte bridge-foote called Oyster gate, 
 " of oysters that were there of old time commonly to be sold, and was the 
 " chiefest market for them, and for other shell-fishes." — Stow's Survey^ 
 p. 33. The tenement here spoken of seems to be identical with part of 
 the property left to the city by John Carpenter. 
 
 m It is to be found on the rolls of the Court of Hustings, 28 Hen. VI. 
 A previous conveyance of the same quit-rent (with others) is to be found 
 on the Hustings roll, 3 Hen. VI. No. 153, memb, 10. 
 
159 
 
 power of distraining for the same rent as often as it shall 
 be in arrear unpaid, to the aforesaid now rector, wardens, 
 and parishioners of the said church of St. Martin and their 
 successors for ever, under the form and conditions follow- 
 ing ; namely, that the same rector, wardens, and parishio- 
 ners, and their successors, keep and observe or cause to be 
 kept and observed, in their said church of St. Martin each 
 year for ever, an anniversary for the soul of the said John 
 late my husband, and for my soul, and the souls of Richard 
 the father, of Christina the mother, and of aU. the brothers, 
 sisters, and relations of the said John late my husband, 
 buried in the said church of St. Martin, and of aU the faith- 
 ful departed, on the festival or on the day of the saints 
 Cosmas and Damian ^, if then an anniversary of this kind, 
 there being no legitimate impediment, can conveniently take 
 place, otherwise on the nearest day to that festival preceding 
 or following, as may be better and more convenient. 
 
 [Then foUow particular directions as to the manner of 
 observing the anniversary and the payments to be made, 
 which are similar to those in the case of the anniversary 
 to be observed at St. Peter's, Cornhillo, except that no 
 payment is directed to be made for the beam-light. In 
 case of neglect or omission the bequest was to go to St. 
 Peter's, Cornhill, on the same conditions.] 
 
 n September 27tli. 
 
 o That these observances and payments were continued down to the 
 time of the Reformation seems probable from the following extract (given 
 in Malcolm's Lond. Rediv., vol. iv. p. 409) from the churchwarden's books 
 of St. Martin Outwich, under date 1527 : 
 
 " Item, monay rescayed for the obitt of Mr, Gierke, xijd; and 
 " for the obit oi John Carpenter, xx^; amount - - - ijs viijd" 
 
160 
 
 Item : I give and bequeath to Thomas Eytburhale P, mas- 
 ter of the college of St. Michael in Riola, London, and his 
 fellows, chaplains of the same college, those ten and seven 
 shillings annual free and quit rents which I have annually 
 issuing from all .that tenement with the appurtenances there- 
 of, which formerly was of Amicia Clevehond, then of John 
 Clevehond, and afterwards of Thomas KnoUes, John Storm- 
 worth, Henry Barton, William Cauntbrigge, John Brokle, 
 and others, and afterwards of Robert Otteley, WiUiam Sym- 
 mes, Thomas Catworth, and Robert Cawood, situate in the 
 ward of Tower, in the parish of All Saints Berkyngchirch, 
 London, to wit, between the tenement which was lately of 
 the said John late my husband, previously of William Neel, 
 on the east part, and a certain tenement of John Maykin 
 on the west part, and the king's way on the north part, 
 which ten and seven shillings rents I the said Katherine 
 lately held by the gift, grant, and confirmation of the afore- 
 said David Fyvian, William Chedworth, and Robert Lang- 
 ford, according as by their aforesaid writing, dated the said 
 twenty-first day of the month of April, in the twenty-seventh 
 year of the reign of King Henry the Sixth aforesaid, above 
 mentioned, plainly appears <l : to have, levy, and yearly to 
 receive the aforesaid ten and seven shillings rents to the 
 aforesaid master and his fellows, chaplains of the aforesaid 
 college, and their successors, at the terms at which they 
 shall become due, together with the power of distraining for 
 
 P Master from 1444 to 1464 (Newcourt's Repertorium, vol. i. p. 493). 
 He was an Oxford doctor, and was one of those " famous preachers" who 
 (as mentioned on page 64) exposed the evil courses of the privy council. 
 
 q These quit-rents were also included in the previous conveyance, re- 
 ferred to in the note (m) on page 158. 
 
161 
 
 the same rents as often as they shaU be in arrear after any 
 term on which they ought to be paid, under the form and con- 
 dition following ; to wit, that the same master and feUows, 
 chaplains, and their successors, in every future year, on the 
 thirteenth day of the month of June if conveniently may 
 be, otherwise on the day next preceding or following, do 
 keep in the church of St. Michael aforesaid an anniversary 
 for the soul of the said John late my husband, and for my 
 soul, and for the souls of Master John White and William 
 Grove, late nominated coexecutors with the said John late 
 my husband in the testament of Richard Whityngton, and 
 for the souls of all the faithful departed, and in the form 
 following, to wit : 
 
 [Then follow specific directions similar to those with 
 regard to the lastmentioned bequest. In case of neglect 
 or default this bequest was to go to the rector, 8^c., of 
 St. Michael Bassishaw, on similar conditions.] 
 Item : I give and bequeath to the aforesaid Hugh, now 
 rector of the aforesaid church of St. Peter on Cornhill, the 
 wardens, and parishioners of the same church, all that an- 
 nual rent of twenty marks, which I have to myself my exe- 
 cutors and assigns for a term of years, of the grant of the 
 mayor and commonalty of the city of London, at the four 
 principal terms of the year, namely, the feast of St. Michael 
 the Archangel, the Nativity of our Lord, Easter, and the 
 Nativity of St. John the Baptist, by equal portions, by the 
 hands of the chamberlain of the said city for the time being, 
 from the issues, toUs, and rents of a certain tenement called 
 Bakwellhalle, situate in the aforesaid parish of St. Michael 
 in Bassishaw, and aU the lands and tenements of the said 
 mayor and commonalty in the parishes of St. Peter on Corn- 
 
162 
 
 hill and St. Botolph near Billingsgate, London ^ : to have, 
 levy, and receive annually, during the whole term I shall 
 have it thence issuing, the aforesaid annual rent of twenty 
 marks at the said four terms of the year in equal portions, 
 together with the power of distraining for the same annual 
 rent as often as it shall be in arrear unpaid, to the aforesaid 
 rector, wardens, and parishioners of the said church of St. 
 Peter and their successors, under the following conditions ; 
 namely, that the same rector, wardens, and parishioners 
 and their successors, during the same term, do procure 
 Adam Gerard, chaplain «, to celebrate divine offices con- 
 tinually in the accustomed manner for the soul of the said 
 John late my husband, and for my soul, and the souls of 
 our parents, friends, and benefactors, and of all the faith- 
 ful departed, that is to say, a mass in the said church of 
 St. Peter daily, between the sixth and seventh hour, if he 
 shall be so disposed, but otherwise at any other hour, ac- 
 cording to his pleasure. And I will that the said Adam 
 shall in each day, ordinary as well as festival, be present at 
 aU the canonical hours and divine offices in the same church 
 to sing, and at the antiphon of the blessed Mary on each 
 festival day, and officiate and serve as is becoming at the 
 said obsequies, according to his knowledge and ability, un- 
 less hindered by lawful or reasonable cause. Also that they 
 pay yearly during the said term to the said Adam, chaplain. 
 
 r This additional grant from the city, of an annuity chargeable on the 
 same property as that mentioned in the grant referred to on page 153, was 
 probably made in 1453, when the city made a second purchase of her, as 
 mentioned on page 106. 
 
 s Her other will contains a bequest to him of a " litle chasid pece 
 " with the covertill of sylver, and overgilt." — See page 146. 
 
