St. Mary Colechurch 105/21

Introduction

This entry covers the houses of the hospital of St. Thomas of Acre on the W. side of Old Jewry in the parish of St. Mary Colechurch, between the church of St. Mary Colechurch on the S., the hospital's houses in the parish of St. Olave Old Jewry on the N. and the church and precinct of the hospital on the W. The hospital was dissolved in 1538 and the Mercers' Company acquired the properties from the Crown in 1542. In the early 13th century this length of street frontage was occupied by the capital messuage of Peter son of William son of Alulf and was subsequently acquired by the hospital in two stages (see 19 and E and F on Fig. 10).

On the street frontage the property was approximately represented by nos. 35-7 Old Jewry in 1858.

Before the great fire (cf. Fig. 12)

The hospital had houses in this position in 1330, when all its properties adjacent to the precinct were charged with a rent. Some of these properties were on the E. side of the church and extended from the church around the corner of Old Jewry. Others lay between the great gate of the hospital in Old Jewry and the church of St. Olave (see 142/1 in Appendix 2, below). (fn. 1) Two 15th-century rent accounts of the hospital refer to properties in Old Jewry and Colcherche (presumably in St. Mary Colechurch parish) which probably concern parts of 21 and/or 142/1. In 1442- 3 tiling and other repairs were carried out at the hospital's tenements in Old Jewry held by John Tenterden, ironmonger, and the tenement there held by Anneyse Lyndesay. In 1449-50 a carpenter repaired windows and made two pentices at the tenement of William Bon', made two pentices at the tenement of William Papworth, and mended a window and a stair at the tenement of Thomas Colpyt, all in Old Jewry. In the same year the following works were carried out at tenements in Colcherche: a privy in the tenement of John Bryd was cleared of 6 tons of dung, walls and a floor were mended in Edmund d'Spenser's tenement, and a pentice was made over the shop held by John Tenterden and under the shop held by Harry Bell (these may have been in Cheapside, cf. 19-20). (fn. 2)

21A

This was the southernmost part of the group of tenements, between St. Mary Colechurch on the S. and 21B on the N. In 1517 John Circok, leatherseller, took a 40-year repairing lease of the tenements here with 20B and C for a total of £6. 13s. 4d. rent. The group of properties had formerly been held by William Beane (evidently the William Bene, grocer, who had held it in 1511 when his house adjoined a piece of ground acquired for the enlargement of the parish church) and the tenements in Old Jewry (21A) consisted of two tenements together, for which £2 p.a. rent was due, and another tenement for which 13s. 4d. rent was due. John Lewys paid the £6. 13s. 4d. rent from 1519 onwards and Robert Lewys paid it from 1524 onwards. At different times in this period the group of properties (20B and C, 21A) was described as one tenement or as 2 tenements (21A) and two shops (20B and C). In 1537, when Stephen Cobbe was granted a lease of what appears to have been the same property at £6. 13s. 4d. rent for a term of 50 years from the expiry of the current lease in 1550, the holding was described as a messuage or tenement with cellars and solars (21A) together with 2 shops (20B and C). The landlord was now to pay quit-rents, repair, and pave, while the tenant was to clean the privies. It seems that between 1517 and 1537 three tenements of different sizes were joined into one. Stephen Cobbe was later said to have lived in the house (see below), although in the later part of his life, when he was styled esquire, he lived at Hackney (Middx.). Cobbe probably lived there in 1540 as undertenant of Robert Lewys, who by his will drawn up in that year left his indenture and term of years in the messuage and shops then held by Cobbe to his wife Joan, who was to pay alms to the poor out of the income. Cobbe was one of the wealthiest inhabitants of the parish in 1541 and 1544. (fn. 3)

In the rent accounts of the Mercers' Company from 1542-3 onwards the £6. 13s. 4d. rent due from 21A and 20B and C was said to be paid by Stephen Cobbe for a house and 4 tenements lately held by John Circok. The rent collectors or the accountants were presumably confusing 21A and 20B and C, from which this rent was due, with 21C- F. The recorded succession of tenants, however, is probably correct. Stephen Cobbe paid the rent until 1566-7, when he died, except in 1559-60 when his son-in-law, Richard Buckfolde, paid it. Stephen left the remainder of the term to his second son, Robert Cobbe, who paid the rent between 1567 and 1570; Richard Buckfolde paid the rent as the assign of Stephen and Robert Cobbe between 1570 and 1574. Richard Buckfolde apparently inhabited this property, which he held with 21B and 19B and C, in 1558, when he was tithed for 3 houses valued at £8 a year (approximately the sum of the rents reserved for 21A and 19B and C); between 1571 and 1574 he was tithed the same sum for his house (21A-B) and shop (19B-C), and in 1574 he was almost certainly the Mr. Buckfold who headed a household including his wife (probably Thomasina daughter of Stephen Cobbe, who was his wife in 1565), his mother, and 7 other communicants. Robert Cobbe, girdler, paid the rent as assign of Stephen and Robert Cobbe between 1577 and 1588. The entries in the Mercers' accounts were then sorted out and in 1588-9 Robert Cobbe, as Stephen Cobbe's assign, paid the £6. 13s. 4d. rent for 20B and C and the messuage in Old Jewry (presumably 21A) where his father (probably Stephen Cobbe) had dwelled. Between 1589 and 1592 Mrs. Coys paid the rent as the assign of Robert and Stephen Cobbe, and between 1591 and 1596 Thomas Buckner paid it as Mrs. Coys's assign. The messuage (21A) was then let separately from the shops in Cheapside (20B and C). In 1596-7 Thomas Cappe, citizen and painter-stainer, paid a rent of £2 for his dwelling house in Old Jewry (21A), and in 1597 took a 24-year lease at £2 rent of the messuage with its shop, cellars, solars, yards, and rooms. In return for the lease Cappe was to spend £30 on repairs within the next three years and at Michaelmas 1600 was to pay a fine of £20. Capp was resident over the period 1602-24. (fn. 4)

