The parish: Inhabitants

CHAPTER XV - INHABITANTS OF THE PARISH

It has already been shown (fn. 1) that the monastic close was always a parish and that the inhabitants had always had their own parish church, their own parish priest and their own burying-ground within the monastic walls, a not unusual custom with the larger monasteries. Those inhabitants not directly connected with the convent constituted the parishioners. They were all tenants of the prior and convent, and as such they materially increased the revenue of the house. The injunctions of 1303 ordered that the gates of the Close and of the houses within it were to be more strictly shut at the due hours, (fn. 2) indicating an increase in the number of inhabitants at that time. There were no parishioners in the Fair precinct until after the suppression.

Records of the numbers and identity of the earliest inhabitants and of their numbers do not exist. The earliest record of names is the Lay Subsidy Roll of 1318/9 (fn. 3) (12 Edward II), which gives those assessed in Farringdon Ward Without, but does not say to which parish each belonged. The same applies to the rolls of Edward III, (fn. 4) of Henry IV, (fn. 5) and of Henry VI. (fn. 6) The parishes are first given separately in the roll of 34/5 Henry VIII (fn. 7) (1543). It has therefore been necessary to go to the evidence of the wills of individual parishioners who were living here before the suppression; but these, of course, give no clue to the numbers living in the parish at any one time.

The account of Nicholas Wolfenden, the sub-prior, of rents and lease rents collected in the Close in 1517 should have given the numbers and names of the house-holders of that time, but it does not. (fn. 8) The Compotus of Robert Glasyer, the collector in 1534, at Kimbolton Castle—being a roll 7 ft. long (fn. 9) —probably gives a full list, but access thereto has not been obtainable. After the suppression we have the subsidy roll of 1543 (see above) and a list of the rent payers and the rents they were paying in the following year (1544). This is contained in the 'particulars for grant', (fn. 10) and it is somewhat amplified in the grant itself of the parish by the king to Rich. There are 62 names in the grant, so we may fairly estimate the population of the parish at that time as about 250. The number of those paying the lay subsidy in the roll of 1623 (fn. 11) was 86, or say 350 people; but in the interval it must be remembered Cloth Fair and Long Lane had been covered with houses. In about 1666 the number had risen to 228, (fn. 12) or say 900 people; and in 1674 to 325, (fn. 13) or say 1,300 people. In 1801, when a census was first taken, there was a total population of 2,645. The highest number reached was in 1851, when the total was 3,499. In 1891 it had fallen to 1,843; in 1901 to 1,441, and in 1911 to 913. (fn. 14)

As regards individual inhabitants we have a valuable record in the survey made for Sir Henry Rich in 1616, as described in the preceding chapter. (fn. 15) But that only relates, as was shown, to those living in Cloth Fair, Long Lane and in the monastic buildings in the Close: it does not refer to those living in the many houses in the Close which the Rich family had already disposed of. For these we have, after the subsidy rolls, to turn to the Parish Registers, to the Churchwardens' Accounts, to the Calendars of State Papers, and to the reports of the Historical Manuscripts Commission.

The way in which the noble families living here in the first half of the seventeenth century intermarried indicates a social intimacy existing within the parish which seems of sufficient interest to justify the table here presented. (fn. 16) They all were descendants, or had married descendants, of James Walsingham, the grandfather of Sir Francis Walsingham. There were, it will be seen, two groups, the Mildmays, the Carys, the Barretts, the Veres and the Fanes in one group; the Walsinghams, the Manwoods, the Masters and the Cranfields in another group, and these two groups were brought together by the marriage of Lionel Cranfield with Rachel Fane.

Short separate tables are also given of the descent of Lord Abergavenny and of the relationship of the Burgoynes, of the Scudamores, the Coddenhams and the Chamberlaynes, all inhabitants of the parish.

The following short notices of the more important inhabitants resident in the parish both before and after the suppression, may also prove of interest. The earliest record we have of a parishioner is of

William, son of Martin of Isyldon, who kept a hostel in the Close, from which he dated his will (fn. 17) at the end of the year 1349.

John de Burstall, we have already recorded, was, with his wife, granted in 1357 a plot of land measuring 40 ft. by 24 ft. within the monastic gates on which to build a house, but which they might not demise without licence; he was also granted a pension of £12, having given the prior and convent £200. (fn. 18)

John Chishull, priest, in the year 1382 executed his will (fn. 19) 'in his lodging within the Close'. Though he had evidently not entered the order he probably took part in the religious life of the community. His will shows that he was not only a man of means but also that he had affection for both the canons and their church. For he instructed his executors to expend £5 in providing necessaries for one of the canons—John Bataille. He had helped another canon, John Randish, by the loan of £10 which, on its repayment, was to go to the high altar. He bequeathed £10 for the painting of two pictures on the subject of St. Stephen, as related in the description of the south chapel. (fn. 20) He directed that his body should be buried before the altar of St. Stephen. He appointed as his executors a brother priest, Walter Faireford, and also John Mirfield, the great physician, to whom we have referred as having a domus inclusa in the south triforium, and who himself was a great benefactor to the priory.

Richard Brigge, alias Lancaster, who died in 1415, lived in the parish. He assumed the name of Lancaster because Henry IV, who was Duke of Lancaster, had made him the first Lancaster King of Arms. (fn. 21) His will, (fn. 22) in which he describes himself as Ricardus Brigge alias dictus Lancaster Rex Armorum, was witnessed among others by two fellow-parishioners, John Walden and Richard Banks. (fn. 23) There was a memorial to him in the church in Stow's time, which was probably destroyed about 1642. His wife Katherine also adopted the surname of Lancaster in her will, (fn. 24) which was made in 1426. She refers therein to a house and plot of ground in St. Bartholomew's in which she and her husband had lived by virtue of indentures made between the late prior (fn. 25) and convent there and themselves. She desired to be buried in the same place as was her husband Richard, before the high altar. She left many bequests:

She further bequeathed to the church of Langton, Lincolnshire, a chasuble ornamented with the king's arms, a stole, her missal, and a chalice. To the overseer of her will, John Fray, a baron of the exchequer, she left a golden tablet with the beautiful picture of St. Agnes and her smaller gold ring 'with the diamond', and to each of her executors four gold nobles. She also wished that wax torches should be distributed, two for the high altar of St. Bartholomew's, one for the Lady altar, and one for each of the altars of St. Michael and of St. John.

John Walden, who died in 1417, though he dated his will at Tottenham, (fn. 26) must have had a house in the parish, for his widow Idonia, who had married as a second husband John Rote, in her will, (fn. 27) dated 1420, bequeathed a house in the parish to found a chantry for Bishop Roger Walden, her brother-in-law, and both she and her first husband were buried in Roger Walden's 'Chapel of All Saints'. Other particulars of these two inhabitants have already been given. (fn. 28)

William Thirwall, Esquire, described himself in his will, (fn. 29) in 1432, as living within the Close of the priory and desired to be buried 'before the image of the Mother of God by the high altar on the south side'. There was a memorial to him in the church when Stow wrote, but it was destroyed with the rest.

Besides the good people dwelling in the close there were some bad ones. Herbert points out that the precincts of monasteries, and particularly those with the privilege of sanctuary (as was the case at St. Bartholomew's), were favourite haunts of chamber goldsmiths (fn. 30) —men who worked bad gold. He quotes the amusing entry from the books of the Goldsmiths' Company in the year 1442. The wardens of the Company came to the prior and told him that there were some of these untrue workers within his precinct of which he was not aware. Whilst they were talking one of the gang, Tomkins by name, came up and was ordered to conduct them to his room. He did so, but refused to give up the key until compelled by the prior. In the room they found pieces of latten for letting into goblets, which were intended to be sold for silver, but 'while that yt was a doynge ye said false harlot (fn. 31) stole away out of ye place, or ellis he hadde be set in ye stokkes'.

Walter Shirington, a canon of St. Paul's, has already been referred to. (fn. 32) He was a person of some note and built a chapel and a library at St. Paul's. That he dwelt in the parish is shown by the instruction in his will, made in 1448, that his household should be kept together at St. Bartholomew's for a year and a day.

William Martyn, (fn. 33) in 1531, described himself in his will as 'gentleman' 'dwelling within the close of the monastery of the glorious Apostle Bartholomew'. As already noted (fn. 34) he desired to be buried before the image of St. Christopher. He desired that his patent of brotherhood of the chapel of the monastery of 'St. Barthilmews' and the patent of the brotherhood of the Charterhouse might, soon after his death, be presented unto the chapter-house there to pray for his soul. He bequeathed to a young canon in the monastery named Glasyer, whom he had taken for his son adoptive, 6s. 8d. to pray for his soul; no doubt this was Robert Glasyer the canon, who was the collector of rents within the precincts of the Close.

Martyn's will was not proved until the year 1537. He was probably the father of the William Martyn who, with Dorothy his wife, held a lease of a house and two small tenements in the Close in 1544: (fn. 35) one of which tenements was called John Bates' house. His widow Dorothy went to live in Stepney, but willed to be buried at St. Bartholomew's beside her husband. (fn. 36)

Sir Robert Blagge or Blage, Knight, lived in the parish and died there before the suppression. He was the King's Remembrancer in 1502: he was addressed at 'Great St. Bartholomew's' (fn. 37) and was so described as the executor to the will of John Clerke (who also had a town house at St. Bartholomew's) in the year 1508. (fn. 38) He was a baron of the exchequer in 1511, and is so described in his own will and in the will of John Alexander, (fn. 39) who left benefactions to St. Bartholomew's in the year 1513. He also held other appointments under the Crown. (fn. 40) His house and garden were on the east side of Albion Buildings on the southern part of Aldersgate Ward schools, described as Mody's in the parish bounds. (fn. 41) In his will (fn. 42) he bequeathed his soul to Saints John Baptist, Jerome, Francis and Mary Magdalene, his body to be buried in the monastery of St. Bartholomew, where his first wife Katherine was buried. He bequeathed 66s. 8d. to the prior (Bolton) for his pains and labour to be done in his own person at his funeral, 20 pence to each canon, and 8 marks for the high altar and for newly painting 8 images (as already mentioned). (fn. 43) He left £10 to be spent in 'peny mele for the poor' and 20 marks 'for the promotion and marriage of poor damsels'. He ordered two trentals of masses, and the singing for his soul for three years, saying twice in the week placebo, dirige and commendations. He was apparently buried on the south side of the sanctuary, for John Deane willed to be buried 'by the right side of the chapel, late Mr. Blage's chapel and now Sir Walter Mildmay's chapel, within the quire of great St. Bartilmew's'. As the Mildmay altar-tomb was on the south side of the sanctuary, this marks the position of Blagge's burial-place. This choice of burialplace by Rector Deane suggests that he and Blagge were friends, also the latter willed that an honest priest of good conversation should sing for the soul of himself and others in the chapel of Witton at Northwich, where Deane founded his school.

When describing the bounds (fn. 44) we quoted from the king's grant to Rich, in which the king stated that this house of Justice Blagğe he had the year before (fn. 45) given to Sir John Williams of Roycote and Sir Edward North, and also an annual rent of 66s. 8d. issuing out of the same house, reserved by deed dated 20th February 1544 in favour of Sir John Porte. As Blagge died in 1522 it is probable that Williams and North as well as Porte were in occupation of the house before the suppression, and before the gift of the king, and so may be included here among the inhabitants.

Sir John Porte, Knight, was a justice of the King's Bench and probably succeeded Justice Blagge, as the prior and convent granted him the lease of the house in the year 1533, (fn. 46) at a rent of 66s. 8d. His son John, knighted in 1546, was the founder of Repton school.

