St. Mary le Bow 104/3

Introduction

This property was probably part of the lands of John son of Baldwin or of Michael son of John in the late 12th and early 13th centuries (see 104/1 above). It abutted E. on Bow Lane; from the mid 13th to the mid 14th centuries it seems to have been bounded to the S. by 1, to the N. by 4, and to the W. by 5, but after the mid 14th century the tenement described below as 3 extended W. to Goose Lane and seems to have incorporated 2 and probably part of 1.

In 1858 the property corresponded approximately to no. 2 Bow Lane and no. 10 Bow Church Yard.

Mid-thirteenth to mid-fourteenth centuries

In 1260 a shop to the S. of 4, presumably identical with 3, belonged to Robert of Westminister, tawyer (allutarius), who then acquired 4 also. A rental of St. Bartholomew's priory of 1306, obviously incorporating earlier and obsolete information, lists a quit-rent of 16s. in the parish of St. Mary le Bow from the rent of Robert of Westminister which could be 3 and/or 4; this may be a link with the priory's interest c. 1220 in the land late of John son of Baldwin, owing rent to Christ Church Canterbury (see 1). In the early 14th century it was said that Robert de Westm' had held 3 of Robert de Kydermenestre (d. bef. 1297) for a rent of 5s., and that subsequently the tenement was held by Adam Brok. Adam le Brok, by his will proved 1286, left his house next to the cemetery of St. Mary le Bow, between 1 to the S. and 4 to the N., to his wife Maud for life, with reversion to their children. In 1304 and 1305 Amabel de Kydermenestre, widow of Robert, was impleaded by Thomas Brok, son of Adam, in a plea of naam. Amabel said the naam was taken for arrears of 5s. rent, of which her husband had been seised by the hands of Adam Brok. Thomas denied this, claiming that Robert de Kydermenestre had remitted and quitclaimed in the rent to Robert de Westm', then tenant, in a certain scriptum which he produced, and that Robert de Westm' had sold the tenement to Adam. Annabel and her daughters, Agnes and Maud, and their husbands, Thomas de Kydemenestre (sic; possibly recte Manchestre?) and John Neel, denied the scriptum, and Thomas Brok then acknowledged the rent and arrears. (fn. 1)

It is possible that the tenement of Thomas Brok from which the 5s. rent was due was only part of 3 as held by Adam (le) Brok. Philip Broke and Robert Broke, citizen and hosier (calligarius), are later alleged to have owned or had interests in properties which appear to be part of 3 at about this time. The tenement seems to have been divided into 3 parts, comprising a ground-floor shop to the S., a shop in the middle with solars over itself and over the first shop, and a third part to the N. The descent of the 2 more southerly parts was disputed in 1333 and both Thomas and Robert Brok(e) were alleged as former owners, but the N. part seems to have belonged to Philip Broke. (fn. 2)

In 1309 Thomas Brok, citizen, granted a quit-rent of £2 from his tenement in Cordwainer Street in the parish of St. Mary le Bow to William de Upton, citizen and draper, for a certain sum. The tenement lay between 1 to the S., 5 to the W., the street to the E. and the tenement of Philip de Hatfield (possibly either part of 3, or 4) to the N. In 1311 William de Upton distrained in Thomas Brok's tenement for arrears of 4 marks (£2. 13s. 4d.) rent, which he said Thomas had granted him by 2 charters, one of 3 marks (£2) rent and the other of 1 mark (13s. 4d.) rent. Thomas bought a plea of naam against William, acknowledging the former charter but denying the latter, but when a jury came he withdrew and did not prosecute his plea. Subsequently at least part of 3, probably the middle part came into William de Upton's possession, and was let by him to William de Stanes. The southernmost shop, however, seems to have been acquired by Matthew de Essex and later granted to William de Stanes, In 1321 John Neel, goldbeater, and his wife Maud de Kydemenstre, let 1 and the 5s. rent they had from the tenement sometime of Thomas Brok (3 or part of it) to Stephen de Berkyngg, hosier (caligarius), for life plus 4 years; the tenement to the N. of 1 was said to be sometime of William de Stanes. The latter, by his will proved in 1322, left the shop in Cordwainer Street in the parish of St. Mary le Bow which he had by grant of Matthew de Essex (? the ground floor shop in the S. part) to his wife Joan for life, with power to sell the reversion. He also left her his term in the houses and rents (? the shop and solars in the middle) of William de Upton in the parish of St. Mary le Bow. By his will, dated 1332 and proved 1333, John de Dallyng, senior, left 4 marks (£2. 13s. 4d.) quit- rent from the tenement which William de Upton, citizen and draper, formerly held in Cordwainer Street in the parish of St. Mary le Bow to his wife Joan for life, with remainder to his daughter Sarah and her heirs for ever. It is not clear whether this was a new charge created by de Upton or the quit-rent of 4 marks which Thomas Brok had granted to de Upton, and which de Upton had perhaps subsequently granted to de Dallyng. (fn. 3)