163 
 
 for his salary, eleven marks sterling ; and if the same Adam 
 shall be worn out by the weakness of old age or any other 
 infirmity, so as to be unable to observe the said ministra- 
 tion or obsequies, then I will that he nevertheless receive 
 and have during the aforesaid term the said eleven marks 
 annually. Provided always, that if it should happen that 
 the said Adam dies before the end of the said term, then I 
 will that the said rector, wardens, and parishioners of the 
 said church of St. Peter and their successors, from time to 
 time during the said term, do procure one other fit chaplain 
 to celebrate divine offices continually in the accustomed 
 manner for the soul of the aforesaid John late my husband, 
 and for my soul, and the aforesaid souls, that is to say, a 
 mass in the same church of St. Peter daily whenever he 
 shall be so disposed. And I will that this other chaplain 
 for the time being, on each day, as well ordinary as festival, 
 be present, officiate, and minister, there being no lawful 
 impediment, to sing at all the canonical hours and divine 
 offices in the said chm^h of St. Peter. And I vdll that the 
 said rector, wardens, and parishioners, and their successors, 
 pay annually during the said term to this chaplain for the 
 time being, for his salary, ten marks sterling. And that they 
 pay to this chaplain for the time being annually during the 
 said term, if he shall be willing to celebrate his mass daily 
 between the sixth and seventh hours throughout the whole 
 year, there being no lawful impediment, or, the said chap- 
 lain refusing thus to celebrate, to some other fit chaplain of 
 the same church who shall be wilhng to celebrate in the 
 usual manner his mass on each day at the aforesaid time 
 throughout the whole year, thirteen shillings and fourpence 
 sterling. 
 
 M 2 
 
164 
 
 Also I will, bequeath, and ordain that the said rector and 
 wardens of the said church of St. Peter and their succes- 
 sors, according to their discretion and conscience, do lay out 
 and distribute annually during the said term, four pounds 
 sterling among the poor and more virtuous parishioners of 
 the churches of St. Peter and St. Martin Oteswich aforesaid, 
 namely, among the poor parishioners of each of the said 
 churches forty shillings ; that is to say, on the vigils of 
 Easter, the Nativity of St. John the Baptist, St. Michael the 
 Archangel, and the Nativity of our Lord, in equal portions. 
 
 Further, I will that John Elys, citizen of London, who 
 for a long time hath faithfully served me, during the afore- 
 said term if he shall live so long among men, be the col- 
 lector of all and singular the aforesaid rents ; and that the 
 aforesaid rector and wardens of the said church of St. Peter, 
 and their successors, do pay annually to the said John Elys, 
 for all the aforesaid rents thus annually to be collected and 
 for all the aforesaid donations faithfully to be rendered 
 yearly out of each of his rents, twenty-six shillings and 
 eightpence sterhng. 
 
 And I will that, after the decease of the said John, the 
 rector and wardens of the said church of St. Peter for the 
 time being do lay out annually during the said term, for the 
 repair of the said church and the ornaments of the same, 
 and for the sustentation of the beam-light and other fit and 
 necessary Hghts in the said church, twenty-six shillings 
 and eightpence. And also that, after the decease of the 
 said John, the said rector and wardens of the said church 
 of St. Peter, and their successors, shall only be bound to 
 levy the aforesaid annual rent of twenty marks during the 
 aforesaid term, and not by any means to levy the other 
 
165 
 
 aforesaid rents, nor to procure another collector to levy the 
 same other rents. 
 
 And I wiU that the wardens of the said chnrch of St. 
 Peter for the time being do annually retain and have among 
 themselves during the aforesaid term out of the aforesaid 
 annual rent of twenty marks, for their labour and diligence 
 in the procuring and paying of the said chaplain and in 
 the distribution of the said four pounds, thirteen shillings 
 and fourpence. 
 
 Moreover, of this my testament I make, ordain, and con- 
 stitute my executors, that is to say, Richard Mordon, Robert 
 Welwyk, and Richard Joly. In testimony of which I have 
 set my seal to this my present testament. Given at London, 
 on the day and year aforesaid. 
 
166 
 
 V. 
 
 ACCOUNT OF 
 THE BENEFACTIONS AND ENDOWMENTS 
 
 FOR PRIZES, SCHOLARSHIPS, <fcc., 
 
 WHICH HAVE BEEN BESTOWED ON THE CITY OP LONDON SCHOOL 
 SINCE ITS ESTABLISHMENT. 
 
 1837. & s. d. 
 
 By Sir James Duke, alderman, for a prize to the 
 
 first boy in the examination in mathematics 10 10 
 
 By John Tricker Conquest, esq. M.D. F.L.S., for 
 a gold medal for general proficiency and good 
 conduct (continued annually) - - 10 10 
 
 By Sir James Shaw, hart., chamberlain of Lon- 
 don, towards a fund for providing prizes to be 
 given annually _ . . _ *100 
 
 1838. 
 By the Corporation of London, towards establish- 
 ing an exhibition to one of the universities (the 
 fine paid by Thomas Tegg, esq., to be excused 
 from serving the ofiice of sheriff) - *400 
 
 The amounts thus marked * are invested in the public funds. 
 
167 
 
 By Sir Moses Montefiore, sheriff, for a prize for 
 
 proficiency in classics - - - 10100 
 
 1839. 
 By David Williams Wire, esq., under-sheriff, for 
 
 a prize for classical proficiency - - 10 10 
 
 By the Rev. Dr. Giles, head-master, as a prize for 
 
 the best map - _ - - a silver medal. 
 
 1840. 
 By Sir James Shaw, bart., chamberlain, towards 
 
 a fand for prizes (second donation) - *100 
 
 1841. 
 By ditto, for the same purpose (third donation) *100 
 
 1843. 
 By Alexander Eogers, esq., sheriff, for a prize for 
 
 proficiency in French and German - 10 10 
 
 By The Times Testimonial Committee, a scholar- 
 ship to the universities of Oxford and Cam- 
 bridge a . - - - per annum J *30 
 
 1843. 
 By Francis Hobler, esq., the dies for a prize medal 
 for mathematical proficiency, in commemora- 
 tion of Colonel Mark Beaufoy, F.R.S. 
 
 a For particulars of this scholarship see page 176. 
 