Sir Edward North, Knight, was the first Baron North, one of the executors of the will of Henry VIII. He was treasurer of the Court of Augmentations from 1541 to 1544, and chancellor of that court in 1545. He was created Baron North of Kirtling in 1554. (fn. 47) In 1540 a warrant was signed by Sir Richard Rich and Sir Nicholas Bacon, at that time solicitor to the Augmentations, for North to retain in his hands £30 of the king's treasure, in consideration of his having built within his house a treasure house and bought divers new and strong iron chests for keeping the monastic treasure. (fn. 48) The payment of this £30 is recorded in the following year, and it is specified that among other things it was for carrying the plate and jewels of Christ Church, Canterbury to North's house in London, thence to the king at Westminster, and thence to the master of the jewel-house. (fn. 49) It would seem that the house at St. Bartholomew's was granted to Williams and North in 1543 for the purpose of a jewel-house, as Williams was the Keeper of the Jewels. In 1545 Sir Edward North took up his residence in the Charterhouse.

Sir John Williams of Rycote in the county of Oxford, Knight, after being associated with Thomas Cromwell as treasurer of the king's jewels, was the sole keeper of them from 1537 to 1545. A declaration by him of what he received in that period, including the plate from St. Bartholomew's, has been published (as already stated). (fn. 50) In 1544 he succeeded North as treasurer of the Augmentations, and held the office until 1553. In 1554 he was created by Queen Mary Baron Williams of Thame and was appointed chamberlain to Philip II. He was lord president of Wales in 1559, and died the same year.

Richard Mody, to whom North and Williams sold their house, is described, in the Lay Subsidy Roll of 1543, as 'gentleman'. He was there rated at £120, which was higher than any one else. He had servants separately assessed (one at £4 and another at £3). In the 'particulars for grant' he is described as an 'Esquire'. Besides Williams' and North's house he had held a house (92–93) in Bartholomew Close prior to 1544, as already seen. (fn. 51) It was subsequently granted by Rich as part of the glebe, and as such was rated higher than any other glebe house. In the year 1546 he and his wife Katherine sold by common recovery (fn. 52) two messuages and a garden to Richard Bartlett for the sum of £80. As Bartlett's house adjoined Mody's house and garden, bought of Williams and North, this transaction probably refers to the latter house and garden. We have no other records of Richard Mody.

Thomas Andrewes, whose wife Agnes and garden are referred to in the description of the bounds in 1544, is described in the Lay Subsidy of 1543 as 'gentleman', and was assessed at £40. In th 'particulars for grant' he appears as paying an annual rent of 106s. 8d. As we have no further records concerning him it may be that Mody acquired his house and garden, as well as North's, and then sold both to Bartlett. In support of this view are the facts that there were two messuages included in the sale to Bartlett, that Andrewes' and North's properties together made one square block, now represented by the Aldersgate ward schools, and that the whole block together has become alienated from the parish.

Sir Richard Rich, the Chancellor of Augmentations, as already seen, took up his residence in the prior's house by or before February 1540; (fn. 53) that is, within four months of the suppression. All records concerning him have already been described. (fn. 54)

Richard Bellamy, gentleman, was a dweller in the Close and a friend of John Deane, then the parish priest; also of Dr. Bartlett, of John Burgoyne and other parishioners who witnessed his will. This will, (fn. 55) which was both dated and proved in January 1538/9, seems to be of sufficient interest to print here in full.

'In the name (&c.) . . . The xi day of January In the yere of our Lord God ml. fyve hundreth XXXVIII . . . I Richard Bellamy w^tin the precycte of the Closse of the monastery of Saint Bartilmewe in West Smythfelde of London gentleman being sicke in body and hole mynde . . . to be buried in the body of the church of the said monastery of Saint Bartilmew's bitwene the Fonte sett there and the holy image of our Lord Jusu Criste secunde parsone in Trinitie nere unto the place where my children doo lye. Item I bequeth unto the high awter of Saint Bartilmewes aforesaid for tithes necligently forgotten iiis iiiid Item I bequeth unto the chanons of the said monastery because I am a brother w^t theym of their chapter Seall xiiis iiiid Item I will that the said chanons doo bringe my body from the house where I shall dye if it be within the precincte of the said closse unto the churche of the said monastery and there to singe placibo and dirige and masse of Requiem in the morowe after, then to have other xiiis iiiid Item I will my body honestly to be buried w^tout pompe or pride Item I will that my exect shall kepe my months mynde and then he to make a recreac[i]on unto the worshipfull of the said parishe of Saint Bartilmewes Item I will that there be dealte at the tyme of my burying or else the day folowing unto honest housholders sogenors or dwellers w^tin the said precyncte and will take money every of them to have viiid a pece Item I will that there shall be a preest singe for me w^tin the parishe church of Harrowe or else w^tin the church of Hadley where I was born by the space of an hole yere after the discretion of my said executor and the said prest taking for his salary or wages vj li. xiijs iijd . . .

'These being witnesses Richard Bartlett doctour of Phisick John Burgoyn gentilman Richard Warde gentilman John Deane priest with diverse other.' (Proved 28 January 1538/9 at Lambeth.)

Richard Bartlett, (fn. 56) described as a doctor of medicine in the king's grant to Rich in 1544, held a house in the Close at that time at a rent of 53s. 4d. We have already seen, when describing the bounds, that his house and garden were on the site now occupied by Albion Buildings. As his name does not occur on the Lay Subsidy Roll of 1543 we assume that he only became a parishioner late in that year or in 1544; but on the 11th January 1539, he, together with John Deane, then the priest of the parish chapel, and John Burgoyne, a parishioner, witnessed the will of Richard Bellamy, quoted above. In 1546 (as mentioned) (fn. 57) he increased his holding in the parish by a purchase of two messuages and a garden from Richard Mody.

He was a physician of great eminence, and his services were highly valued by Henry VIII, for when, in the year 1532, the Princess Mary was parted from her devoted mother, and her health gave way in consequence, Dr. Bartlett was paid £20 by the king for giving her his attendance. (fn. 58)

Dr. Bartlett was four times president of the College of Physicians, in 1527, 1528, 1531, and 1548. He died in 1558, and was buried on the 22nd January. His funeral is described by Machyn (fn. 59) as taking place 'with a dosen of Skochyons of armes and ii whyt branchys and ii torchys and iii gret tapurs'. He was a friend of Sir Walter Mildmay and his wife. He bequeathed (fn. 60) to Sir Walter 'one pflatt hoope of golde beinge graven within ab occultis meis [JH] (Christe)', and to Lady Mildmay a ring with a small emerald spark in it. His will (fn. 61) made in January 1556/7 was proved in May 1558. He desired to be buried in the church of 'Great St. Bartilmewes'. One of his executors was 'Mr. William Cooke Doctor of the Lame', in whom he put his special trust and confidence.

He directed his executors to dispose of two-thirds of the residue of his property 'in charitable deedes, for the relief and comforte of the poore, as clothinge of the naked or suche as lacke clothes, shirtes or smockes, in carynge of suche as be sore and sicke, helpinge of the bedreden lame, visitinge the poore sick people in Bethlem and in other prisons in London and the suburbs and in helpinge the poore religious persons'. To the rector Sir John Deane he left 20s. and his 'worstead gowne furred'. He gave 'towards making of the church wall 20s.', and towards making of a 'sollar' (fn. 62) in the parish church at his executors' discretion, and £6 to the 'friers of St. Bartilmewes'. (fn. 63) His 'bason and ewer of silver' he gave to the warden and fellows of All Souls College, Oxford, and his chalice, corporax case and vestment to the churchwardens of Castell Moreton, Worcestershire, for the parishioners there to pray for his soul. His lands and messuages within the close wherein he then dwelt he left to his three nephews, Thomas, Richard, and John Bartlett, sons of his brother Edmund.

Sir Norman Moore tells us (fn. 64) that the great Dr. Caius praised Dr. Bartlett's learning, and attended his funeral with the College of Physicians at St. Bartholomew's, and that he owned the copy of Mirfield's great work on medicine, Breviarium Bartholomei.

It appears by the will of his brother, Thomas Bartlett, (fn. 65) in the year 1583, that he and this brother had sold the lands and houses in Bartholomew Close to Sir Walter Mildmay amd to one Vincent Randall, a mercer, which is confirmed by the Subsidy Roll of 1563/4, (fn. 66) in which Sir Walter Mildmay is assessed at £100 in lands and Barnard Randall (evidently a successor to Vincent) also at £100.

Thomas Bill, called Thos. Bylle in the lease of his house in the Close granted him by the king in 1542, (fn. 67) and Doctor Bylle in the Lay Subsidy Roll of 1543, (fn. 68) was there assessed in lands and fees at £51. In the 'particulars for grant' he is called Thomas Bylton and described as paying a yearly rent of 53s. 4d., but in the grant to Rich he is styled 'Thomas Bill Doctor of Medicine'. He, at his death in 1551, bequeathed (fn. 69) 'to the poore people of greate Saynt Bartilmewes Close 6s. 8d.', and gave to Agnes his wife for her life his 'house and gardyn' within the parish. As the entry of his house in the king's grant to Rich comes next to that of Thomas Andrewes it was probably on the north side of Westmoreland Buildings, next to Thomas Burgoyne's.

Dr. Nicholas, stranger; a foreigner, assessed at £50, appears in the Lay Subsidy Roll of 1543, but we have otherwise no record concerning him.

Dr. John Caius, a still better-known physician than Dr. Bartlett, appears in the Subsidy Roll of 1563/4 as 'Doctor Cayues physicion £50'. He was lecturing in London on anatomy from 1544 to 1564, but for how long he occupied a house in Bartholomew Close we have no record: he describes himself in his will in the year 1573 as 'of St. Bartholomew the Less next unto Smithfield'. In 1557 he refounded Gonville Hall, Cambridge, which has since been known as Gonville and Caius College. (fn. 70)

The family of Burgoyne lived in the parish for several generations in the sixteenth century. Even in the fifteenth century one Thomas Burgoyne, under sheriff for the city, was associated with the parish, inasmuch as between the years 1455 and 1459 he was appointed to keep the court of Bartholomew Fair on behalf of the city with Thomas Brian, the steward of the prior. He lived in a large house within the precinct of the hospital. He was serjeant at mace 1458–1460, and in his will (fn. 71) (1468) he desired to be buried before the great cross in the church of the hospital of St. Bartholomew, where he had a monument. (fn. 72)

John Burgoyne was a resident in the parish before the suppression. In the year 1533 he was, with his son Thomas, appointed (fn. 73) by Prior Fuller auditor of accounts of rents of the monastery collected in London. He appears as such in the Valor Ecclesiasticus (1535), his stipend as auditor being 60s. a year. In the year 1508 he was a witness to the will (fn. 74) of his fellow parishioner John Clerke, and in 1539 to that of John Bellamy. He died in August 1540, and is referred to in the 'particulars for grant' as 'John Burgoyne Esquire now deceased', his rent being 40s. His will, (fn. 75) dated the 9th and proved on the 27th August 1540, runs:

'I gyve and bequeith after my decesse to the said Thomas my son my lease and terme of yeres of and in a mesuage and a gardyn thereto adjoinging with the appurtenncs in great saint Bartilmewes at London wherein I nowe dwell which I have of the lease of the late prior and convent of Saint Bartilmewes aforsaid.'