In 1333 Matthew de Upton, son and heir of William de Upton, late citizen and draper, granted to Richard de Kyslyngbury, citizen and hosier (caligarius), the shop with solars over itself and over the shop of Richard de Bromyerd in Cordwainer Street in the parish of St. Mary le Bow, which he had inherited from his father. The shop and solars lay between the tenement of de Kyslyngbury, sometime of Philip Brock, to the N., and the shop of Richard Bromyerd to the S., 5 to the W. and the street to the E. By his will proved in August 1333, John de Pampesworth, hosier (calligar'), left the shops in Cordwainer Street in the parish of St. Mary le Bow, which he had by grant of Stephen de Berkyng and Richard Bromyerd to his apprentice John le Keu, to hold as he had been granted them; this probably represents a subtenancy of part of 1 and 3. Also in August 1333, Richard de Keselyngbury complained that Richard de Bromyerd had caused the sheriffs' sergeant to prevent him from repairing his houses in Cordwainer Street in the parish of St. Mary le Bow. De Bromyerd and his wife Cecily said that the repairs would obscure the lights of their shop, which adjoined de Kyslyngbury's (presumably the N. part of 3) on the S. They said that their shop had belonged to Robert Broke, citizen and hosier (caligarius), who granted it, with the light pertaining to the E. end, to Alexander le Settere in 1311; Alexander granted it to Matthew de Essex and Matthew to William de Stanes, on whose death Richard and Cecily became seised in her right. De Kyslyngbury denied this, and said that Thomas Broke in 1304 granted to William de Upton, draper, a shop and solar in Cordwainer Street which Henry de Kent used to hold, situated between the tenement formerly of Robert de Kydemenstre to the S. and that of Philip Broke to the N.; William de Upton had died seised, and was succeeded by his son Matthew, who granted the shop and solar to de Bromyerd. De Kyslyngbury denied that any light had been reserved in Thomas Broke's grant or later. The dispute was never concluded, and as neither of the parties' claims is wholly proved or disproved by the other existing evidence it is difficult to be certain if either was correct. (fn. 4)

In 1339 John Neel, citizen and goldsmith, and his wife Maud, daughter of Robert de Kydemynstr', late citizen and hosier (caligarius), granted to Richard de Kyselingbury, citizen and hosier (caligarius), 1 and a quit-rent of 4s. 8d. from the shop of Richard de Bromyerd, sometime of Thomas Brok, in Cordwainer Street, which were Maud's share of her father's inheritance. The quit-rent is probably the same as that earlier recorded as 5s., but the reason for the reduction is not known. Stephen atte Grove, goldsmith, and his wife Agnes, daughter of Robert de Kidemynstre, quitclaimed in the same to de Kiselyngbury, as did John atte Grene, son of John atte Grene son of John atte Grene of Bery, and his wife Isabel, daughter of the said Agnes. It is not certain how long de Bromyerd's shop remained a separate entity after both 1 and the rest of 3 had been acquired by de Kiselyngbury; it seems to have gone by 1361, when William de Sterteford, taverner, granted to Richard de Kyslyngbury, citizen and draper, the 4 marks quit-rent which he had by grant of Sarah, daughter of John de Dallynge of Wichingham, late citizen and mercer; it was charged on the tenement with solar(s) late of William de Upton, in Cordwainer Street in the parish of St. Mary le Bow, between the tenements of de Kyslyngbury to the S. and N., 5 to the W. and the street to the E. (fn. 5)