168 
 
 1844. 
 By Henry B. H. Beaufoy, esq. F.R.S., for the 
 endowment of a mathematical scholarship to 
 the university of Cambridge^, of the annual 
 value of 50/. - (B per cent, consols) '^lll 11 
 
 By Thomas Tegg, esq., in augmentation of the 
 fund for establishing an exhibition to one of 
 the universities - - - - *1000«. 
 
 By Warren Stormes Hale, esq., chairman of the 
 
 committee, for a divinity prize - - 10 10 
 
 1845. 
 By Sir Moses Montefiore, for a prize for the best 
 
 classical scholar (second donation) - 10 10 
 
 By Thomas Lott, esq. F.S.A., a member of the 
 committee, as a prize to the best writer in the 
 school (continued annually) - - a silver medal. 
 
 By Henry B. H. Beaufoy, esq. F.R.S., for the 
 endowment of a second mathematical scholar- 
 ship to the university of Cambridge, of the an- 
 nual value of 50/. (B per ce?it. consols) '^llll 
 
 By ditto, for premiums for lectures " On the ad- 
 vantages of a classical education c" - 52 10 
 
 b For particulars of this scholarship see page 177. 
 c Awarded to the Rev. Joseph Angus, M. A. of the university of Edin- 
 burgh, and the Rev. James Pycroft, M.A. of Trinity College, Oxford. 
 
169 
 
 By David Salomons, esq., late sheriff, for the en- 
 dowment of a scholarship to the university of 
 Oxford, Cambridge, or London, of the annual 
 valueofSO/.d . (3 per cent, comols) ^16 QQ 13 4 
 
 1846. 
 By Warren Stormes Hale, esq., chairman, as a 
 prize for the pupils below the two head classes, 
 for proficiency in arithmetic (continued annu- 
 ally) a silver medal. 
 
 By Michael Gibbs, esq., alderman, as a prize for 
 an Enghsh essay " On the influence of the art 
 of printing on the rehgion, Hterature, and sci- 
 ence of Great Britain" - - - 10 10 
 
 By ditto, for prizes for punctuaHty of attendance, 
 
 and progress in studies - - - 10100 
 
 By the Travers Testimonial Committee, for the 
 endowment of a scholarship to University Col- 
 lege, or King's College, London, of the annual 
 valueofSO/.e - (B per cent, con&oh) "^16 6 Q 13 4 
 
 1847. 
 By Henry B. H. Beaufoy, esq. F.R.S., a large pic- 
 ture, containing portraits of the chairman, the 
 head-master, the secretary, and Mr. Hobler, 
 painted by the desire and at the expense of 
 
 d See page 178. e See page 179. 
 
170 
 
 Mr. Beaufoy, as the condition of his consenting 
 to a portrait of himself being painted at the 
 expense of the corporation f - cost 440 
 
 By ditto, for premiums for lectures and prizes for 
 essays " On the Fifth Commandment, as the 
 great moral principle of love of country and 
 obedience to constituted authorities g" - 150 
 
 By James B. Bunning, esq., city architect, as a 
 
 prize to the best classical scholar - - 10 10 
 
 By Sir George CarroU, alderman, towards the 
 
 fund for prizes - - - - - *5000 
 
 1848. 
 By Henry B. H. Beaufoy, esq. F.R.S., for the en- 
 dowment of a third mathematical scholarship 
 to the university of Cambridge, of the annual 
 value of 50/. - (^ per cent, consols) *1716 13 4 
 
 By Robert WiUiam Kennard, esq., sheriff, for 
 prizes for proficiency in chemistry and natu- 
 ral philosophy - - - - - 10 10 
 
 1849. 
 By Francis Bennoch, esq., a member of the com- 
 mittee, as a prize for proficiency in writing, 
 
 f The picture and portrait are botli preserved in the committee-room of 
 the school. A marble bust of Mr. Beaufoy was subsequently executed by 
 desire of the corporation, and placed in the council chamber at Guildhall ; 
 and a duplicate of it is placed in the theatre of the school. 
 
171 
 
 arithmetic, and bookkeeping (continued annu- 
 ally) . - - - a gold pen, with silver holder. 
 
 1850. 
 By Henry B. H. Beaufoy, esq. F.R.S., for the en- 
 dowment of a fourth mathematical scholarship 
 to the university of Cambridge, of the annual 
 value of 50/. - (S per cent, consols) ^lllQ 13 4 
 
 By ditto, for a fund for annual prizes for the en- 
 couragement of the study of the works of 
 Shakespeare^ - (S per cent, consols) ^10 SI 1 7 
 
 By WiUiam Knott, esq., member of the committee, 
 
 as a prize for proficiency in drawing - a silver watch. 
 
 1851. 
 By Henry B. H. Beaufoy, esq. F.R.S., in aid of 
 
 the first half-year's dividend on the Shake- 
 speare prize fund - - - - 15 14 10 
 
 By Michael Eaton Wilkinson, esq., formerly a 
 member of the committee, as a prize for general 
 industry and progress (continued annually) - 3 2 
 
 By Donald NicoU, esq., late sheriff, as a prize for 
 
 an essay on a commercial subject (annually) 5 5 
 
 g The premium of eighty guineas for the lectures was awarded to the 
 Rev. Henry Alford, M.A., vicar of Wymeswold, Leicestershire, and late 
 fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, and Hulsean lecturer. 
 
 h For particulars of this endowment see page 183. 
 
172 
 
 By Benjamin Scott, esq., as a prize for proficiency 
 in the knowledge of the Holy Scriptures and 
 the evidences of the truth of Christianity (con- 
 tinued annually) - - - a Polyglot Bible. 
 
 By Sir Chapman Marshall, alderman, for prizes 
 for proficiency in chemistry and natural philo- 
 sophy (continued annually to 1854) - -5 5 
 
 By Mr. Henry Judge Hose, B.A. (a former pupil), 
 as a prize for knowledge of mathematical prin- 
 ciples in subjects below the differential calculus 3 3 
 
 By the executors of John Henry Peacock, esq., 
 deceased, towards the fund for prizes (a moiety 
 of a legacy of 100/.) - - - - *50 
 
 1852. 
 By Mr. Henry Judge Hose, B.A., as a prize for 
 the best knowledge of the text of Milton's Para- 
 dise Lost (second donation) - - - 3 3 
 
 By John Hornby, esq. (a former pupil), as a prize 
 
 for an essay on natural and revealed religion - 3 3 
 
 By Richard Lambert Jones, esq., and the commit- 
 tee for a testimonial to him, for the endowment 
 of a scholarship to the university of Oxford, 
 Cambridge, or London i (3 joercew?. consols)* 735 5 6 
 
 i For particulars of this scholarship see page 180. 
 