This house and garden, as we saw when dealing with the bounds, was north of Westmoreland Buildings and in later years was the site of London House. John Burgoyne named his youngest son Bartholomew; he was a secular priest and was to pray for three years for his soul. His elder sons, Thomas and Robert, were his executors, and the will continues:

'and my brother Thomas Burgoyne, clercke person of Sandaye (fn. 76) and my sonne Bartilmew Burgoyn to be supuysors (supervisors) of this my said testament and last will and farther I bequeith to my said brother Thomas Burgoyn clerck parson Sanday fourty shillings for the pains to be taken therein.'

'Sir John Deane clerc perishe priest of great saint Bartilmewes' was the first witness.

Thomas Burgoyne was the eldest son of John Burgoyne. As his house and garden are described in the bounds as immediately to the north of Thomas Andrewes' house, which would be on the north side of Westmoreland Buildings where part of London House afterwards stood, that was probably the position of his father's house; his brother Robert being farther north again, as shown in the map (pl. LXVIII, p. 131). We learn from the 'particulars for grant' that his appointment as auditor to the monastery with his father, as mentioned above, was for life and the stipend was 40s., payable from the rent of his house in the Close. On the suppression of the monastery he was allowed a moiety only by the Court of Augmentations, to that court he was appointed auditor, and as such he signed the 'particulars for grant' and of the bounds. In the Lay Subsidy Roll of 1543 he was assessed in lands and fees at £104, a higher amount than any other owner except Richard Mody (£120). We have not found his will, but his brother Robert's will (fn. 77) shows that he was still living in 1546 and his daughter Margaret's (fn. 78) that he was not living in 1566.

After his death his widow Anne married Sir Robert Catlin, who was the chief justice of the Queen's Bench from 1559 until his death in 1574. Catlin probably occupied his wife's house in the Close. He was evidently a leading parishioner, because Bishop Grindal, when wishing to take the lead from St. Bartholomew's church for St. Paul's, (fn. 79) realized the importance of getting the goodwill not only of Lord Rich and Sir Walter Mildmay but also that of the Lord Chief Justice. Among the State Papers there is a letter from Catlin in the year 1572. In Catlin's will, (fn. 80) dated 24th May, 16 Eliz. (1574), after directing that he should be buried in Sutton, co. Bedford, and leaving 26s. 8d. for the poor of St. Bartholomew's, he says:

'I will that my saide wyfe (Anne) shall have the occupacon and custodie of all my hanginge of the storye or fable Acteon and Diana hanginge in the chamber in our house at greate Seint Bartilmewes called the carpette chamber . . .

'Also I will that the same my wyfe shall have to her owne proper use all other hanginge whatsoever beinge in the same house of Saint Bartilmewes and occupied there with all other household stuffe pewter brasse, &c. and other ymplements of household . . .

'My daughter Mary Spencer to have the occupacon and custodie of my bedde of crymson velvett with the curteins of crymson sarsonette and the quilte of crymson sarsonet belonginge to the same and also my best bedstede of danske worke (fn. 81) and the testern of yellowe stripped satten and blewe velvett with flowers of golde with the curteins of blewe and yellow cersonett and also my hanginge of the story of Kinge Davide with all the partes of the same.'

He also left tapestry at his house at Newnham, Bedfordshire.

Robert Burgoyne, the second son of John, also lived in the Close. His house, as we saw when describing the bounds, was to the north of his brother's, on what is now the site of Manchester Avenue. He died in 1545, or early in 1546, and made his will before his brother Thomas died, for he left his eldest son Robert to be brought up by 'his uncle Thomas'. (fn. 82) He had two daughters, Dorothy and Elizabeth, and there was a child still to be born when he died. Like the king, though not a Roman he was not a protestant, for he made a bequest 'for dirige masses of Requiem and trentall of masses of the V wounds of owere Lorde the trinyte the hollye gooste and of ower Ladye to be songe and said at St. Bartilmewes'. Whatever position he held was probably due to Sir Richard Rich, for in his will he says:

'I geve and bequethe to the righte worshipfull Sir Richard Riche Knyghte my especiall good maister to be good M^r to my wife and children in all further causes as they shall honestlie require him, twentie poundes stirlinge. And to my especiall good Ladye Elizabeth his wife for a Remembrance five poundes thirteen shillinges and foure pence.'

There were also legacies to his 'sister Anne Burgoyne', no doubt his brother Thomas's wife, and to his nephew and godson Robert Burgoyne, and to his nephew John Burgoyne, the elder brother. There were also legacies for his cousin John Doddington and for several late abbots of different monasteries, showing where his sympathies lay. He had probably attended the auctions of the goods of some of the suppressed houses (or perhaps of St. Bartholomew's only), for he was possessed of several church vestments. He says in his will:

'I give and bequethe unto the churche of Hackneye one cope, to Saint Bartholomewes in London one coope and one vestmente with the apparrell. To Watton at Stone churche [Herts.] twoo coopes, to Sutton churche one coope (where he was born). To Dunter churche one coope, to Sandaye churche one cope, to Polton churche one coope and to Langforde churche one coope.'

One of the witnesses to the will was Thomas Catlin, some relation no doubt to Sir Robert who married the widow of Thomas Burgoyne. (fn. 83)

As to the children of Thomas Burgoyne, just referred to as nephews of Robert: of the elder, John, we have no record, other than that he was alive in 1584, when his brother Robert bequeathed him £30. The younger, Robert, godson of his uncle Robert, died in 1584. Though he had been living at St. Giles's in the Fields, in his will, (fn. 84) where he describes himself as 'gentleman', he desires to be buried 'within the parishe churche of Greate Saint Bartholomew'. He gave and bequeathed 'to Ladye Anne Catlyn' his 'naturall and derely beloved mother one ringe of goulde of the value of ffyve markes'. Another to his cousin Robert, his uncle Robert's eldest son, who had been brought up with him. Thomas Burgoyne also had a daughter Margaret. She died in the year 1566 and was buried at Sutton. In her will (fn. 85) she said:

'I bequeath unto Sir Robert Catlyn Knighte the ciffe justice of Englande, my father-in-lawe, (fn. 86) twenty markes. Item I gyve unto my brother John Burgoyne thee hundreth poundes which he hathe in his handes. Item I gyve unto my brother Robert Burgoyne thre score poundes . . . Item I gyve to be distributed to the poore people of greate St. Bartylmews in London ffortie shillings. (fn. 87)

Richard Duke was a clerk of the council (fn. 88) of the Augmentations, and as such he signed the particulars of the parish bounds with Sir Richard Rich and Thomas Burgoyne. In the 'particulars for grant' in 1544 he is shown as in possession of the lease of a house in the parish valued at £40 which had been demised to Richard Ward. In 1563 he was assessed for the subsidy (fn. 89) 'in landes £200'; the highest assessment in the list.

Thomas Tyrrell also occurs in the 'particulars for grant' as having a small house in the Close for which he was paying 20s. a year, and also in the Subsidy Roll of 1543 when he was assessed at £3. He was a king's messenger, and in the latter year he was paid out of the Augmentation Accounts in June for riding 644 miles 53s. 8d., in August for riding costs 38s. 10d., and for livery coat 33s. 4d. (fn. 90)

Dorothy Paver, widow, was a well-to-do person dwelling in the Close. In the Lay Subsidy Roll of 1543 she appears as Dorothe Payvor and was assessed at £26. In the 'particulars for grant' of 1544 she appears as Dorothy Paver paying a rent on lease of 40s. Her will, in which she is called Dorothe Paner, is dated in September and was proved in October 1548. It seems of sufficient interest to give in full in the Appendix. (fn. 91)

Sir Walter Mildmay, Knight, to whom reference (fn. 92) has already been made and to whom reference will again be made when describing his monument in the church, (fn. 93) was assessed for the subsidy of 1563 in the parish 'in landes £100'. His possessions in the Close were considerable, and after the date of the subsidy, in 1566–1567, he bought by fine (fn. 94) from 'Hy. Coddenham Esq. and Elizabeth his wife' (afterwards the wife of Philip Scudamore) '8 messuages, 4 tofts and 4 gardens in the parish of St. Bartholomew the Great and of St. Botolph Aldersgate', for the sum of £200.

It has already been seen that he at one time owned the frater (fn. 95) and the cloister; (fn. 96) also that Dr. Bartlett and his brother Thomas had sold him half their inheritance in the Close (fn. 97) (now Albion Buildings). There can be no doubt that this was Sir Walter's dwelling-place, and that he added to it a garden in St. Botolph's parish of which he had obtained a 200 years' lease from Christopher Tamworth, at a yearly rent of 4d.: for he says in his will (fn. 98) that his 'meaning and intention was that his garden should go and continue in the occupation of such person as should have his dwelling-house in Great St. Bartholomew's'. His son, Sir Anthony Mildmay, inherited this house and garden, and his elder daughter Mary in turn inherited them from him. She married in the year 1624 Sir Francis Fane, afterwards first Earl of Westmorland of the second creation, and continued to reside there. The house and garden were then named Westmoreland House; a name which is still perpetuated in the parish in 'Westmoreland Buildings'. The garden acquired from Christopher Tamworth may have been either that which in the bounds is described as Thomas Andrewes', or the part adjoining on the south which, in the year 1544, Williams and North had sold to Mody (as seen above). (fn. 99)

Sir Walter Mildmay is an historical personage who served faithfully four sovereigns—Henry VIII, Edward VI, Queen Mary, and Queen Elizabeth (pl. XCIII, p. 264). He was born about the year 1520. His father, Thomas Mildmay, was a commissioner for receiving the surrender of the monasteries and was also one of the auditors of the Court of Augmentations. It was in this way, we may assume, that the family became associated with St. Bartholomew's parish, where, both before and after the suppression, many members of that court resided. Sir Walter Mildmay was knighted in 1546, and the next year he was appointed to report on the Crown revenues. He was appointed in 1548 a commissioner for the sale of chantry lands, because he was a man of 'tried wisedoms, and faithfull discrecion'. (fn. 100) From that time he was constantly being appointed to such-like posts of trust, which concerned the monetary affairs of the kingdom. In 1550 he was, with others, directed to examine the accounts of the king's mint. In the following year he had the superintendence of a new mint at York. In 1552 he was appointed a commissioner to settle with the crown accountants the effect of a fall in the value of money, and also to superintend the receipt by the crown of plate, jewels, bells, and the like, surrendered by the monasteries and chantries.

Under Queen Mary he was treasurer of the forces and was sent to the relief of Calais. Under Queen Elizabeth he was made a privy councillor and employed, amongst other things, in directing the issue of a new coinage. In 1556 he became chancellor of the exchequer, (fn. 101) which office, with that of a sub-treasurer of the exchequer, he held at the time of his death in 1589. Among the Hatfield MSS. (fn. 102) is a warrant, issued in 1577 to Lord Burleigh and Sir Walter, to buy gold and silver bullion for the public service; and in 1579 he addressed the Council on the necessity of a reformation in the weights of standard gold throughout the realm and of preventing the clipping of the current coin; he also made proposals for the new management of the mint. (fn. 103) Being so great a financier it is of some interest that his tomb should have been restored in 1870 by his descendant Mr. Henry Bingham Mildmay, a partner in the great banking house of Baring Brothers. The Barings were the London agents for the Binghams of Philadelphia, and the connexion was brought about by one Miss Bingham marrying Sir Henry Mildmay and another Miss Bingham marrying a Mr. Henry Baring.