By his will, dated and proved 1361, Richard Kyslingbury, citizen and draper, left a charge of £10. 13s. 8d. on his tenements in the parishes of St. Mary le Bow, Holy Trinity the Less, and St. Botolph without Aldgate to support 2 chaplains, one in the church of St. Mary le Bow and the other in the church of Holy Trinity the Less; the tenements themselves he seems to have left to his wife Alice for life with remainder for sale. His properties in St. Mary le Bow parish now comprised 1, 2, probably all of 3, and also 13 (q.v.), but the S. part of 1 was recovered from Alice by St. Mary Spital in 1363 and subsequently descended independently. In the following account, therefore, the property described as 3 also included what had been 2 and the N. part of 1. (fn. 6)

3 and 13, later fourteenth and fifteenth centuries

In 1361 William Bisshop, rector of St. Mary le Bow, and John Horwode junior, executors of Richard de Kyslyngbury, granted the reversion of de Kyslyngbury's lands, held for life by his widow Alice, to William Slyford, Richard Hakebourne, William de Calseby, chaplains, Thomas Baret, John Topyno (or Copynis), and Robert de Schirwode, citizens; in 1362 Slyford and his co-grantees granted the reversion to Sir William Latimer, kt., lord of Danby, Richard Story, and Lewis de Clifford. Both these grants appear to have been to hold to the use of Alice Perrers, who was Edward III's mistress from the mid-1360s, and the reversion was forfeited along with Alice Perrers's other lands in 1377. Richard II then granted it to William de Wyndesore, kt., husband of Alice Perrers, and on his death (1384) it descended to his sister and heir Margery de Wyndesore, wife of John Duket. In the 1390s Robert Rysby was said to pay the £1 quit-rent due from 2 to St. Paul's. Possibly he was a tenant or feoffee of 3. In 1403 Margery de Wyndesore granted the reversion of 3 and 13 to John de Preston, and in 1404 he granted it to Robert Thersk and John Tybbay, clerks, William Waldern, citizen and mercer, and John Sobell; Alice, widow of Richard de Kislyngbury, and her husband Edmund Salle, citizen and draper, still held the tenements for the term of her life. By a series of transactions dated 23 and 24 July 1406 Edmund Salle and his wife Alice let all the tenements she had by de Kyslingbury's legacy in the parish of St. Mary le Bow and elsewhere to Walderne, Thresk, Tibbay and Fovell (sic) for £40 yearly, and released and quitclaimed in the same; Walderne and the rest granted Salle that if he were distrained upon in his possession of the messuages he inhabited in the cemetery (13), or in the shop he held in Cordwainer Street, between the shop held and occupied by John Davy, draper to the S., and that late held and occupied by John Ragoner, tailor, to the N., Goose Lane to the W., and the street to the E., he might distrain on other tenements in the same and other parishes. Walderne and the others then leased back to Edmund and Alice for the term of her life all the lands and tenements they had of their demise, and ratified to Edmund his estate in 13 and the shop in Cordwainer Street. John Davy and John Ragoner could have been sub-tenants of 3, or tenants or occupants of 1 and 4, respectively. In 1408 Tybbay and Fovell granted the reversion of the tenements (13 and the shop described above) which Edmund held for life, to John Catesmore and John Beek, on the deaths of Edmund and Alice. (fn. 7)