173 
 
 1853. 
 By William Hunter, esq., alderman, as prizes for 
 essays " On the authenticity and genuineness 
 of the Holy Scriptures" (continued annually at 
 five guineas) 10 10 
 
 By George Beaufoy, esq., in fulfilment of the in- 
 tentions of his late brother Henry B. H. Beau- 
 foy, esq., dec. - the dies for a Shakespeare prize medal. 
 
 1855. 
 By David Williams Wire, esq., alderman, as a 
 prize for an essay " On the apphcation of 
 Christianity to the ordinary duties and ohHga- 
 tionsoflife" (second donation) - - 10 10 
 
 By Rev. Dr. Jelf, principal of King's CoUege, Lon- 
 don, as prizes for the best Greek and Latin 
 poem, or translation into Greek and Latin verse 5 5 
 
 By R. Hartley Kennedy, esq., alderman, as prizes 
 for good behaviour and regular attendance. 
 
 Twelve silver pen and pencil holders, with gold pens. 
 
 By the president, treasurer, governors, and me- 
 dical and surgical officers of St. Thomas's Ho- 
 spital, a medical scholarship, or free presenta- 
 tion to the lectures and medical and surgical 
 practice of the hospital, bestowable each alter- 
 nate year, and tenable for three years ^ : 
 
 Value of each presentation from 90/. to 100 
 
 k For particulars of this scholarship see page 182. 
 
174 
 
 By the Company of Goldsmiths, an exhibition to 
 the university of Oxford or Cambridge i 
 
 per annum 50 
 
 By Richard Nathaniel Phihpps, esq. LL.B., for 
 estabhshing an annual prize for the best Latin 
 composition in prose or verse - - *5310 
 
 1856. 
 By R-. Hartley Kennedy, esq., aid. and sheriff, in 
 behalf of Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy of Bombay 
 in the East Indies, knight, as a prize for the best 
 essay " On the advantages enjoyed by England 
 through the connection with India" - 21 
 
 By Herbert Lloyd, esq., as prizes for encouraging 
 the study of the EngHsh language, the cultiva- 
 tion of an acquaintance with the best specimens 
 of English hterature, and the attainment of 
 purity of style in speaking and writing the 
 language (to be continued annually) - 15 15 
 
 1 See page 3 82. 
 
175 
 
 VI. 
 
 PARTICULARS OF THE SEVERAL 
 
 SCHOLARSHIPS AND EXHIBITIONS 
 
 NOW ATTACHED TO THE CITY OF LONDON SCHOOL, 
 
 CARPENTER SCHOLARSHIPS. 
 
 The ScholarsMps in memory of John Caepentek, the 
 founder of the school, are eight in number, and are in- 
 tended as rewards for proficiency and good conduct. The 
 appointment to them is determined by an examination in 
 classics, mathematics, divinity, history, and French, con- 
 ducted by the examiners of the school. The candidates 
 must be between eleyen and fifteen years of age, and have 
 been at least three years in the school. 
 
 The advantages are, a gratuitous education, and supply 
 of books to a value not exceeding 2/. per annum ; an allow- 
 ance of 25/. per annum towards maintenance, ^c. ; and a pre- 
 mium of 50/. on leaving the school, to be apphed towards 
 the scholar's advancement in life, provided he continues 
 therein three years after election, and obtains a certificate of 
 merit and good conduct during that period from the head 
 master. If a scholar proceeds to the universities of Oxford, 
 Cambridge, or London, with a view to taking a degree, 
 the allowance of 25/. per annum is continued to him for a 
 further period of four years. 
 
176 
 
 TIMES SCHOLARSHIPS. 
 
 The origin of The Times Scholarships is thus described 
 on a marble tablet in the school ; 
 
 This Tablet was erected 
 
 as a perpetual memorial of the foundation of 
 
 The Times Scholakships : 
 
 one in connexion with the City of London School, 
 
 the other with Christ's Hospital, 
 
 for the benefit of pupils proceeding from those institutions 
 
 to the universities of Oxford and Cambridge. 
 
 The endowment of these scholarships 
 
 was effected out of the proceeds of a subscription 
 
 entered into by 
 
 English and foreign merchants, bankers, 
 
 and other persons interested in the preservation of 
 
 mercantile confidence and security, 
 
 to testify their warm admiration, and grateful sense, 
 
 of the moral courage, indefatigable perseverance, 
 
 and distinguished ability shown by 
 
 the Proprietors of the Times Newspaper, 
 
 A.B. M.DCCC.XLL, 
 
 in the ready detection and fearless exposure 
 
 of a most extensive and fraudulent conspiracy, 
 
 which, from its subtle and daring character, 
 
 was unparalleled in the annals of commerce. 
 
 These distinguished services 
 
 derived an additional lustre from the 
 
 unexampled generosity and disinterestedness 
 
 of the Proprietors, 
 
 in their refusal to be reimbursed any portion of the 
 
 heavy expenses incurred in the progress of 
 
 their noble and arduous exertions. 
 
 The scholarship attached to this school is open to all the 
 pupils. The election to it is determined in the same manner 
 as the Carpenter scholarships. The income is 30/. per an- 
 num, tenable for four years. The scholars are required to 
 proceed to Oxford or Cambridge within three months after 
 election. 
 
177 
 
 BEAUFOY SCHOLARSHIPS. 
 
 The particulars of the first Beaufoy scholarship are thus 
 recorded on a marble tablet in the school : 
 
 Henry Benjamin Hanbury Beaufoy, esquire, 
 
 of Soutli Lambeth in the county of Surrey, 
 
 Fellow of the Royal Society, citizen and Distiller of London, 
 
 by deed, dated xxxth December, m.dccc.xliv., 
 
 vested in certain trustees the sum of 
 
 One thousand seven hundred and seventeen pounds stock 
 
 in the Three per cent, consolidated Bank Annuities, 
 
 for the purpose of establishing 
 
 a Scholarship, of the value of Fifty pounds 'per annum., 
 
 to be called 
 
 The Beaufoy Scholaeship, 
 
 and to be enjoyed 
 
 by pupils of the City of London School 
 
 proceeding thence to the university of Cambridge. 
 
 This scholarship 
 
 is designed to encourage the study of 
 
 mathematical science, 
 
 with an especial reference to its practical application 
 
 to the use and service of mankind, 
 
 and to be 
 
 in furtherance of the objects proposed by the institution of 
 
 the Beaufoy Medal, 
 
 a prize annually given by the Committee of the school, 
 
 in commemoration of 
 
 the scientific attainments of the founder's father, 
 
 the late Colonel Mark Beaufoj^ F.R.S. 
 
 the dies for which medal were presented by 
 
 Francis Hobler, esquire, of Walbrook, London, 
 
 a.d, m.dccc.xliii. 
 