Sir Walter Mildmay entered Parliament in 1552 as member for Malden, and the next year as member for Peterborough. His wife Mary was sister of Sir Francis Walsingham, but he does not seem to have taken much part in politics, with the exception of the case of Mary Queen of Scots, and in that he played a leading part with Walsingham. In 1568 he recommended her detention in England, whither she had fled from Loch Leven to seek the protection of Elizabeth. He visited Queen Mary in 1570 when she was transferred to Chatsworth. He was also sent to her in 1582 and 1583. In October 1586 it was Sir Walter Mildmay who was sent to Fotheringay Castle to inform her of her coming trial. On the 3rd November following he made a speech in parliament against the queen which is preserved among the Tanner MSS. (fn. 104) in the Bodleian Library, from which the following are extracts:

'My m(aste)rs you have herde very wisely and plainely declared unto you a most rare & abhominable conspiracy intended against her majesty our most gratious soveraigne . . . I have thought it my duty to speake myne opinion of three speciill points wch. conserne the same, viz. against whom the treason was comitted, by whom it was concluded and to what end it was entended. It was comited againste our most gratious soveraigne in goinge about to take awaye her life. It was concluded upon by the quene of Scots a principall actor & rote of that conspiracye; it was done of flatt purpose to kill our soveraigne, sett the crown of this realm on the Q. of Scots hed, alter religion, overthrow us all & lay upon us or our posteritie the hevey yoke of Rome known to a nombr. of you' . . .

In the end he gave 'flattly his oppinion y^t the rote of these evells must of necesitie be taken awaie' . . .

The indictment was drawn up jointly by Walsingham and Mildmay, and Mildmay was one of the special commissioners at the trial. Queen Mary was beheaded on the 8th February 1587. Though Elizabeth signed the death warrant she alleged that she had never intended its execution to take place. The blame was fastened on William Davison, her secretary and a member of the commission, whose prosecution in the Star Chamber was urged by Mildmay. At his trial (fn. 105) it was stated that 'the Queen gave Davison the warrant signed to be kept secretly, none to be privy except the Chancellor and Walsingham. Davison took it to Walsingham . . . and then went to the Lord Treasurer and divers others of her Majesty's Privie Counsellors. The Lord Treasurer asked if it was to be sealed: Davison said Her Majesty was content and would not be more troubled in the matter. Afterwards he came to the Lord Chancellor, affirming the same and upon this the Lord Chancellor passed the seal'.

Sir Walter Mildmay gave judgement for a fine of 10,000 marks and imprisonment during Her Majesty's pleasure for 'misprision and contempt'.

Sir Walter Mildmay was a great anti-papist, and we see no Christian emblem on his tomb. (fn. 106) In 1584 he founded Emmanuel College at Cambridge, on the site of the house of the Dominicans; on which occasion the often-quoted conversation, as reported by Fuller, is said to have taken place:

Queen Elizabeth said: 'Sir Walter, I hear you have erected a Puritan foundation.'

To which Mildmay replied: 'No! Madam; far be it from me to countenance anything contrary to your established laws; but I have set an acorn which when it becomes an oak, God alone knows what will be the fruit thereof.'

In 1569 he had written to Sir William Cecil (Lord Burleigh), ' The Queen's safety and the preservation of the cause of religion are the two pillars on which the security of the state are founded'.

The justice clerk, writing in 1589, concerning the nomination of commissioners, said, 'It is needful to be the wisest man in the world. If Master Secretary [Sir Francis Walsingham] can be spared from the court, I could earnestly wish him one and Sir Walter Mildmay another'. (fn. 107)

The Earl of Westmorland. Francis Fane (or Vane), K. B., the first earl, inherited Sir Walter Mildmay's house as mentioned above (fn. 108) through his wife Mary Mildmay. As neither the Earl's nor Mildmay's names occur in the subsidy of 1623 or 1624, it is possible that Sir Anthony Mildmay, who did not live in the parish and died in 1617, let the house to the Lord Chief Justice Hobart, referred to below, whose name does appear in the Subsidy Roll and at the same assessment, £100, as Sir Walter Mildmay's in 1563; and that the earl did not come into possession until about 1625, when Sir Henry Hobart died. Anyhow, the earl died in the parish, at Westmoreland House, (fn. 109) on the 22nd March 1628/9, a fact which is recorded in the parish register, though he was buried five days later at Apthorpe (also recorded). His widow, Mary Mildmay, continued to live, as Dowager Countess, in the parish until 1640. In 1628 she was one of those who subscribed £10 towards the building of the tower. Among the State papers, letters from her occur as 'Mary Countess of Westmoreland to Secy. Dorchester dated from her house at St. Bartholomew's'. In 1638 the marriage by licence of her fourth daughter Rachel with Henry Bourchier Earl of Bath is recorded in the parish register; she being aged 25 and he 45. Rachel subsequently married, as a second husband, the third Earl of Middlesex, who was also a parishioner. (fn. 110)

Mildmay Fane, the second Earl of Westmorland, succeeded his father and continued to live here. On the 26th May 1629, the churchwarden records having paid 'for ringing of a peale for the Earl of Westmorland 2s.', and in 1645 the churchwardens' account shows a gift of '£1 10s. to the poor from Mildmay, Earl of Westmorland'. In 1643 is recorded in the register the death of 'Lady Elizabeth Vaine (fn. 111) (3rd) daughter of the Honorable Mileme (fn. 112) Earl of Westmorland 8th June'.

The Earl was fined and his estate was sequestered by Parliament in 1642, and although the sequestration was discharged two years later he had still to petition the Council of State (fn. 113) that the soldiers quartered in his house in Bartholomew Close might be removed.

Sir Roger Manwood, Knight, was a resident here from 1585 or earlier, in which year he dated a letter to Sir Francis Walsingham (fn. 114) from 'Great St. Bartholomew's' and in November 1586, he wrote a letter to Sir Walter Mildmay complaining that a Mr. Neale had 'withheld a subscription to a rated order of the parish'. (fn. 115) This was probably William Neale who was churchwarden with Philip Scudamore in 1574.

Manwood was a native of Sandwich, of which he was for some time recorder. (fn. 116) From 1578 to 1592 he was Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer. In 1591 he was rebuked by Queen Elizabeth for sale of offices, and the next year he was accused of various malpractices, arraigned before the Privy Council, and deprived of his office; his bust, in Hackington church, Kent, where he was buried, is the earliest example of a Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer being decorated with the collar of SS. (fn. 117) He died on the 14th December 1592 (pl. XCIII, p. 264).

His widow, Dame Elizabeth, in her will proved in February 1594/5, left 20s. 'to the poor people of Great St. Bartholomewes'. (fn. 118) His son, Sir Peter Manwood, who was a great antiquary, had a son, Sir John Manwood, who was married at St. Bartholomew's in 1627 to Lavinia daughter of Sir John Ogle of St. Peter le Poor. Sir Peter also had an only daughter Elizabeth who, in the year 1615, married the fifth Sir Thomas Walsingham of Scadbury, Chislehurst, (fn. 119) a distant cousin of Sir Francis Walsingham. Sir Roger had a daughter Anne, who married her neighbour Sir Percival Hart, (fn. 120) whose town house was, as we have seen, in the Lady Chapel.

Sir Thomas Walsingham must have had a town house at St. Bartholomew's, for in the churchwardens' accounts of the year 1631, on the 20th April among the receipts for pew money occurs, 'Item of Sir Thomas Walsingham and his Lady £1 6s. 8d.': as this was 6s. 8d. more than the pew rent paid by any one else in the parish, it must have been a pew of some importance. The rent or sale of pews went towards the expenses of the poor and not to the rector.

After the death of his wife, Elizabeth Manwood, in the year 1632, Walsingham married Elizabeth Bowme, the widow of Nathaniel Master, (fn. 121) whose great-nephew James Master (fn. 122) in later years resided, when in London, on the west side of Bartholomew Close. James Master appears in the rate books of the parish from the year 1682 to the time of his death in 1702, and there is a tablet to his memory in the church. (fn. 123)

In addition to the foregoing, many of whom held posts in or under the Government, in the seventeenth century, there came members of the nobility to reside here, occupying chiefly the monastic buildings converted by them into dwellings.

Of Sir Percival Hart we have already written fully when describing the Lady Chapel. (fn. 124)

Edward Nevill Lord Bergavenny (Abergavenny) was in occupation of the dorter, being a tenant of Lady Scudamore. He was the sixth Baron Bergavenny: he was summoned to Parliament as such from the year 1604 to the year 1621, and he died in 1622. (fn. 125) He probably used the dorter as his town house during that period. He unsuccessfully claimed the earldom of Westmorland in the second year of James I, but, through his cousin the Hon. Mary Nevill, who married Sir Thomas Fane, the lineal descendant of the younger son of the first earl of Westmorland, the earldom was recovered by the new creation of her son Sir Francis Fane as the Earl of Westmorland, (fn. 126) who, as stated above, came to live in the parish after marrying Mary Mildmay.

Sir Christopher Nevill, the second son of Lord Bergavenny, unlike his elder brother Henry, lived or held property in the parish, for he appears in the Subsidy Roll of 1624, where he was assessed 'in lande' at £10. In 1643 he was assessed at £600 by the committee for the advancement of money. (fn. 127) In the following year, 1625, there appears in the churchwardens' accounts a Mr. Neville, who was probably the same person; and, inasmuch as his name appears there among the 'desperate arrearages', he had probably at that time ceased to reside in the parish, and so the churchwarden was unable to recover his dues. Later on the name of Sir Christopher Nevill, in company with Lionel Earl of Middlesex, Edward Lord Herbert, and Lady Mary Wootton, occurs in an undated certificate from the constables and churchwardens of St. Bartholomew the Great 'of clergy and laity who made any stay within the parish, after the time limited by His Majesty's proclamation'. (fn. 128)

The great-grandson of Sir Christopher succeeded to the barony of Bergavenny on the tenth baron dying childless.

Sir Henry Cary probably occupied the infirmary, (fn. 129) a house adjoining the dorter. (fn. 130) This was not Sir Henry Carey as written in the rental, who was the second Earl of Monmouth, but Sir Henry Cary the first Viscount Falkland, K. B., so created in 1620. He was the controller of the household of King James I from 1617 to 1621. Sir Henry Cary's sister Jane married Sir Edward Barrett, whose house adjoined Sir Henry Cary's at St. Bartholomew's.

His father, Sir Edward Cary, Knight, was half-brother to Sir Francis Walsingham. (fn. 131) He was master of the jewel office to Queen Elizabeth and King James, and was living at St. Bartholomew's, where he died in 1618, for he was described in his will as 'of Aldenham, co. Herts, now of Great St. Bartholomew near Smithfield'. (fn. 132)

In the parish register (No. 1) occur the following entries:

'Elizabeth daughter of Sir Henry Cary baptized 15th November 1617.

'Lucie the daughter of Sir Henry Cary, Viscount Falkland and controller of the King's Majesty's household and one of his Privy Council and Elizabeth his wife, was baptized the 23rd Decr., 1619.'

And among the marriages occurs that of Victoria Cary, another daughter, married to Sir William Uvedale on the 27th February 1639/40.

Sir Henry Carey, the second Earl of Monmouth, married a parishioner in the person of Lady Martha Cranfield, a daughter of the first Earl of Middlesex, and their daughter Philadelphia was baptized at St. Bartholomew's on the 17th July 1627, but that does not imply that they resided here.

Sir Edward Barrett appears in Lord Holland's rental as a tenant of Lady Scudamore, of a house adjoining that of Sir Henry Cary, which probably was—as already seen (fn. 133) —that of the master of the farmery. He was assessed for the subsidy of 1623 'in lande' £50. He was the son of Charles Barrett of Belhus, Essex, and of Christian Mildmay, the daughter of Sir Walter Mildmay, his wife. He married, as just seen, Sir Henry Cary's sister Jane. He had probably left the parish by 1625 or 1626, for he appears among the churchwardens' 'desperate arrearages' of those years for 5s.