In 1434 the S. abutment of 5 was said to be the tenement late of Edmund Salle, and the E. abutment the tenement late of Robert Thrusk (? = Thresk). Both 3 and 13 (q.v.) seem to have been held in the mid-15th century by Thomas Malton, esquire, possibly in the right of his wife Marion and to have passed with her to her second husband John Rothom or Rodom. In 1462 the abutments of 5 were said to be the tenement late of Edmund Salle now of John Rotherham (sic) to the S., and the garden of John Rotherham, formerly the tenement of Robert Thrusk to the E. In 1464 John Rothom alias Rodom, citizen and tailor, and his wife Marion, widow of Thomas Malton, esquire, held two tenements and a garden in the parish of St. Mary le Bow, by grant of Richard Chymelby and John Porker, bounded to the E. by Hosier Lane. In that year they divided the garden from the 2 tenements; the descent of the 2 tenements is described below under 3A, and that of the garden under 3B. (fn. 8)

Later fifteenth to seventeenth centuries, (3, incorporating 2 and part of 1)

3a

In 1464 or 1465 Rodom granted 3A to John Brampton, stockfishmonger, and Thomas Fermory, citizens. In 1468 Thomas Wode of Farnham (Essex), gentleman, and his wife Margaret, sister of Marion late the wife of John Rodom, quitclaimed in 3A to Brampton and Fermory, describing it as 2 tenements with shops and houses in Hosier Lane in the parish of St. Mary le Bow, between Hosier Lane to the E., Goose Lane to the W., a garden (3B), formerly parcel of the tenements, to the N., and 1 to the S. Brampton granted 3A in 1472 to John Don senior, citizen and mercer, to hold to the use of Reginald Longdon, citizen and girdler, with intent to maintain le Bemelight before the crucifix in the church of St. Mary le Bow. By his will, dated 1472 and proved 1482, Don left the tenements to Longdon for life, with remainder to the rector and churchwardens of St. Mary le Bow, to maintain the light and for a chaplain to remind the congregation on Sundays to pray for the souls of Longdon, his wives Isabel, Alice, and Joan, their children and benefactors. The chaplain, bellringers and others were also to receive certain payments. (fn. 9)

In 1546 the rector and churchwardens said that John Donne, acting in trust for Reynold Langdon, gave by will 2 tenements in the parish, to support the beam light in the rood loft, for a chaplain to exhort the congregation to pray for Langdon, for Bow bell to be rung at 9 o'clock nightly, and to ornament the church. The rental for this entry listed a tenement in the parish held by Thomas Lok, mercer, on lease at £4 p.a., another in the same in Hosier Lane held by Robert Sharpe on lease at £2 p.a., and a third in the same parish held by William Carket on lease at £2. The charges were £1. 13s. 4d. for the beam light and 13s. 4d. for ringing Bow bell and helping the morrow mass priest to mass. Probably the tenements held by Sharpe and Carket were included in this rental in error, as later they were listed as tenements held by the rector and churchwardens for many years without specific purposes, and they seem to be identifiable as 5. In 1548 John Donne was said to have given one tenement, now worth £4 p.a., charged with £1. 13s. 4d. for the light, 4s. for ringing Bow bell, and 1s. for a priest exhorting prayers for Donne. Anthony Throgmorton or Frogmerton was tenant at £4 rent by 1548. (fn. 10)