 By similar benefactions in the years 1845^ 1848, and 
 1850, Mr. Beaufoy established three other scholarships of 
 the same description. The election to each of the four 
 scholarships is made by the mathematical examiner of the 
 school upon an examination on mathematical subjects only. 
 The scholars are required to proceed to Cambridge within 
 three months after election, and may hold the scholarships 
 for four years, receiving therefrom 50/. per annum. 
 
 N 
 
178 
 
 SALOMONS SCHOLARSHIP. 
 
 This scholarship was founded by Mr. Alderman Salomons, 
 under circumstances which are commemorated by a marble 
 tablet in the school, bearing the following inscription : 
 
 David Salomons, esquire, 
 
 citizen and Cooper of London, 
 
 in the year m.dccc.xlv. 
 
 vested in certain trustees the sum of 
 
 One thousand six hundred and sixty-six pounds 
 
 thirteen shillings and fourpence, 
 
 Three per cent, consolidated Bank Annuities, 
 
 for the purpose of establishing a scholarship 
 
 to be called 
 
 The Salomons Scholakship, 
 
 of the Yalue of Fifty pounds per annum, 
 
 for the benefit of 
 
 pupils of the City of London School 
 
 proceeding to the university 
 
 of Oxford, of Cambridge, or of London. 
 
 This gift 
 
 was designed by Mr. Salomons 
 
 to express his gratitude to his fellow-citizens 
 
 for having, in the year m.dccc.xxxv., 
 
 under new and peculiar circumstances, 
 
 elected him high sheriff of London and Middlesex ; 
 
 and to commemorate the removal 
 
 of those civil disabilities 
 
 which formerly attached to the Jewish subjects of this realm. 
 
 Under the conviction that this peaceful triumph 
 
 of the principles of religious toleration 
 
 is to be ascribed to the progress of education, 
 
 Mr. Salomons conceived that the best mode of perpetuating 
 
 his grateful acknowledgements for so great a blessing 
 
 would be by contributing to farther the cause 
 
 which, under the guidance of 
 
 the Almighty Disposer of events, 
 
 has led to this great result. 
 
 Candidates are subjected to an examination in classics, 
 mathematics, divinity, history, and French. The election 
 is made in the same manner as for the Times scholarship ; 
 and the conditions attached are similar. 
 
179 
 
 TRAVERS SCHOLARSHIP. j 
 
 A tablet, with the following inscription, commemorates 
 
 the estabhshment of this scholarship : ; 
 
 The Teavees Scholaeship j 
 
 was established in m.dccc.xlvi. i 
 
 by tlie friends and admirers of tbe late j 
 
 John Travers, esquire, \ 
 
 of Saint Swithin's lane, London, \ 
 
 as a perpetual memorial of tbe high estimation 1 
 
 in which he was held by his fellow-citizens, | 
 
 for his strict integrity as a merchant and otherwise, ! 
 
 his large and benevolent views as a citizen, j 
 
 his disinterested public services, \ 
 
 his unostentatious charity, \ 
 
 and his general kindness and suavity of manner. i 
 
 The scholarship is endowed with j 
 
 the annual produce of j 
 
 One thousand six hundred and sixty- six pounds i 
 
 thirteen shillings and fourpence, j 
 
 Three per cent. Consols, j 
 
 and is for the benefit of pupils 
 
 proceeding from this school 
 
 to either 
 
 University College or King's College, London, 
 
 in order to qualify for a degree in the 
 
 university of London. 
 
 The value of the scholarship is 50/. per annum, tenable 
 for four years. The mode of election, (SfC?., the same as in 
 the case of other scholarships. 
 
180 
 
 LAMBERT JONES SCHOLARSHIP. 
 
 The particulars of this scholarship are inscribed on a 
 tablet, as follows : 
 
 The Lambeet Jones Scholarship 
 
 was established in M.DCcc.Ln. 
 
 by the subscribers to a testimonial for commemorating 
 
 the public services of 
 
 Richard Lambert Jones, esquire, 
 
 a member of the corporation of London, 
 
 who, as chairman of several of its important committees, 
 
 was conspicuous for his zealous and able exertions 
 
 in superintending the rebuilding of 
 
 London Bridge and the Royal Exchange, 
 
 and in promoting various other public works 
 
 tending to improve and adorn the city. 
 
 The scholarship, 
 
 which by the express desire of Mr. Jones was appropriated to this school, 
 
 is endowed with the annual produce of 
 
 Seven hundred and twenty-five pounds five shillings and sixpence. 
 
 Three per cent. Consols, 
 
 and is for the benefit of pupils proceeding to the 
 
 university of Oxford, Cambridge, or London. 
 
 The mode of election to this scholarship is the same as 
 in other cases, but with the following conditions : 
 
 1. Candidates must have been in the school at least 
 three years. 
 
 2. The subjects of examination are classics ; EngUsh, 
 Grecian, and Roman history ; and English literature, in- 
 cluding an English essay. 
 
 3 . The scholarship may be held for four years ; but it 
 is not tenable with any other scholarship from this school 
 which exceeds the annual value of 30/. 
 
 4. The successful candidate must, within fifteen months 
 from his election, matriculate at the university of Oxford, 
 Cambridge, or London. 
 
181 
 
 TEGG SCHOLARSHIP. 
 
 The late Thomas Tegg, esq., of Cheapside, bookseller 
 and publisher, for several years a member of the corpora- 
 tion of London, being elected in 1836 to the office of sheriif, 
 paid a fine of 400/. to be excused from serving; and the 
 corporation directed the amount to be appropriated for the 
 benefit of this school towards the estabhshment of an exhi- 
 bition to one of the universities. In 1844, Mr. Tegg testi- 
 fied his approval thereof by adding a contribution of 100/. 
 The two amounts are invested in government securities, 
 together with the interest accruing thereon from time to 
 time, as an accumulating fund for a scholarship, to be called 
 " The Tegg Scholarship." 
 
 Mr. Tegg accompanied his donation with the gift of a 
 large number of valuable and interesting books for the 
 hbrary of the school ; and, on his decease in 1846, be- 
 queathed, " in aid of the Tegg Scholarship," the reversion 
 of one fourth part of the sum of 3000/. stock in government 
 securities, contingent upon the decease of his son John 
 Tegg without leaving any child or children, or, if leaving 
 any such, then contingent upon the decease of all of them 
 without previously attaining the age of twenty-one years, 
 or marrying under that age with the consent of their pa- 
 rents or guardians for the time being. 
 
182 
 
 THE ST. THOMAS'S MEDICAL SCHOLARSHIP. 
 