Lady Scudamore, who held the superior leases of Lord Bergavenny's and Sir Edward Barrett's houses, was the second wife of Sir Philip Scudamore. She was still the lease-holder in a later rental of the year 1642. She died in 1649 at the age of seventy-three, and was buried at Croydon. (fn. 134) She is described on her tombstone there as 'Dame Ruth Scudamore' and as 'singularly accomplished'. From the same source we also learn that she was the daughter of Griffith Hampden of Hampden, co. Bucks (the home of John Hampden), and was married three times: first to Edward Oglethorpe, son and heir to Sir Owen Oglethorpe, co. Oxford, Kt., (fn. 135) by whom she had two daughters; secondly to Sir Philip Scudamore of Burnham, co. Bucks, and thirdly to Henry Leigh, Esq., son and heir to Sir Edward Leigh of Rushall, co. Stafford, Kt., by whom she had one son, Samuel. She was buried in the name of Scudamore because of her second husband's title.

Sir Philip Scudamore, Kt., her second husband, was knighted at the coronation of James I in 1603. Besides living at Burnham he was also a parishioner of St. Bartholomew the Great, for, as already said, (fn. 136) he served the office of churchwarden with William Neale from the year 1574 to 1578. Besides the leases of the dorter and of Sir Edward Barrett's house, he was the owner of the house over the Smithfield gate, and of three houses in Duck Lane. (fn. 137) His freeholds he left to his 'dear cousin Sir Robert Chamberlain', his leaseholds he settled on Dame Ruth, his second wife. (fn. 138)

His first wife, Elizabeth, was the widow of Henry Coddenham, auditor of the mint, also a parishioner, who in the Subsidy Roll of 1563 was rated to the parish at £26 13s. 4d. She died in 1593, ten years before her husband was knighted, and was buried at St. Bartholomew's. The tablet to her memory in the north ambulatory records that Sir Philip Scudamore 'travellinge beyond the seas died at Antwerp in the year 1611'.

Elizabeth Scudamore by her first husband had three daughters: (fn. 139) Alice, the eldest, married Robert Chamberlayne of Sherborne, by whom she had a son, Sir Robert Chamberlayne. (fn. 140) The second daughter, Dorothy, married Thos. Piggott (Esq.) of Dodershall; and the third, Elizabeth, married first Sir William Paulet, Marquis of Winchester, and for a second husband Richard Fiennes, Kt., Lord Saye and Sele, a widower, who died in 1613. Lady Elizabeth founded the almshouses (fn. 141) and died in 1632. She was buried at St. Bartholomew's, where her name is in the register as Affra Lady Saye and Sele. The Christian name first written has been erased and Affra (that is dust) (fn. 142) written in its place, probably due to a wish expressed before death—an act of humility in accord with that of Dr. Westfield, the rector in her time, who wrote for his own epitaph Episcoporum infimus, peccatorum primus: (fn. 143) among the subscribers to the tower in 1628 occurs 'Lady St. Ledger', whose Christian name is also given as Aphra. (fn. 144)

Sir Robert Chamberlayne mentioned above was also knighted at the coronation of James I. He held the lease, as we have seen, of three houses in the parish facing Smithfield, and there is reason to believe that, like his maternal grandmother, he lived in the parish, though his father lived at St. John Street, Smithfield. (fn. 145) He is commemorated in the church by a monument on the north side of the quire, on which is his effigy in a kneeling posture. On the tablet it is recorded that he made a journey to the Holy Land, but perished between Tripoli and Cyprus. (fn. 146)

William Neale. The first reference we have to the Neales in connexion with the parish occurs in the year 1574, when, and until 1578, William Neale was churchwarden with Philip Scudamore. Their accounts, to which is also added an inventory of church goods, are preserved in the parish safe. (fn. 147)

In the year 1586 Sir Roger Manwood, at that time Judge of the Common Pleas, wrote the letter to Sir Walter Mildmay referred to later (fn. 148) complaining that Mr. Neale had withheld a subscription to a rated order. In 1589 William Neale appears as the first of the witnesses to Sir Walter Mildmay's will. Then in 1597, in the will already referred to above, Anne the wife of William Neale (late wife of Richard Culverwell) bequeathed (fn. 149) to her 'niece Jane Bottes one Flaunders cheste of Lynnen and all things therein beinge now remainienge in the house of the said Mr. William Neale my husband situate in the parish of great Saint Bartholomew's neare West Smithfeilde London in the greate chamber there'.

In the year 1601 a certain William Neale made a will proved 7th November 1601 by 'Francis Neale his son' (fn. 150) in which he is described as 'of Warneforde in the countie of South (hants) esquire' in which mention is made of 'his manor of Cranborne Dorset' and 'a lease of the parsonage of ffremyngton Devon'. Although no mention is made of any property in the parish of St. Bartholomew we incline to think that this is the William Neale we are considering because he bequeathed 'unto the poore people of the parishe of Saint Bartholomewe's the Great the sum of five poundes': a considerable sum unless the donor was intimately acquainted with the parish, for it was worth more than £20 of our money. If this assumption is correct, then Sir Thomas Neale was another and probably the eldest son. Thomas was knighted in 1604, and this and the reference of 1616 mentioned above are the only records we have of him.

But in 1669 an arrangement was come to by the vestry (fn. 151) with one Thos. Neale Esq.' concerning his tenant having made some building upon the churchyard wall whereby it was agreed that Neale should pay £5 as a fine and 6d. as a yearly rent for the building on the wall for the term of 500 years.

Arthur Jarvais, mentioned in the rental of 1616, was living in the late prior's house, at the back of which—that is, in the ancient sacristy—he kept the office of the Pipe of which he was clerk from 1603 to 1624 (as already seen). (fn. 152) His house was valued at a rent of £100, a higher valuation than any other in Lord Holland's rental. In 1623 and in 1624 he was assessed in lands at £20.

Sir Henry North, Kt., is mentioned in the rental as holding a 'garden or square plot of ground walled about with bricke, between Rugman's Rowe on the north and the houses on the narrow alley leading out of the Close through the Half-moon on the south, Doctor Martin east and that waste ground before the gates of Mr. Jarvais and Sr. Percival Hart west, by lease granted to Mr. Robert Paddon, auditor, bearing date 14 Junii 34 Eliz. (1592) for 31 years from Bartholomew tyde before, yeilding there per ann. [blank] And is worth p. ann. £10 0s. 0d.'

We have no record as to whether he had a dwelling in the Close, but having a thirty-one years' lease granted to him of this plot of land suggests that it was merely for building purposes. He was probably the grandson of the great Sir Edward North and youngest son of Sir Roger North; he was knighted in 1586. (fn. 153)

Sir Henry Hobart, described in the Lay Subsidy Roll (fn. 154) as 'commissioner' was the first baronet and was Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas. In 1619, when his son Henry was, on the 7th December, baptized at St. Bartholomew's, he is described in the parish register as 'Henry Lord Hubbort, Lord Cheefe justice of Cte. of Common Pleas and Baranett, Channclor to Prince Charles'. He was created Baronet in 1611, Lord Chief Justice in 1613, a post he retained till his death in 1625, and Chancellor to Prince Charles in 1617. In the subsidy of 1623 (fn. 155) and of 1624 (fn. 156) he was assessed at £100 in land. In 1623 he addressed a letter from 'St. Bartholomew's' to Sir Edward Conway, the Ambassador to Germany, (fn. 157) and, as his son was baptized here and his daughter Frances was married here in 1629 to Thomas Hewitt, no doubt he resided in the parish.

Sir John Hobart, his son, apparently also lived in the parish, for the baptism of his daughter Philippa in 1617, of his daughter Dorothy in 1620, of his son Henry in 1623, and of his daughter Frances in 1626, are all recorded in the parish register. The first two were children of his first wife Philippa, daughter of Robert Sidney, Earl of Leicester. There was also a son Henry whose burial is registered in 1621. Philippa, the daughter, also died in infancy, as her burial is recorded in 1618. The second Henry, and Frances, and a John whose baptism is not recorded, were children of Sir John's second wife Frances, daughter of John, Earl of Bridgwater. The burial of this second Henry, and that of John, both in January 1623, are in the parish register.

Sir Henry Wallop, Kt., was also assessed for the subsidy at £100 in land, which, with that of Sir Henry Hobart, was the highest assessment on the roll; Sir Edward Barrett coming next with £50 in land, to which sum the next year Wallop's assessment was also reduced. He was knighted in Dublin in August 1599, (fn. 158) perhaps on the death of his father, the Lord Justice of Ireland, which occurred in Dublin the same year. The family were probably living in the parish up to 1629, for in that year his daughter Katherine was married in the church to William Hemingham; but as he appears in the churchwardens' accounts of 1625/6 among the 'desperate arrearages' for 5s. it is likely that he was away a great deal.

Sir Horatio Vere, Baron Vere of Tilbury, apparently resided here for some years, his daughter Dorothy was baptized in the church in 1617, he was assessed for the subsidy in 1623 and 1624 at £20 in land, his daughter, Mistress Elizabeth, was married in the church in 1626 to John Lord Houghton, and his daughter Mary in 1627 to Sir Roger Townshend. Vere was knighted in 1596 (fn. 159) and created Baron Vere in 1625. He was a great soldier and saw much fighting in Holland, where he took over the command of the English from his brother, Sir Francis Vere, in 1604, and he sailed for the Palatinate in charge of the troops in 1620.

Sir George Manners was assessed here in lands in 1623 and in 1624 at £40. He was living here as early as 1614, for in that year Sir Henry Anderson addressed a letter to him 'at his house in Saint Bartholomew's' (fn. 160) and in 1625/6 he appears in the churchwarden's account as in arrears for 7s. 6d. He succeeded his brother Francis as seventh Earl of Rutland in 1632. He married Frances, widow of Ralph Baesh, Esq., a sister of Sir Henry Cary, the first Viscount Falkland, to whom reference has already been made as a parishioner. (fn. 161)

Sir Thomas Cheeke (or Cheke) was assessed in lands at £40 in the year 1623, but not in 1624. In the parish register appears 'Lucie daughter of Sir Thomas Cheeke and Lady Essex his wife baptised 6th Jany. 1623/4'; and 'Richard Rogers Esquire and Jane Cheeke d. of Sir Thomas Cheeke married 8th April 1641'. This Sir Thomas Cheeke was a grandson of Sir John Cheeke, tutor of Edward VI, and Lady Essex was the daughter of Robert Rich, Earl of Warwick.

Sir Heneage Finch, Kt., Recorder of London (1620) and Speaker of the House of Commons, was a parishioner here. In 1625 he had to take a house nearer to the Houses of Parliament; for he wrote (fn. 162) 'in regard to my house, as St. Bartholomew's was too farre from the Parliament house, I hired a house in Chanon Rowe near Westminster of my Lord Viscount Grandison', but he did not apparently relinquish his house here. In 1623 and in 1624 he was assessed for the subsidy at £20, when he was described as 'recorder and commissioner'. The burials of two sons and three daughters are recorded in the parish registers; also the baptism of a son John on the 3rd April 1627, and eight days later, the 11th April, the death of the mother, Frances Lady Finch and her burial at Estwell, Kent, on the 17th April, appear in the register. As the birth of the eldest son Heneage, the future Lord Chancellor and first Earl of Nottingham, is not recorded in the registers the parents had probably not then (1621) arrived. Two daughters, by his second wife Elizabeth, were baptized here, Frances on 4th March 1629/30 and Anne on 20th October 1631. In 1628 Sir Heneage Finch contributed £10 to the building of the present church tower, and in 1631 the churchwardens' accounts show a receipt for 'the knell, the pall and cloth and coffin of the Recorder Finch'.