The rent was forfeited to the Crown in 1548. In 1558 the king and queen made the rector and churchwardens of St. Mary le Bow a body corporate, able to hold lands, and granted them 3A in Hosier Lane, with issues from 1548, and also a rent from 13 in Bow churchyard. The profits from 3A were still to be applied to the ringing of Bow bell and the repair and ornamentation of the church. (fn. 11) The immediate succession of tenants in the property is not known. In 1620 Edward Elmer, citizen and fishmonger, left the lease of the house in which he lived in Bow Lane to his executors, his father-in-law Cornelius Fish and his brother John Elmer. Some time before 1633 3A was occupied by John Ellmer and subsequently by his assigns or undertenants. In 1633 it was leased to John Pigeon the elder, citizen and draper, for 21 years from 1635 at £10 rent. Mr. Pidgeon was tithe-payer for a house on the W. side of Bow Lane, valued at £30 p.a., in 1638. John Pigeon the younger, citizen and draper, was tenant under the 1633 lease in 1651, when the rector and churchwardens granted him a new lease of the tenement for 104 years, at 10s. rent (the £10 rent was to be paid until the earlier lease expired) and for a fine of £441. 0s. 1d. The property was described as a messuage or tenement with a little yard on the backside, with shops, cellars, solars, and warehouses, in Bow Lane in the parish of St. Mary le Bow. It abutted E. on Bow Lane, where it measured 26 ft. 2 in. (7.98 m.), W. on Goose Lane, where it measured 19 ft. 8 in. (5.99 m.), N. on the messuage or tenement and yard now held by John Oresby (3B), and S. on the messuage or tenement late of Roger Jones (1). Its length E.-W. was 47 ft. 2 in. (14.38 m.). Pigeon was to repair, pave, lead, glaze, and cleanse as necessary, and to preserve the wainscot and other fixtures described in a schedule (now lost). In 1661 and 1666 the inhabitant of 3A was Daniel Clarebutt, tallow-chandler; in the latter year he occupied a house with 6 hearths. It is possible that a number of people listed after Clarebutt in the 1661 assessment, and under Goose Lane, after the occupants of part of 11A, in the 1666 Hearth Tax, were occupying rooms or parts of 3A facing on to Goose Lane. In 1661 these were Arthur Rycraft, George Lewse, bracketed with John Salmon, and widow Harrison. In 1666 Joshua Preist, dancing master, occupied a house with 3 hearths, bracketed with Arthur Rycroft, bodice-maker, with 1 hearth. (fn. 12)

In 1667 2 foundations were surveyed for Mr. Daniel Clarebut, closely corresponding in dimensions to the tenement leased to Pigeon in 1651. Foundation-surveys for 3B and 5, to the N., give their S. neighbour as Mr. Chalke, or Mr. Chalke's yard; he was perhaps a subtenant or successor of Clarebutt. (fn. 13)

3b

In 1464 John Rothom alias Rodom, citizen and tailor, and his wife Marion, widow of Thomas Malton, esquire, granted a garden in the parish of St. Mary le Bow to Henry Newman and John Alburgh, citizens and mercers. The garden lay between 3A, of which it was formerly parcel, to the S., a little lane (parva venella) to the N., Hosier Lane to the E., and a tenement belonging to the church (presumably 5) to the W. 4, the tenement which formerly lay to the N. of 3, had disappeared by this date. Newman and Alburgh granted the garden back to Rothom, his heirs and assigns. This grant and regrant may have been to exclude the interest, by inheritance or dower, of Marion in the property. By his will, dated 1465 and proved 1479, John Rothom left the garden, described as above, to Marion for life, with remainder to the rector and churchwardens of St. Mary le Bow, charged with keeping an obit for the testator and Marion and the souls of William de Lasenby, Thomas Malton, Sir Robert Malton, and Peter Multon and his wife Katharine, and with paying 6s. 8d. to the rector and churchwardens of St. Michael Crooked Lane for an obit there. (fn. 14)

In the chantry certificate of 1548 3B was listed as a piece of ground formerly a garden and now a churchyard, bequeathed by John Rothame for an obit and valued at 6s. 8d. p.a. It was forfeited to the Crown and later that year was granted to Thomas Bouchier or Butcher and Henry Tanner of London, gentlemen, to hold in free burgage, with the issues from Easter 1548. It was called 'le grene churche yarde' and measured 28 ft. long and 26 ft. wide (8.53 m. by 7.92 m.) between the stone walls with which it was enclosed. It lay between 3A to the S., 5 to the W., the church to the N., and Bow Lane to the E. (fn. 15)