 In the year 1855 the president, treasurer, governors, and 
 medical and surgical officers of St. Thomas's Hospital agreed 
 to place at the disposal of the City of London School and 
 Merchant Tailors School annually, to be appropriated to 
 each school alternately, for the advantage of such pupils as 
 may be destined for the medical profession, a free presen- 
 tation to the lectures and medical and surgical practice of 
 the hospital. 
 
 The election is determined by an examination in classics, 
 mathematics, and modern languages. The successful can- 
 didate is entitled to the advantages of the presentation for 
 three years ; its value is estimated at from 90/. to 100/. He 
 is required to become a matriculated student at the medical 
 and surgical college of St. Thomas's Hospital within three 
 months after election. 
 
 THE GOLDSMITHS' EXHIBITION. 
 
 In the year 1855 the Court of Assistants of the Company 
 of Goldsmiths agreed to a resolution " that an exhibition 
 '^ of 50/. per annum, during the pleasure of the court, be 
 ^' given to the City of London School ; and that the appoint- 
 " ment of the exhibitioner shall be subject to the approval 
 " of the court on the recommendation of the head master." 
 
 The head master nominates as the exhibitioner the can- 
 didate who is adjudged by the examiners of the school to 
 
183 
 
 be most proficient in classical or mathematical knowledge 
 (or botli), and has borne a character for good conduct. 
 Candidates must have been in the school at least three 
 years. The successful candidate must matriculate at Oxford 
 or Cambridge within six months after election. The exhi- 
 bition is tenable for four years from the date of matricula- 
 tion, and may be held with any other exhibition or scholar- 
 ship from the school which does not exceed the annual 
 value of 30/. 
 
 SHAKESPEARE PRIZES. 
 
 The Committee having determined in 1850 that the mu- 
 nificent hberality shown to the school by Henry Beaufoy, 
 esq., should be annually commemorated by his birth-day 
 being kept as a holiday, he was pleased, in consideration 
 of that day (23d of April) happening to be also the anni- 
 versary of the birth and death of Shakespeare, to offer a 
 further benefaction of one thousand guineas, for the pur- 
 pose of establishing a fund for prizes to be distributed annu- 
 ally, with a view of promoting the following objects ; viz. 
 
 " To commemorate the birth and genius of Shakespeare ; 
 ** and to encourage amongst the pupils a taste for reading 
 " and studying the writings of so eminent a man, justly 
 " styled * our great national bard,' whose works occupy 
 " so prominent a position in English Uterature, and give a 
 " clearer insight into the manners and customs of the Ehza- 
 " bethan age than any other author ; and to make them 
 " available to the pupils in the study of Enghsli history, and 
 
184 
 
 " also as studies in comparison with the dramatic works 
 " of ancient Greek writers, as well as the dramatic writers 
 " of France and Germany and other countries." 
 
 The above-mentioned sum has been invested in the pur- 
 chase of 1081/. 1*. Id. stock in the Three per cent. Consols, 
 the annual produce of which is apphcahle to the above 
 objects, according to certain regulations prescribed by the 
 deed of endowment. 
 
 ARTHUR TAYLOR, 
 
 PRINTER TO THE HONOURABLE CITY OF LONDON, 
 M.DCCC.LVI. 
 
ADDENDA TO LIST OF PUPILS. 
 
 Page 5. 
 Richard Calver Hall. 
 
 1856. Appointed clerk in Colonial Office on a competitive 
 examination of six candidates by the Civil Service 
 Commissioners. 
 
 Page 8. 
 Henry Howard Heaton. 
 
 1856. Scholarship at Corpus Christi College. 
 
 Page 10. 
 Ernest Abraham Hart. 
 
 1855. Appointed Non-resident Medical Officer of St. 
 
 Mary^s Hospital. 
 
 1856. Presented with a silver ink-stand by the Committee 
 
 of Lecturers of the St. George's School of Ana- 
 tomy and Medicine, " in testimony of valuable 
 services as a Teacher of Anatomy." 
 
€itv of lonuon ^ci^ooL 
 
 LIST OF PUPILS 
 
 WHO HAVE PROCEEDED TO THE UNIVERSITIES, 
 
 SPECIFYING THE COLLEGE AND UNIVERSITY DISTINCTIONS 
 OBTAINED BY THEM. 
 
 1844 to 1856. 
 
 GRADUATES. 
 
 OXFORD. 
 
 Henry Stuart Fagan (Salomons scholar). 
 
 1845. Open scholarship at Pembroke College. 
 
 1847. University mathematical scholarship. 
 
 1850. Degree of B.A. Second class in classics ; first class 
 
 in mathematics. 
 — Elected Fellow of Pembroke College. 
 
 [Now M.A. in holy orders, and Head Master of Market- 
 Bosworth Grammar School ; late Head Master of Burton-on- 
 Trent Grammar School.] 
 
 William Woodward Mills (Times scholar). 
 
 1853. Degree of B.A., Wadham College. 
 
 [Now in holy orders, and Third Master in the Islington Pro- 
 prietary Grammar School.] 
 
 Job Ashton. 
 
 1854. Degree of B.A., St. Edmund Hall. 
 
cAMBRinai:. 
 
 William Emery (Times scholar). 
 
 1844. Scholarship and prize at Corpus Christi College. 
 
 1845. Another scholarship and prize. 
 
 1846. Another prize. 
 
 1847. Degree of B.A. Fifth Wrangler. 
 
 — College prize, as the B.A. highest on the first tripos. 
 
 — Elected Fellow of the College, 
 
 1848. Assistant Tutor of ditto. 
 
 1850. Pro-Proctor of the University. 
 
 1851. Steward, Catechist, and Praelector of the College. 
 
 1854. Dean of the College. 
 
 — Member of the Caput of the University as Senior 
 
 Regent. 
 
 — Barnaby Lecturer on logic. 
 
 1855. Tutor and Bursar of the College. 
 
 [Now M.A., and in holy orders j Fellow, Tutor, Sfc, of 
 Corpus Christi College ; and Fellow of the Cambridge Philo- 
 sophical Society.] 
 
 Henry Judge Hose (Carpenter and Beaufoy scholar). 
 
 1845. Foundation sizarship at Trinity College. 
 
 1846. Prizes at Easter and Michaelmas. 
 
 1847. Foundation scholarship and prize. 
 
 1848. Another prize. 
 
 1849. Degree of B.A. Ninth Wrangler. 
 
 — Dr. Walker's prize for the most deserving scholar 
 
 at the time of taking Bachelor's degree. 
 [Now M.A., and in holy orders ; Fellow of the Cambridge 
 Philosophical Society, and Mathematical Master at St. Peter's 
 College, Westminster ; editor of '* the Elements of Euclid, a 
 new text, 1853," and author of '' a Graduated Series of Exer- 
 cises on Euclid, 1855."] 
 
 Thomas Holwell Cole (Carpenter scholar). 
 