Sir John Hayward, Kt., D. C. L., the historian, was assessed to the subsidy both in 1623 and in 1624, and had then been residing for some years in one of the glebe houses, now Nos. 92, 93 Bartholomew Close. (fn. 163) He wrote the 'Annals of the first four years of the reign of Queen Elizabeth'. (fn. 164) Before that he had written 'The first part of the life and reign of Henrie the iiii', dedicated to Essex, which gave so much offence to Queen Elizabeth that he was committed to prison. He had one child, Mary, who was married at St. Bartholomew's on 16th January 1622 to Nicholas Roe, Esq., who was knighted three years later. Hayward seems to have been an eccentric man, judging from his will. His daughter Mary predeceased him, leaving one child Mary, to whom Hayward in his will (dated 30th March 1626) left the lease of his house at St. Bartholomew's. (fn. 165) He had evidently quarrelled with his son-in-law, for he says that 'Sir Nicholas Rowe (Mary's father) shall have nothing to doe with the said house, or any parte of the profitts thereof'. It is also evident that he was not on the best of terms with his wife, for he says, 'I give to my wife the bedd wherein she lieth, with all things pertayning thereunto, and two other of the meanest bedds for servants, which together with all my former legacies unto her and her thirds which she may clayme out of the lands in Totenham I esteeme enough in regard to the small porcion she brought me, and regard of her unquiet life and small respect towards mee, a greate deale to much'. Then as regards his burial he says, 'My breathluse putrifying carkase I leave to a private unceremonious Buriall, where I shall hereafter appoint. And my desire is that my grave bee made eight foot deepe at the least, where my bones are like to remain untouched; and I utterlie dislike that my bodie be ripped, cutt or any waies mangled after my death, for experience to others. Also I will that a monument be erected over the place of my buriall, wherein I desire that my executor does not beare an over-sparing hand.' (There is, however, no monument of him at all at St. Bartholomew's, where he was buried 28th June 1627.) 'To the poore of the parish of Great Saint Bartholomew's London,' he says, 'where I have long remained, I give ten pounds.'

A Lady Hatton was assessed for the subsidy of 1624 at £20. This was the widow of Sir Christopher Hatton, cousin of the Lord Chancellor, who died in 1619, at which time apparently she came to live in this parish. Her maiden name was Alice Fanshawe. In the correspondence of the Hatton family, published by the Camden Society, there is a letter of hers written to her son Christopher at Jesus College, Cambridge, the year after her husband's death. This son was created the first Baron Hatton in 1643. He married and probably lived in the parish, for his son Christopher was baptized here on 6th November 1632. This latter Christopher was created first Viscount Hatton in 1683. Lady Hatton (the grandmother) appears among the subscribers to the building of the church tower in 1628 as 'Alice Lady Hatton widdow £3' and her son as 'Sir Christopher Hatton, Knight of the Bath, £10'.

Anne Countess of Dorset was living here in 1629, for Sir Francis Willoughby addressed her that year 'at her house in Great St. Bartholomew's'. She was then the widow of Richard Sackville, Earl of Dorset; but in 1630 she married the Earl of Pembroke. Her daughter, the Right Hon. Margaret Sackville, co-heiress of the Earl of Dorset, was married at St. Bartholomew's in 1629 to Nicholas Lord Tufton, Earl of Thanet. His nephew, Richard Sackville, when he was Lord Buckhurst, and before he succeeded to the earldom, married Lady Frances Cranfield, daughter of the first Earl of Middlesex, then living at St. Bartholomew's, and their daughter, Lady Elizabeth Sackville was baptized at St. Bartholomew's in 1648.

The Earl of Bolingbroke, though not in the Subsidy Roll, is shown by the entries in the parish registers to have lived in the parish. His great-uncle, Lord St. John, second Baron St. John of Bletshoe, was apparently here for a time in 1595, for in April and November of that year he wrote letters dated from 'St. Bartholomew's', (fn. 166) and in July 1596—the year that he died—he addressed a letter from here to Lord Robert Cecil. (fn. 167) Like Sir Walter Mildmay and Sir Roger Manwood he was on the commission to try Mary Queen of Scots at Fotheringay.

Oliver St. John, the fourth baron, was created Earl of Bolingbroke in 1624. He married Elizabeth, daughter of William Paulet, Esq., and died in 1646. Among the marriages in the parish register of 1623 occurs 'Periant Dochery Esq. and Martha d. of the Hon. Oliver Lord St. John 19th Dec.'

He married twice, for in 1626 appears in the register the baptism of 'Frances daughter of Oliver Lord St. John and the Lady Arabella, 9th April'. This Lady Arabella, the daughter of John Egerton, the first Earl of Bridgwater, was therefore the second wife.

In 1628 is entered in the register the marriage of 'John Viscount of Rotherford and Lady Dorothie daughter of the Lord Oliver St. John, Earle of Bollingbroke, 19th May', and Lady Dorothie's death is registered on the 27th June following. She was taken to Hemesden, co. Hertford, for burial on the 29th of the same month.

In 1638 the death of 'Sir Valentine St. John son to the earl of Bollingbroke' is registered on the 12th May.

The last entry concerning the earl in the parish books is in the churchwardens' accounts of 1645, which shows that he then gave £1 10s. to the poor of the parish. Reference has already been made to the gift of a house, No. 86 Bartholomew Close, made by the Countess of Bolingbroke in the year 1666. In 1642 the Earl joined the Parliamentarians; his son Oliver St. John died of wounds received at Edgehill.

Edward Lord Herbert of Cherbury, the philosopher, historian and diplomatist, dated a letter in the year 1633 from his house at St. Bartholomew's. He was probably only here for a short time. In the churchwarden's account for 1632/3 occurs 'Mar. 12 recd. of my Lord Herbert for his licence for Lent £1 6s. 8d.', which was the highest amount payable under Queen Elizabeth's act of 1562; the lowest was 6s. 8d.

Lady Bennett at the same time paid 6s. 8d. for her licence. She was the widow of Sir Simon Bennett, daughter of Sir Arthur Ingram and sister to Lady Nevill, wife of Sir Christopher Nevill.

The Earl of Middlesex, whose long residence here has been fully dealt with when describing the prior's house, also paid 6s. 8d. in part of the same' licence.

We get other evidence of the well-to-do dwellers in the Close from the 'Proceedings of the Committee for the Advancement of Money for the Parliament'. In December 1642, (fn. 168) a letter was sent to the Lord Mayor to nominate assessors of privileged places, such as Martin's le Grand and Bartholomew's the Great'. There is a list of eleven people in 1642 who subscribed loans in this parish ranging from £2 to £56 17s. 4d. (fn. 169)

Lady Digby would have lent, but Parliament had taken her two coach-horses which cost £50. (fn. 170) In 1643 she was assessed by the above Committee at £200, (fn. 171) but was excused from paying in consequence of the death, in Ireland, at that time of her first husband, the first Lord Digby of Geashill. (fn. 172)

Lady Berkley, described as of 'Great St. Bartholomews', was assessed in 1643 at £125; (fn. 173) and in the same year one John Smith wrote to Sir Edward Hyde 'Lord Berkley may be heard of at his house in Gt. St. Bartholomew's'. In 1644 search was made 'for plate and treasure said to be walled up in the house of Mr. Fox, Great St. Bartholomew's'.

Lady Vere of Tilbury and Lady Alice Hastings, both of this parish, were assessed at £200 each. A 'public faith certificate' was ordered for Lady Hastings, guaranteeing repayment with 8 per cent. interest. She was the seventh wife of Sir Gervase Clifton, the first wife being Lady Penelope Rich. She appears in the churchwardens' accounts as giving 5s. to the poor. (fn. 174)

In 1645 Henry Rich, Earl of Holland, was assessed at £1,500, (fn. 175) and in 1648 all his goods in his house, and his rents at Kensington and St. Bartholomew's, were ordered to be seized and sequestered, and on the 9th March the following year he was beheaded.

In 1648 (fn. 176) information was given that Sir Edward Wortley, Bart., of Great St. Bartholomew's, had in his hands a jewel worth £1,500, given by the Countess of Devon to Sir Henry Griffith's lady, and for which Sir Henry had not compounded.

Sir Richard Howell of Cloth Fair was assessed in 1645 at £600 by the Committee, (fn. 177) and was ordered to be brought up in custody to make payment.

In the year 1645 Major General Skippon appears in the churchwarden's account as giving 8s. to the poor. He was at the battle of Newbury, and was wounded at the battle of Naseby: he was sergeant-general under Fairfax and directed the siege of Oxford in 1645.

By the time of the Commonwealth the zenith of the social height of St. Bartholomew's Close was reached, and from that time to that of the great plague in 1665 the nobility gradually moved elsewhere.

The Hearth Tax reveals this, for in the Hearth Tax Roll of 1666 there are only five people with a title:

Lady Bridgett Liddall, (fn. 178) had fourteen hearths and therefore lived in a large house;

Sir William Wyld (fn. 179) had twelve hearths;

Lady Vane, ten;

Sir Henry Massingberg, (fn. 180) nine; and

Sir William Glaskock, seven.

The same tax, levied in 1674, shows that all these persons had then gone away; but a certificate preserved among the House of Lords MSS., of the year 1675, from the constables and churchwardens of the parish, of clergy and laity who made any stay within the parish after the time limited by King Charles's proclamation, includes the names of Lionel, third Earl of Middlesex (who died 26th October 1674), Edward, third Baron Herbert of Cherbury (who was buried in Westminster Abbey in 1678), and Sir Christopher Nevill, the brother of Henry Nevill, the seventh Lord Bergavenny. (fn. 181)

In addition to those inhabitants of the Close named above, there are many titled people recorded in the Church Registers of the first half of the seventeenth century of whom we have no other record, but the following list of them may be of interest:

There were but few others living during the first half of the seventeenth century to whom we need refer, and three of these were foreign sculptors.

Maximilian Colt was the English name of Maximilian Poictrin, the sculptor, of Utrecht. (fn. 183) He lived in the parish. His first appearance in the parochial records is in the churchwardens' accounts for the year 1631, when an entry runs: 'Recd. of Max. Colte in arrerages for the burial of his two children, £1 13s. 6d.' and 'towards the building of the steeple 16s. 6d.', and 'paid to Max. Colt in part of his debt for the schoole £2 10s. 0d.': thus no money passed between them. For what reason the churchwardens owed him money for the schools we do not know. As his name appears in a list of foreigners living in Farringdon ward in 1618 he was probably in this parish at that time. (fn. 184)

Both he and his brother John (who was also a sculptor) came to England in the sixteenth century. A certificate of the Lord Mayor of foreigners in St. Bartholomew the Great parish, dated the 28th October 1635, (fn. 185) includes, among ninety-two foreigners in all, the French Ambassador and his family and household of twenty persons; John Colt, a French sculptor, born at Artois, who had dwelt here for about fifty years; also Maximilian Colt, a younger brother, similarly described, who had dwelt here about forty years and had two sons and two daughters, all English-born. Only Maximilian occurs in the two subsidy rolls of 1623 and 1624: in one he is assessed in land at £10 and in the other at £5. He worked as a sculptor and statuary and became master carver to King James I. His most important work was the tomb of Queen Elizabeth in Westminster Abbey (coloured by John de Crits) and the monuments to the infant princesses Sophia and Anne also in the Abbey. (fn. 186) He also carved the decorations of court barges which de Crits coloured. He was a prisoner in the Fleet in 1641; (fn. 187) from which he was released by the warden. This occasioned a petition to the House of Lords praying for an inquiry into the warden's lenient conduct. (fn. 188) The date of his death is not known, but he was living in 1647. (fn. 189) His brother John died in 1637. The entry in the register is 'John Coult, stone cutter, was buryed the 9th August'. In 1641 there is another entry 'John Coult the son of John Coult and Elizabeth his wife was buried the 9th June'. John Coult, the father, made the effigy of Queen Elizabeth which was carried at her funeral in 1603, for which, and for providing some articles of underclothing, he was paid £10. (fn. 190)

Maximilian Colt made the effigy for the funeral of Queen Anne of Denmark, in 1619, for which he was paid £16 (fn. 191) (in place of £20 15s. 7d. demanded !). He also made the figure of King James I, in 1625, for a similar purpose, for which he was paid, including all the accessories, £57 3s. 4d. (fn. 192) These effigies are still to be seen among 'the ragged regiment' at Westminster Abbey.