Negotiations over the terms of a new lease began in 1620, when Cappe's house was surveyed. The arrangement of the house is not easy to understand from the view although it appears to have consisted of at least 3 and possibly 4 storeys, excluding the garret, above ground with cellars below. The overall frontage width was probably about 23 ft. (7.01 m.). At ground floor level there was probably an entry leading off Old Jewry between the house and the church of St. Mary Colechurch; this is not mentioned in the view, but is discussed under the account of the church (105/0). Cappe's house also included a loft and leads over the church, for which he paid 2s. rent to the parish between 1614 and 1624, but these are not mentioned in the view since he held them of the parish and not of the Mercers' Company. The view lists the following rooms: a cellar under the shop, 10 ft. by 10 ft. (3.05 m. by 3.05 m.); another cellar behind, 10 ft. by 9 ft. (3.05 m. by 2.74 m.); the shop, 19 ft. by 16 ft. (5.79 m. by 4.88 m.); a chamber over the shop, 19 ft. by 16 ft. (5.79 m. by 4.88 m.); a little counting house (possibly at first floor level over the entry), 5 ft. by 4 1/2 ft. (1.52 m. by 1.37 m.); a staircase, house of office, and passage (either at ground floor level or over and rising out of the entry), 12 ft. by 7 ft. (3.66 m. by 2.13 m.); a kitchen (perhaps on the ground floor behind the shop and occupying part of the space between 19A and Mercers' Chapel) 18 ft. by 10 ft. (5.48 m. by 3.05 m.); a chamber next to the kitchen (perhaps behind the shop), 16 ft. by 11 ft. (4.88 m. by 3.35 m.); a washhouse, 10 ft. by 5 ft. (3.05 m. by 1.52 m.); a second chamber over the shop (probably at second floor level), 20 ft. by 16 ft. (6.1 m. by 4.88 m.); a little chamber next to the church (probably at second floor level above the entry), 12 ft. by 11 ft. (3.66 m. by 3.35 m.); a workhouse (possibly at third floor level), 21 ft. by 16 ft. (6.4 m. by 4.88 m.); another workhouse backward, 13 ft. by 11 ft. (3.96 m. by 3.35 m.); a chamber over the workhouse, including stairs, 22 ft. by 16 ft. (6.71 m. by 4.88 m.); a garret, 21 ft. by 13 ft. (6.4 m. by 3.96 m.). Cappe took a new lease of this house for a term of 21 years from 1621 at an increased rent of £5 and for a fine of £40 which was paid in 6-monthly instalments of £10. In 1623 Cappe obtained permission to alienate the lease to Thomas Forster, although Cappe paid the rent until 1626. The Elizabeth Forster who paid the rent from 1626 to 1640 was Thomas Forster's widow. In 1638 her house (21A) and shop (20C) were valued at £8 a year. (fn. 5)

Between 1628 and 1630 Mrs. Forster paid 5s. rent to the parish for the leads which she used over the church and in 1636 the floor of her house over the church was found to have sunk on account of the removal of a wall below. During the rebuilding of the church in 1637-8 she lost the use of her room over the church, and the Mercers' Company paid for bricklaying and carpentry work at her house and for the construction of a new lead funnel leading into the vault (latrine pit) of the house. The company now wished to eject her from the house, which she inhabited, and in 1639 persuaded her to accept £80 for her interest in the lease. At the same time William Foster, who appears to have been undertenant of the shop, accepted £40 for his interest. (fn. 6)