 1846. Mathematical prize and Foundation scholarship at 
 Sidney-Sussex College. 
 
1847. College prizes for mathematics, divinity, Sfc.y at 
 
 Midsummer and Christmas. 
 
 1848. Mathematical prize, and Taylor's mathematical ex- 
 
 hibition. 
 
 1849. Degree of B.A. Twenty-sixth Wrangler. 
 [Now M.A., Tutor at Hastings.] 
 
 William Thomas Barry (Times scholar). 
 
 1846. Foundation sizarship at Trinity College. 
 1847- Prizes at Easter and Michaelmas. 
 1851. Degree of B.A. 
 [Now in holy orders, holding a curacy in Kent.] 
 
 Leonard Benton Seeley (Beaufoy scholar), 
 
 1849. Prizes at Easter and Michaelmas at Trinity College. 
 
 1850. Foundation scholarship and prize. 
 
 1851. Dr. Hooper's prize for English declamation, and 
 
 college prize at Easter. 
 
 1852. Degree of B.A. Fifth Wrangler ; first class in classi- 
 
 cal tripos. 
 
 — Wrangham prize, as commencing B.A. who had 
 
 been in the first class at each of the three annual 
 college examinations, and also in the first class of 
 the mathematical and classical triposes. 
 
 — Yeats's prize, as one of the scholars on the founda- 
 
 tion who stood highest in the mathematical tripos. 
 
 1853. Third in first class in moral sciences tripos, with 
 
 moral philosophy prize. 
 
 1854. Elected Fellow and Mathematical Lecturer of Tri- 
 
 nity College. 
 
 1855. Assistant Tutor. 
 
 [Now M.A., Fellow and Assistant Tutor of Trinity College ; 
 Member of the Hon. Society of Lincohi's Inn; B arris ter-at-Law.] 
 
 George Farncomb Wright (Carpenter and Beaufoy 
 scholar). 
 
 1849. Prize and scholarship at Corpus Christi College. 
 
 1850. Another prize. 
 
1851. Another prize. 
 
 1852. Degree of B.A. Seventh Wrangler. 
 
 — Prize as the B.A. ranking highest on the first tripos. 
 
 — Elected Fellow of the college. 
 1855. Catechist of ditto. 
 
 [Now M.A. in holy orders. Fellow of Corpus Christi College ; 
 FeDow of the Cambridge Philosophical Society ; and Mathema- 
 tical Master at Shrewsbury Grammar School.] 
 
 Joseph Sharpe. 
 
 1849. Scholarship at Jesus College. 
 
 1851. Second in first class in civil law. 
 
 1852. 1 First in first class in moral sciences tripos, with 
 
 1853. J moral philosophy prize. 
 
 — Degree of LL.B. 
 
 1855. University Examiner for the moral sciences tripos. 
 
 [Member of the Honourable Society of the Inner Temple ; 
 Barrister-at-Law] 
 
 Alfred Bousfield. 
 
 1850. Scholarship at Queen's College. 
 
 1852. Degree of B.A. First junior optime in mathema- 
 
 tical tripos. 
 
 1853. First in second class in natural sciences tripos. 
 
 William Cornell (Beaufoy scholar). 
 
 1851 . Mathematical prize and scholarship at Caius College. 
 
 1852. Prize and scholarship at Clare Hall. 
 
 1853. Another prize. 
 
 1854. Degree of B.A. Twenty-seventh Wrangler ; third 
 
 class in classical tripos. 
 
 — College prize of silver cup. 
 
 1855. Third in first class in moral sciences tripos. 
 
 [Selected candidate for an appointment to the civil service in 
 India ; second in the order of merit of twenty candidates selected 
 by examination in 1855.] 
 
John Middleton Hare (Beaufoy scholar). 
 
 1851. Prize, Foundation scholarship, and exhibition at 
 
 St. John^s College. 
 
 1852. Another prize. 
 
 1854. Degree of B.A. Thirty-eighth Wrangler. 
 [Clerk in the War Office ; first in order of merit in the exa- 
 mination for the appointment, 1855 ; author of a *' Letter to 
 the Right Hon. the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the Decimal 
 Coinage Question," 1855.] 
 
 Francis Cuthbertsont (Beaufoy scholar). 
 
 1852. Scholarship at Corpus Christi College. 
 
 1853. Prize. 
 
 1854. Ditto. 
 
 1855. Degree of B.A. Fourth Wrangler. 
 
 [Second Master of the City of London School, elected 12th 
 December, 1855.] 
 
 Richard Calver Hall (Beaufoy scholar). 
 
 1853. Prize and scholarship at Jesus College. 
 
 1854. Another prize. 
 
 — First in first class in college examination. 
 
 1855. Ditto, and first prize. 
 
 1856. Degree of B.A. Twenty-sixth Wrangler. 
 
 liOXDonr. 
 
 Ebenezer Rust Edger (Travers scholar). 
 
 1847. Prize in senior class in natural philosophy at Uni- 
 versity College. 
 — Second in University matriculation examination for 
 honours in mathematics and natural philosophy. 
 
 1849. First class in examination for degree of B.A., and 
 third in list of candidates for mathematical 
 honours. 
 
 1851. First prize in class of jurisprudence. 
 
Thomas Lawford Lingham, King's College. 
 
 1851. First class in examination for matriculation. 
 1853. Ditto for degree of B.A. 
 [Late Assistant Master in the City of London School ; now 
 in holy orders, holding a curacy.] 
 
 George Lingham (Travers scholar) King's College. 
 
 1851. First class in examination for matriculation. 
 1853. Elected Associate of King's College. 
 
 — First class in examination for degree of B.A. 
 
 George Lidgett. 
 
 1851. First class in examination for matriculation. 
 
 1853. Ditto for degree of B.A. 
 
 John Christian Hose. 
 
 1852. First class in examination for matriculation. 
 
 1854. Prize in divinity at King's College. 
 
 — Elected Associate of King's College. 
 
 — First class in examination for degree of B.A. 
 
 William YounG;, University College. 
 
 1853. First class in examination for matriculation, with 
 
 classical honours. 
 
 1854. Certificates of honour in senior class in Latin, extra 
 
 class in Greek, and higher junior class in mathe- 
 matics. 
 
 1855. Certificate of honour in senior Latin class ; and se- 
 
 cond prize and second certificate in senior Greek 
 class . 
 
 — Degree of B.A. ; first division in examination ; and 
 
 third place in examination for honours in classics. 
 
 Frederick Storrs Turner, New College. 
 
 1853, Passed matriculation examination. 
 1854 College prize. 
 
 1855. Degree of B.A. First division in examination. 
 
UNDER GRADUATES. 
 
 OXFORD, 
 
 John Andrew Ferris. 
 
 1854. Entered at St. Edmund Hall. 
 
 CAMBRIDO^i:. 
 