In the office book of the Board of Works appears the line 'Max. Colte, Master Sculptor, at £8 a year; 1633 '. (fn. 193)

When Strype (fn. 194) wrote his edition of Stow's survey in 1720 there was the following inscription in the church, in the figure of a rose, 'Here lieth the body of Abigall Coult, the daughter of Maximilian Coult; who departed this life the 19th day of March 1629, in the 16th yeere of her virginity '. The inscription has now disappeared.

Hubert le Sueur was a still more famous sculptor who lived in the parish. He was a native of France and pupil of Giovanni Bologna and Pierre Tacca. He came to England about the year 1619 (fn. 195) (some say 1628). (fn. 196) His name does not appear on the subsidy rolls of 1623 and 1624, as he did not come to reside here until 1630. He was first patronized by Richard Weston, the first Earl of Portland, of whom he executed a statue in the year 1634, now in the Guardian Angel (north-east) Chapel at Winchester. He was then patronized by King Charles I, of whom, and of King James I, there are statues in bronze inside the nave of Winchester Cathedral flanking the west door. He also made the fine equestrian statue of Charles I (1630–3), which was not set up in its present position at Charing Cross until 1674 in consequence of the great rebellion. He made many statues in bronze for the king and queen in the years 1636 and 1637. One agreement with the king for statues to be charged at £340 is attested by Inigo Jones. He also executed a commission for Archbishop Laud, of statues of the king and queen at St. John's College, Oxford, for £400. (fn. 197) These are still in the inner quadrangle of the college. There is a fine bronze bust by him of Sir Thomas Richardson (who died in the year 1634) in the south aisle of the nave of Westminster Abbey. The marble bust of James Rivers (d. 1641) in the south aisle of St. Bartholomew's the Great has been attributed to Le Sueur (pl. CI a, p. 462), but on what grounds we do not know. (fn. 198)

The Lord Mayor's certificate of 1635 (fn. 199) of those born beyond seas, referred to above, says that le Sueur had dwelt here for five years and had three children English-born. He had four men servants, three French and one English. He left England at the outbreak of the Civil Wars and returned to France. He was living in Paris in 1651 and still styled himself 'Sculpteur du Roy'. There is a fine medal of him by Warin.

John Milton, the poet, who was Latin secretary to the Council of State during the Commonwealth, and wrote much against the king and the bishops, was ordered to be arrested at the time of the Restoration and two of his political publications were burned by the public hangman at the Old Bailey. He is said to have concealed himself in consequence in Bartholomew Close for four months, and by tradition in one of the Elizabethan Houses on the south side of Cloth Fair facing the churchyard; but we have found no record that that was so. He may possibly have come with the Independents from the Abbey and found shelter in Middlesex House, which was in the Close precinct. He was arrested during the summer, fined, and then released. (fn. 200)

Amerigo Salvetti, (fn. 201) the name taken by Alessandro Antelmelli in the year 1599 when he fled to London, died in the parish and was buried in the chancel of the church. His father and his three brothers were tortured and then executed on a charge of high treason against the Republic of Lucca in 1596. He was pursued by the government of Lucca until 1627. Eventually he acted as the Tuscan representative at the English court and was 80 years of age when he died. The register reads 'Seneor Amorego Mounseir Silvetto agent to the Duke of Tuskin was burryed the 3rd of July 1657'.

The French Ambassador referred to in the Lord Mayor's certi ficate of 1635 (fn. 202) as living in the Close, is also referred to in a report by Inigo Jones and two others to the Council on a house in Bartholomew Close then being repaired and intended for gold and silver works:

' We do find there 3 large shedds of timber joyning together raised up and now found in a square piece of ground adjoyning upon the garden wall of the ffrench embassador now lodging there and upon some part of his house.'

This seems to indicate one of the large houses on the east side of the Close formerly occupied by the Burgoynes. After going to see rooms in the Tower which had been used for the Irish mint they eventually found some stables at St. Bartholomew's opening towards the street which they recommended to the Council.

The King's Office which regulated Playing Cards was in the year 1637 (fn. 203) in St. Bartholomew's parish, as appears by an order that a search should be made for any defective cards and such when found should with the moulds be carried to ' his majesty's office for cards in Great St. Bartholomew's '. We have already seen that the office of the pipe had been, early in the seventeenth century, in Mr. Jarvais's house in the sacristy chapel.

The report of the Lords' Committee appointed by the House of Lords to view and consider the Public Records in London (fn. 204) states that none of the Decrees of the Court of Star Chamber was to be found; the last notice of them that could be got was that they were in a house in St. Bartholomew's Close, London. But we cannot locate this house, nor that of the king's office of the playing cards.

It will be seen from what has been written above that there were, until the middle of the seventeenth century, many government officials and judges, as well as these minor government offices in the parish. The Court of Augmentations was represented by Sir Richard Rich, the Chancellor; by Sir Edward North and Sir John Williams, successively the treasurers and keepers of the monastic jewels; by Thomas Burgoyne and Sir Walter Mildmay, successively the auditors, and by Richard Duke, clerk of the Council of the Augmentations. Later Sir Edward Cary was the master of the Jewel Office to Queen Elizabeth; Sir Henry Cary was the controller of the household; Henry Coddenham was auditor of the Mint; Arthur Jarvais clerk of the Pipe, and Thomas Tyrrell was a king's messenger. Of judges there were resident here within the period Sir Roger Manwood, chief baron of the Exchequer; Sir Robert Catlin, chief justice of the Queen's Bench; Sir Henry Hobart, chief justice of the Common Pleas, and finally Sir Heneage Finch, recorder and speaker of the House of Commons.

Other Parishioners.

Dr. Francis Anthony lived in Close Gate Row, now named Kinghorn Street, Cloth Fair, where he was assessed in the subsidy roll of 1623 at £10 in land. He was a celebrated empiric, and has been accorded a notice in the Biographia Britannica, (fn. 205) and in the Dictionary of National Biography. His father, Derrick Anthony, was a goldsmith and chief engraver of the Mint to King Edward VI, to Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth. (fn. 206) Under the latter queen he also held a post in the Jewel Office. Francis was born on 16th April 1550. He proceeded to Cambridge in 1569, where he graduated M.A. in 1574. He made considerable studies in chemistry, and in 1598 he published a treatise on a medicine made from gold which he called aurum potabile. But he had no licence to practise in physic from the College of Physicians and by them he was summoned in the year 1600. He confessed that he had practised physic in London for six months without a licence and had cured twenty persons to whom he had given purging and vomiting physic, and to others a diaphoretic prepared from gold and mercury. Being examined, he was found inexpert, was interdicted practice, committed to the counter prison and fined £500. On appeal to the Lord Chief Justice, however, he was liberated; but afterwards he promised to pay the fine and to submit himself to the interdict. Not long after he again offended, and was fined £5, which fine, on his refusal to pay, was increased to £20, and he was again committed to prison. The College also commenced a suit at law against him and obtained judgement; but on the entreaties of his wife he was released. All this brought him into notoriety, and by the aid of certain learned bodies who differed from the College of Physicians he seems to have obtained the M.D. degree. But certain physicians still wrote against his aurum potabile, to which Anthony replied in an earnest and modest defence in Latin, to which he added certificates of cures by his nostrum. This reply, which showed knowledge both of chemistry and physic, was in due course printed by the Cambridge University press. The controversy over aurum potabile was continued by the faculty, but this only further advertised the remedy and increased Anthony's practice. His biographer, however, says that he 'was a man of unaffected piety, untainted probity, of easy address, great modesty and boundless charity'. He died on the 26th May 1623, aged 73, and was buried on the 29th (fn. 207) in the north aisle of the church near where his tablet now stands. (fn. 208) By his will it appears that he also had a house at Barnes, in Surrey. (fn. 209)

By his first wife Alice, daughter of William Hawes of Essex, he seems to have had no children. By his second wife Judith he had two daughters, Bridget and Elizabeth, (fn. 210) and three sons; one, Francis, was baptized at St. Bartholomew's on the 29th January 1616/7 (fn. 211) and, dying in infancy, was buried there on the 17th April 1620. The other sons, John and Charles, do not occur in the registers; they were both physicians. John was born in 1585; (fn. 212) he sold aurum potabile and lived handsomely on the proceeds. It was he who erected the tablet to his father's memory. It was to his wife Mary, who had been long sick, that Dr. Westfield, the rector, granted licence in the year 1640 to have meat and broth for eight days during Lent. (fn. 213) After her death, John Anthony married as a second wife ' Mrs. Sary W. Higgs widow on the 17th February, 1644/5 '.

William Hogarth, the painter, was born at No. 58 Bartholomew Close. The register of his birth is entered by error at the end of register No. 4, (fn. 214) which was apparently intended for the registration of such nonconformist parishioners as were not baptized in infancy. It runs as follows: 'William Hogarth was borne in Bartholomew Closte next door to Mr. Downinges the printers, November ye 10th 1697 and was baptised ye 28th November 1697 ' (pl. XCV, p. 286). On reference to the rate books of the parish, which are exceedingly valuable parochial records because the collectors' books year by year were entered up in the same rotation till at last the houses were numbered in the years 1693 and 1698 (the intervening years being missing), we find the order of names: 'Wm. Edwards, Capt. Roycroft, Wm. Downing, Widow Gibbons'. It is not likely that Capt. Roycroft, one of the most important men in the parish at that time, would have taken the Hogarths as lodgers, but we know widow Gibbons did take lodgers, as five years later the birth of Timothy Hensley is registered as 'born ye 4th of May 1702 att widow Gibbons' house in Bartholomew Closte next door to Mr. Donnans ye printer'; we may therefore safely assume that Hogarth was born at Widow Gibbons' house.

We have been able to show above that William Edwardes' house was divided into two and to trace one of these two houses down to Vanderplank's, which it is known was numbered 54 Bartholomew Close; (fn. 215) the other house, which was numbered 55, we have traced down to Thomas Britain. Roycroft we have traced down, also by the rate books, to Lupton and Hoby's, numbered 56, (fn. 216) and Downing's to David Luke's, numbered 57, and in like manner Widow Gibbons' to William Lepard's, which was numbered 58, and No. 58 was therefore Hogarth's birthplace. That widow Gibbons' house was numbered 58 is corroborated by the fact that the occupiers of the two houses on the west of hers have been traced down to William Howard's and John Eliot's, which it is known were No. 59 and No. 60 respectively when the houses were numbered. The house no longer stands, as it was absorbed into the premises of Evans Sons, Lescher & Webb Limited with No. 60.