The descent of 3B after this date until the mid 17th century is not known, but by 1598, according to Stow, a 'private man's house' had been built on the plot. In 1638 3B was probably occupied by Mr. Orersby, whose house was valued at £25 p.a. In 1647 3B belonged to Bridget Cooper, widow, of New Windsor (Berks.), who then leased it, describing it as a messuage in Bow Lane, in the parish of St. Mary le Bow, and 2 shops, then late in the occupation of Edward Hudson and Edward Andrewes, lying on the E. side of the yard of the messuage, to John Oresby, for 21 years at £40 p.a. (described later as £4 rent and £36 yearly payment). By her will of 1649 Bridget Cooper left the property to her daughter Bridget Boughton, wife of John Boughton, for life, with remainder to Elizabeth Whitehead and Hannah Metcalfe and their heirs. In 1652 John Boughton, citizen and merchant taylor, and his wife Bridget sold the latter's life-interest in the property to John Langely of London, gentleman, and John Oresby the elder of London, silkman, the existing lessee, for £220. It was described as the messuage or tenement called the Nag's Head and Gridiron, in Bow Lane in the parish of St. Mary le Bow in Cheap ward (sic), in the tenure or occupation of Oresby or his assigns, with all shops, warehouses, kitchens, cellars, solars, chambers, rooms, buildings, sheds, 'snicks', gutters, etc. Oresby is not named in the Hearth Tax assessment of 1666 and it is not clear who then occupied 3B. Michael Parry, hosier, named after Daniel Clarebut (3A) in the list, and occupying a house with 3 hearths, may have held part of 3B; the rest may have been the next-listed house, with 3 hearths, occupied by Thomas Cripps. (fn. 16)

The premises were burnt in the Fire. By May 1668 Langley had released his interest to Oresby and Oresby had devised it (? by will) to his daughter Elizabeth Gazely, widow. John Boughton and his wife Bridget were still alive, Elizabeth Whitehead had died without issue, and Christopher Metcalfe, aged 20, son of Hannah, was heir to the reversion. Mrs. Gazely declared to the Fire Court that she was willing to rebuild on reasonable contribution; John and Bridget renounced any interest and Christopher Metcalfe, by his guardian, said he was unable to rebuild, the cost of which Mrs. Gazely had estimated at £500. Accordingly it was decreed that Mrs. Gazely should rebuild and should have 40 years added to her term from the death of Bridget Boughton, at £10 rent, and that Metcalfe should make a lease to this effect when he came of age. In March 1669 a foundation was surveyed for Mrs. Elizabeth Gasely, representing the plot on which rebuilding took place; in August 1669 Oliver certified that Mrs. Gaesley had lost a piece of ground 9 ft. 6 in. wide by 47 ft. 2 in. long (2.9 m. by 14.38 m.), which went to widen the passage from Bow Lane into the churchyard from 5 1/2 ft. to 14 ft. (from 1.68 m. wide to 4.27 m.), for which she was paid £109. 10s. (438 sq. ft. (40.69 sq. m.) at 5s. per sq. ft.). She also evidently had rooms over the existing passageway, built up to the 'school house wall', on the S. side of the church, measuring 5 1/2 ft. by 28 ft. (1.68 m. by 8.53 m.), for which she was paid £19. 5s. (154 sq. ft. (14.31 sq. m.) at 2s. 6d. per sq. ft.). It is not clear why she, and not the owners of 5, received compensation for the area to the N. of that property, unless she was acting in concert with them and afterwards paid over part of the compensation money. (fn. 17) The area of Mrs. Gazely's plot up to the passageway (some 29 ft. E.-W. by 27 1/2 ft. N.-S.; (8.84 m. by 8.38 m.) seems to correspond well with the 'green churchyard' (28 ft. by 26 ft. (8.53 m. by 7.92 m.), measured between the walls) sold in 1548; the upper rooms over the passage to the churchyard were presumably a concession acquired at a later date after the house had been built there.