 Stephenson Barry (Beaufoy scholar). 
 
 1849. Died in the first term of his residence at Trinity 
 College. 
 
 John Robert Seeley (Carpenter scholar). 
 
 1853. Prize, and additional reward, in annual examina- 
 
 tion at Christ's College. 
 
 — Scholarship. 
 
 1854. Prize for Latin verse (Lent term). 
 
 — First in classics in college examination. 
 
 1855. First prize in voluntary classical examination, with 
 
 an additional reward. 
 
 James Henry Bridge (Beaufoy scholar). 
 
 1854. Prize at Sidney-Sussex College. 
 
 — First in mathematics in college examination. 
 
 1855. Ditto, gratuity of 10/. 
 
 — Foundation scholarship, and Taylor exhibition of 
 
 60/. per annum. 
 
 Thomas Skelton (Salomons scholar). 
 
 1854. Scholarship at Queen's College. 
 
 — First in first class in mathematics in college exa- 
 
 mination. 
 
 — Divinity prize. 
 
8 
 
 1855. First in first class in mathematics, and sole prizeman. 
 
 — Scholarship of increased value. 
 
 Samuel Jacob Lidgett. 
 
 1854. Prize at Trinity College. 
 
 Charles Bradford Wardale. 
 
 1854. Prize at St. Catherine's Hall, Cambridge. 
 
 Frederick Charles Wage (Beaufoy scholar). 
 
 1854. First class in annual examination at St. John's Col- 
 
 lege. 
 
 1855. Second in first class at examination, prize of 50/., 
 
 and Wood's exhibition of 40/. ayear. 
 
 — Open scholarship on Lady Margaret's foundation. 
 
 — First of his year in December examination. 
 
 Samuel Savage Lewis (Carpenter and Times scholar). 
 
 1854. First class in annual examination at St. John's Coll. 
 
 1855. Prize. 
 
 [Subsequently obliged by ill-health to leave the University.] 
 
 Christian Mortimer (Carpenter scholar). 
 1855. Second prizeman at Clare College. 
 
 Frederick Brown (Carpenter and Beaufoy scholar). 
 
 1855. Entered at Trinity College. 
 
 Edgar Sanderson. 
 
 1856. Open scholarship at Clare College. 
 
 I 
 
John Phillipson Langham^ University College. 
 
 1849. Passed first examination for degree of M.B., with 
 
 honours in anatomy and physiology. 
 [Appointed in 1854 Assistant Surgeon in the Army (7th Fusi- 
 leers). Died of fever at Scutari in February, 1855.] 
 
 William Lewis (Salomons scholar). 
 
 1850. Mathematical, natural philosophy, and Latin prizes 
 
 at University College. 
 
 — Andrew scholarship at ditto. 
 
 Abraham Barnett. 
 
 1850. Certificate of honour in senior class for pure mathe- 
 
 matics at University College. 
 
 — Ditto, in junior class, for natural philosophy. 
 
 1851. First class in examination for matriculation. 
 
 — Second of ten candidates for honours in mathematics 
 
 and natural philosophy. 
 
 Robert Masters Theobald, M.A., Glasgow University. 
 
 1852. Matriculated student in faculty of medicine at Uni- 
 
 versity College. 
 1854. Certificates of honour in chemistry, and in materia 
 medica and therapeutics. 
 
 — Passed first examination for degree of M.B. 
 
 Alfred Woodforde. 
 
 1852. Passed matriculation examination in the University 
 of London. 
 
 — Matriculated as student in the faculty of medicine 
 
 at University College. 
 
 1854. Certificates of honour in chemistry, and in senior 
 
 class in botany. 
 
 1855. Second silver medal and third certificate in chemis- 
 
 try, and gold medal and first certificate in botany. 
 
10 
 
 William Green. 
 
 1852. First class in examination for matriculation. 
 
 [Assistant Mathematical Master in the Royal Naval School, 
 
 New Cross.] 
 
 Edward Rider Cook, University College. 
 
 1853. First class in examination for matriculation, with 
 
 honours in chemistry. 
 
 1854. Certificate of honour in higher junior class in mathe- 
 
 matics. First silver medal and second certificate 
 of honour as Birkbeck laboratory student in fa- 
 culty of medicine. 
 — First silver medal and second certificate of honour 
 in analytical chemistry in faculty of arts and 
 laws. 
 
 Ernest Abraham Hart (Lambert Jones scholar). 
 
 1853. (Summer session). First prize for botany, and se- 
 
 cond prize for practical chemistry, at the St. 
 George's School of Medicine and Anatomy. 
 1853. TC'W inter session). First prize in philosojjhical che- 
 
 1854. J mistry, and second prize, or first honorary certi- 
 
 cate, in practical anatomy. 
 1854. (Summer session). The prizes in the classes of ma- 
 teria medica (bracketed, double prize), of practi- 
 cal chemistry, and of junior midwifery ; and the 
 second prize, or honorary certificate, in the class 
 of medical jurisprudence. 
 
 1854. KWinter session). The gold medal in the senior class 
 
 1855. J of anatomy, physiology, and physiological chemis- 
 
 try ; the prizes in clinical surgery, and m clinical 
 medicine (bracketed, prize divided) ; the prize in 
 the class of practice of medicine ; and the first 
 prize in the class of practice of surgery. 
 1855. Appointed Lecturer and Demonstrator in Ana- 
 tomy at St. George's School of Medicine and 
 Anatomy. 
 
11 
 
 Alexander Waugh Young (Carpenter andTravers scholar). 
 
 1855. Prize and first certificate in loAver senior class in 
 matliematics at University College; certificates 
 of honour in senior Latin class, and senior Greek 
 class. 
 — Passed University matriculation examination in ho- 
 nours ; in mathematics fifth, and in classics first 
 (bracketed) . 
 
 Charles Jenken Elwin, Medical and Surgical College, 
 St Thomas's Hospital. 
 
 1855. Practical prize in midwifery, and appointment as 
 Clinical Clerk. 
 
 Leonard Goddard (St. Thomas's Medical scholar). 
 
 1855. Prize of 201. on matriculation at the Medical and 
 Surgical College, St. Thomas's Hospital, for 
 classical and mathematical proficiency. 
 
 Edward Hegley Byas, King's College. 
 
 1855. Passed the University matriculation examination. 
 
 William Cawthorne Unwin, New College. 
 
 1855. Passed the University matriculation examination, 
 with honours in chemistry. 
 
 Thomas Grace Phillips. 
 
 1855. Passed the University matriculation examination. 
 
 itueen'js llniversity, Ireland. 
 
 Edward Divers, Queen's College, Galway. 
 
 1855. Matriculated student, holding a science scholarship. 
 
Taylor, Printer, 39, Coleman street. 
 
 LbS?9