William Hogarth's father, Richard, was a schoolmaster, as fully set out by Mr. Austin Dobson. (fn. 217) In 1695 he apparently had his own dwelling in the Close (though his name does not occur in the rate books), because there is an entry in the register 'Sarah Brooke was borne ye 6th August 1695 in Bartholomew Closte att Mr. Hogard's house ye schoolmaster's'. (fn. 218)

William's sister, Mary Hogarth, is registered in register No. 4 as 'borne in Bartholomew Closte November ye 23rd 1699'; (fn. 219) her baptism is recorded separately in register No. 5 on December 10th (fn. 220) of the same year. The other sister, Ann, we are told, was born in St. John's Street, Clerkenwell, and therefore baptized at St. Sepulchre's.

Hogarth, before he became famous, seems to have drawn handbills and such-like; for there is a print depicting the interior of a readymade clothes shop kept by his sisters (pl. XCV). Below on the left is 'W. Hogarth delt.' and on the right 'Jane Ireland fc.' and the handbill says:

'Mary and Ann Hogarth

from the old frock shop the corner of the Long Walk facing the cloysters. Removed to ye King's arms joyning to ye Little Britain gate, near Long Walk, sells ye best and most Fashionable Readymade Frocks, suts of Fustian, Ticken and Holland, stript Dimmity and Flan[n]el wastcoats, blue and canvas Frocks and Blue Coat Boys' drars. Likewise Fustians, Tickens, Hollands, White stript Dimmitys, White and stript Flanels in ye piece by Wholesale or Retaile, at Reasonable Rates.'

After the great fire of 1666 Charles II granted the governors of the Hospital permission during pleasure on account of their losses by the fire to convert the rooms in this great cloister into seventeen shops, by the rents of which they were able to maintain sick and wounded soldiers, seamen, &c. (fn. 221) This cloister at fair time had in 1703 an unenviable reputation. Both sides of the cloister were taken up by seamstresses and milliners and had become very disreputable early in the eighteenth century. (fn. 222)

In addition to those of Hogarth's paintings which are well known, there are on the staircase of the great hall of St. Bartholomew's Hospital two very large pictures by him which he presented to the hospital: the subject of one is the 'Pool of Bethesda' and of the other 'The Good Samaritan' with figures seven feet high. For this gift he was made a governor of the hospital. There is also a large picture by him in the hall of Lincoln's Inn. He is buried in the churchyard at Chiswick.

Among the inhabitants of the parish who belonged to the middle classes, reference may be made to:

Thomas Roycroft, who lived and carried on his business as a printer at No. 56 Bartholomew Close, now occupied by Willmott & Son, Ltd., machine rulers. He was very eminent in his profession. We first hear of him in connexion with Dr. Brian Walton's Bible, known as the great London Polyglot, which he commenced to print in the year 1653. It included the original texts in Hebrew (with the Samaritan Pentateuch), Chaldaic, and Greek with the translations of the Jewish and Christian churches, viz. the Samaritan, Chaldaic, Greek, Syriac, Arabic, Aethiopian, Persian, and the Latin Vulgate, with the Latin translation of them all. (fn. 223) Nine languages were used, though no one book of the Bible is printed in so many. In the New Testament the four Gospels are in six languages, the other books only in five; those of Judith and the Maccabees only in three.

In 1669 Roycroft printed in addition Dr. Edmund Castell's Heptaglot Lexicon in two volumes uniform in size with the Bible. Reed says that a large number of copies of the Lexicon, then in course of printing, was destroyed in the Fire of London in 1666, (fn. 224) but as we have no other record of the great Fire having reached the parish they may have been housed elsewhere.

In 1660 Roycroft had, with Dr. Castell, petitioned the king for the enforcement of an order for the importation, duty free, of the remainder of 5,000 reams of royal paper for the printing of this Lexicon; (fn. 225) and in October of the same year King Charles, because Roycroft was 'the sole master printer in printing that great work and whose abilities in printing the Oriental languages was above any other printer in the kingdom', appointed him his printer of all books to be printed in the seven oriental languages during his life. (fn. 226) In 1664 a royal warrant was issued to search the houses of Thomas Roycroft and others in the parish for unlicensed books and papers, and to bring the printers of such before a secretary of state. (fn. 227) One, Widow Dover, was reported as the printer of various such books, but Roycroft was not. (fn. 228)

Roycroft continued to remain in the royal favour, for in 1668 the king requested the master and wardens of the Stationers' Company to admit Roycroft as a member of the court, 'having contributed much to repress licentious practices in the mystery of printing, to which command the court unanimously agreed. (fn. 229) He was master of the Company in 1675, and in 1677 he gave them two silver mugs.

Roycroft served the parish as a vestry-man from 1666–77, during which time he regularly signed the vestry minute books in conjunction with Anthony Burgess, the rector, and John Whiting, the father of the man who endowed the schools of the parish.

He died on the 10th August 1677, and a marble tablet was erected to his memory in the church by his only son Samuel, who succeeded him. His wife's name was Elizabeth. The records of the burial of their daughter Elizabeth in 1666, and of the christening of their daughter Mary in 1669, are entered in the parish registers.

Samuel Roycroft, his son (called Captain Roycroft), was also a printer. On a leaflet printed by him in 1681, and preserved in the belfry cupboard, he described himself as 'printer to the Honorable City of London'. In 1678 he 'fined' for all parochial offices, and in 1712 he gave to the vestry eleven blank Lottery tickets in the South Sea Stock worth £7 14s. for thirty-one years, 'for the benefit of the poorest and most industrious housekeepers having charge of children and who were not receiving alms of the parish'. (fn. 230) He apparently continued the printing business at 56 Bartholomew Close, but in 1716 he was living in part of the converted Lady Chapel. He changed his pew in the church in 1708, and on his death in 1719 his 'great pew' was sold, half for five guineas and half for seven guineas for the benefit of the poor.

Among other printers in the parish were:

Samuel Bagster, who printed a subsequent edition of Walton's Polyglot in 1831, and occupied premises on the north side of Westmoreland Buildings.

John Darby, the printer of the General Atlas, who lived at No. 61 Bartholomew Close. He appears in the rate books from 1676 to 1717.

William Downing, the printer, next door to whom William Hogarth was born in 1697, lived at 57 Bartholomew Close: his house is referred to in 1680 as the place where a press messenger went to seize a sheet of a pamphlet entitled 'Malice defeated' for a Mrs. Cellier. (fn. 231)

His father, Robert Downing, first appears in the registers in 1624: he was registrar of the parish in 1653. William was buried on the 3rd January 1702/3. William's son Joseph was churchwarden in 1715 and so continued for three years. In 1734 William bequeathed the interest on £50 for either the poor or the schools of the parish.

Printers are well represented to-day by Messrs. Adlard & Son and by Messrs. W. H. & L. Collingridge.

Thos. Illidge, a glass engraver, who lived at one time at No. 6 Bartholomew Close, in 1814 at No. 10, and in 1824 at No. 61, was a man who rendered many services to the parish. He appeared for it at the Court of King's Bench (20th May 1818) when one John Whitaker, who had been organist to the church, was charged with refusing to take the office of constable, though duly elected thereto as an inhabitant of the parish. Illidge, who was described by the Counsel for the defence as 'the tall gentleman in black', in crossexamination said he had known the parish for twenty-six years. He helped the vestry very materially in their action against St. Botolph's parish concerning the disputed bounds, and he was instrumental in getting Thomas Hardwick appointed to survey the parish and to make the plan of it, which, completed by Thomas Bedford, hangs in the west vestry room over the church porch. At the request of the vestry he collected a considerable amount of material for a history of the parish, which is still in the belfry cupboard. (fn. 232) He was publicly thanked by resolution of the vestry in 1831 'for the unwearied exertions he at all times manifested for the best interests of the parish'. The resolution was presented to him engraved on vellum. (fn. 233)

Of the Quakers (fn. 234) who lived in the parish, there are various records in the registers. 'Mr. Eillott ye quaker' is mentioned in 1697. (fn. 235) Also a 'Mrs. Elliott a quaker buried from her house in Cloth Fair', 'Mr. Howard's mother, a quaker, buried from ye Black Swan in Long Lane'; 'William Howard born at the same place 18th Sept.' All these entries occur in the year 1697. In the year 1704 the narrow area on the north side of the church was allotted to the Quakers as a burial-ground. John Eliot, a quaker, lived a long and useful life in the parish. An interesting account of him will be found in the Eliot papers printed (fn. 236) in 1893 and 1894. In 1769 he is shown by the book of the poor's rate collector to be then living at No. 60 Bartholomew Close. On the outside of the present building are the two stones already referred to, (fn. 237) one recording the rebuilding in 1767 by this John Eliot and his wife Mary. In the year 1768 John Eliot refused either to 'fine' for or to serve the office of sidesman to which he had been duly elected. It shows in what respect he was held that the vestry 'agreed not to press him thereto'. He died in 1813. His son John Eliot, the fourth and last generation of John Eliots, appears by the rate books to have moved, at his father's death, to the smaller house next door (No. 59), and there he remained till his death in 1830. He, too, was held in great respect, for in the year 1820 the vestry resolved that as he was a native and a great benefactor to the poor, he should not be chosen to any office. In his will he left £30 to the poor of the parish. (fn. 238)

Mr. Joseph Boord, J.P., was, with Mr. W. H. Jackson, churchwarden of the parish for some years at the time of the first restoration of the church in 1863 (pl. XCVI, p. 374). He and Mr. Foster White were the principal promoters of the work, and he and the rector, Mr. John Abbiss, were the principal contributors to it. He was born in 1804, at which time, and many years before, his firm as Swaine & Co. carried on business as distillers at No. 1 Holborn Bridge. In 1841 they moved to Bartholomew Close, the name of the firm being changed to Swaine & Boord; in 1860 it became Boord & Beckwith, and finally, when in 1867 Mr. William Boord, the son of Joseph, was taken into partnership, it became Boord & Son. The firm remained in Bartholomew Close until 1900, when they moved to 115–121 Tooley Street. Mr. Joseph Boord died on the 14th December 1875.

Sir William Boord, Bart., who was born in 1838, became the head of the firm on his father's death. He was a liberal supporter of the second restoration of the church, which commenced in 1885; he also filled the office of churchwarden from 1887 to 1896. In 1873 he won the borough of Greenwich for the Conservatives, on the death of Sir David Salomons. Mr. W. E. Gladstone was the senior member at that time, but when, at the next general election, Mr. Boord was returned at the head of the poll, Mr. Gladstone went to Midlothian. Mr. Boord represented Greenwich until 1893, and was made a baronet in 1896. He died on the 2nd May 1912.

Census Returns.

The following figures from the population tables show the steady growth in the numbers of the inhabitants of the parish during the first half of the nineteenth century, and the continuous and rapid decline since, a decline which is still in progress. The number of houses has also decreased. After the suppression the houses were large, as they were required for the aristocracy. After the middle of the seventeenth century the character of the population changed, and the large houses gave place to smaller ones. From the middle of the nineteenth century business men began to live away from their places of business, and dwelling-houses gave place to large factories and warehouses, with a corresponding decrease in the number of houses, and this process too is still going on.

Area, in statute acres, 9.0 in 1841, 9.3 in 1871, 8.9 in 1891; this variation may be caused by the surveyors estimating that the bounds extended further into Little Britain and Long Lane at one time than they did at another.

Seymour says that the number of houses in the year 1734 was 324. (fn. 243)