Pages 113-115
Calendar of the Cecil Papers in Hatfield House: Volume 24, Addenda, 1605-1668. Originally published by Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London, 1976.
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Citation:
January 1607
| Reginald Nicholas to the King. | |
| [Before January, 1606–7]. |
Petitioner's lands were seized in the
time of the late Queen Elizabeth for payment of debts to the Crown,
and they are still being distrained for that purpose. Sir John
Chamberlain, an influential knight of Gloucestershire, took advantage of the situation to enter into some of these lands and withhold
certain rents due to petitioner. He brought an action against
Chamberlain in the Court of Exchequer Chamber, and it was there
decided that while the rents should go towards the liquidation of
the debts, the property occupied by Chamberlain should be restored
to petitioner's ownership. Chamberlain contemptuously ignored the
Court's verdict, and the matter was again taken up by the AttorneyGeneral in a court of Common law in Gloucestershire. Despite the
former decree and the advice of the judges, the jury there returned
a verdict against petitioner, which he attributes either to their
fear of Sir John Chamberlain or to their partiality for him. Since
then Chamberlain has entered into other properties belonging to
petitioner. He has withheld rents, seized crops and converted an
ancient deer park into a warren. Petitioner and his family are
constantly subjected to outrages at the hands of his servants. He
asks that all matters at variance between him and Chamberlain be
referred to the two Chief Justices, the Chief Baron of the Exchequer.
Justice Walmsley, Baron Clerke (fn. 1) and Baron Saville, and their
verdict to be decisive.—Undated. 1 p. (P. 522.) |
| Sir William Constable and Sir Edward Bushell to the King. | |
| [Before January 8, 1606–7]. |
The confidence they have in the
King of Denmark's favour towards them impels them to submit a
petition to him, that he bestow upon them jointly £300 for the
services they have willingly rendered in the past; or so much as the
King thinks fit of Chantry lands or impropriations of parsonages in
fee farms. They desire that the Earl of Salisbury be ordered to
see that the gift is conferred and confirmed.—Undated. ½ p. (P. 458.) P. 1665 and P. 1770 are copies of this petition. [See PRO, State Papers Denmark (S.P. 75), Vol. IV, pt. 1, fol. 45.] |
| Sir Randolph Mainwaring to the Earl of Salisbury in answer to the petition of Sir John Savage. | |
| [Before January 13, 1606–7]. |
Regarding the common or waste
called Ravensmere, the advowson of Baddiley, and the parcels of
waste land known as Basilden, Clough and Gunn Carr. He claims
that all these properties and the advowson have passed by purchase
into the hands of his uncle, Captain Edmond Mainwaring. The
latter has surrendered them to the King, who has regranted the
same to him, the petitioner, with liberty to dig coal within the
above-mentioned three parcels of waste land, reserving only the
woods growing there for the Crown. He requests that the said
grant, which has already passed the privy seal, be forwarded to
the Lord Chancellor to receive the Great Seal, or that his counsel
be allowed to present his case.—Undated. ¾ p. (P. 38.) |
| Sir John Savage to the Earl of Salisbury. | |
| [Before January 13, 1606–7]. |
Sir Randal Mainwaring the
younger has obtained a grant from the King of a common or waste
called Ravensmere and certain coal mines in the Forest of Macclesfield. The King has been misinformed as to the extent, the rentability and the ownership of this property. The common belongs
to petitioner, certain other gentry and hundreds of tenants,
borderers and commoners in the shire. The soil of the Forest is
the inheritance of the Earl of Derby, although he is not aware of
it, so that the grant is prejudicial to his interests also. There is
every likelihood that the grant will breed much litigation, and a
great deal of money has already been spent on legal proceedings
concerning the Forest. On behalf of himself and others whose
interests are involved, petitioner requests that Salisbury revoke
the privy seal or direct the Lord Chancellor to prevent it passing
the Great Seal, until petitioner has summoned the interested parties
and given them an opportunity to express their views of the grant
and the inconveniences which could arise from it.—Undated. ½ p. (P. 934.) [See H.M.C. Salisbury MSS, Vol. XIX, p. 7.] |
| Sir John Savage to the Earl of Salisbury. | |
| [Before January 13, 1606–7]. | Sir John Savage's petition is answered by Sir Randal Mainwaring. |
| Concerning the common called Ravensmere, of 400 acres, his ancestors have been accounted chief lords of it from time immemorial, and have received rents from enclosed parcels of the waste. Some 25 or 26 years ago, Francis Whitney procured a lease of the premises from the late Queen Elizabeth for 21 years. Mainwaring's father failed to persuade the local gentry to protect their interests in the common, and eventually he was forced to buy it from Whitney for the rest of the term of years. Later John Farnham, a gentleman pensioner of the late Queen, procured a fee farm of the premises and the advowson of Baddiley, which was also purchased by Mainwaring's father and conveyed in trust to Captain Edmond Mainwaring, his uncle. | |
|
Concerning the parcels of waste called Basilden, Clough and
Gunn Carr, the late Queen granted the same with other parcels of
waste to John Herbert and Andrew Palmer at the suit of Sir John
Perrot in 1575. This property has since then come into the hands
of Captain Mainwaring. In the new grant drawn up by the
Attorney-General, the latter has surrendered to the King not only
Ravensmere, but also the advowson of Baddiley and the three
above-mentioned pieces of waste. In lieu whereof, the King regranted the premises to Sir Randal Mainwaring with liberty to dig
for coal on the parcels of waste land and none other, the King to
have the soil (since it belongs to him and not to the Earl of Derby)
with all the woods. Sir Randal requests that the grant, having
passed the privy seal, be sent to the Lord Chancellor to pass the
Great Seal; or that a day be appointed to hear his counsel. He and
his father have already disbursed £500 in this matter.—Undated. 1 p. (P. 426.) |
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