The reason for ejecting the tenants was that the parish of St. Mary Colechurch wished to use the property in order to provide its minister with a dwelling next to the church. From 1639 onwards the parish appears to have held the house, which was probably the house of Mr. Horton (the minister) for which £25 rent was paid to Mr. Mudford between 1639 and 1641. Mudford was probably the unnamed assign of Elizabeth Forster, who paid the £5 rent due to the Mercers' Company between 1640 and 1642. The parish itself paid the £5 rent to the company between 1642 and 1652. In 1639-40 the parish undertook a rebuilding or remodelling of this house and 21B as a result of which, by raising the roof and chimneys, the windows of Mercers' Chapel were darkened. The company ordered that a chimney should be moved, that a roof next to the chapel should be reduced to a platform, and that a roof next to Old Jewry, which was probably part of 21B and had been raised to form an additional storey, should be lowered again. In 1641, since the minister did not wish to live in the house prepared for him (21A), the parish decided to let it from year to year, but there is no record of the tenants or the rent. This was probably the new brick house next to the church which stood empty in May 1644. (fn. 7)

In 1651 the house was partly in the possession of Henry Wallis and partly in that of John Reignolds. In 1652 the Mercers' Company leased it to Henry Wallis, mercer, for a term of 31 years at £5 rent and for a fine of £130. Wallis paid the rent until 1658 and then Joseph Moore paid it until 1666. In 1662-3 21A may have been a house of 4 hearths occupied by John Stubbs; in 1666 the same house appears to have been occupied by John Batteley. (fn. 8)

21B

This was a tenement between 21A on the S. and 21C on the N. Between 1517 and 1529 Thomas Benet held it for £1. 6s. 8d. rent, raised to £1. 13s. 4d. for the last year of the tenancy. John Hill subsequently held the tenement at the increased rent. He seems not to have had a lease and he was allowed the following non-payments of rent: in 1529-30, 8s. 4d.; in 1534-5, £1. 5s.; and in 1535-6, 16s. 8d. He was then succeeded by his widow Joan Hill, who lived in the house. She was allowed 8s. 4d. of her rent in 1536-7. (fn. 9)

In 1537 the hospital granted to Stephen Cobbe, citizen and haberdasher, a 50-year lease of the tenement with the shop, cellar, and solars then held by Joan Hill, together with two shops in Cheapside (19B and C) at a rent of £5. Under this lease, which was to begin in 1538, the landlord was to pay quit-rents, repair, and pave. The property then passed through the same succession of tenants as 21A (see above) until the expiry of the lease in 1588. In 1589 21B was part of a great house which also included 21A and these two messuages may have been united by Stephen Cobbe before his death in 1566-7. Stephen Cobbe had enlarged the property in 1549 by taking a 21-year lease from the Mercers' Company at £1 rent of a piece of ground known as the vestry, lying at the E. end of the Mercers' church behind the high altar. Cobbe's successors continued to pay this rent. Mrs. Coys, widow, probably occupied the great house from c. 1587 onwards and in 1589 the Mercers' Company granted her a new lease of 21B at £4 rent for the 10 or 11 years which she still had to come on the lease of 21A, on condition that she paid 2 years arrears of the £4 rent which were then due. In 1588-9 the company paid Robert Cobbe £3 out of these arrears for part of the final year of his lease of 21B, then occupied by Mrs. Coys and her assign Wolford Bynard, stranger. In 1588 Robert Cobbe ceased to pay the rent for the vestry, which from then on was probably reckoned to be covered by the improved rent for 21B. (fn. 10)

Mrs. Coys paid the £4 rent until 1591, when she was succeeded by her assign, Thomas Buckner, mercer. In 1592 Buckner sued for a new lease of the house in Old Jewry, which perhaps comprised 21A and 21B. The company had neglected its responsibilities for repair under the leases of 1537, and in 1593 allowed Buckner £20 towards the completion of the repairs which were necessary to prevent the collapse of the house. Buckner's rent for 21B was raised in 1596 to £8. 13s. 4d. From then, if not earlier, 21A and 21B were occupied as two separate tenements. In 1599 Buckner took a repairing lease of 21B and 20B and C for a term of 21 years from 1600 at £10 rent. 21B was described as a messuage with a shop, solars, cellars, rooms, and easements and Buckner was to pay a fine of £200 in annual instalments of £50 from 1600 onwards. From 1601 Philip Strelley paid the rent as Buckner's assign and in 1603 took a new lease of the property at the same rent in consideration of the fine of £200 which had already been paid and of his own expenditure on rebuilding a kitchen and paving the yard at 21B. Strelley was probably living there in 1602, and at his death in 1603 was succeeded by his widow, who in 1614 was succeeded by Ralph Strelley. David Bunnell probably lived in the house in 1612. In 1622 Thomas Fulcher, tailor, occupied the tenement and from 1623 onwards was said to pay the rent as Ralph Strelley's assign; he probably inhabited the property over the period 1619-24. (fn. 11)

Thomas Fulcher sought to renew his lease in 1630, when his house in Old Jewry (21B) was surveyed. The arrangement of the house described in the view is difficult to understand, but there may have been 3 storeys plus garrets above ground and a cellar and vault below. If the house was one storey lower it was probably intermixed with the adjoining houses. The parts of the house were described as follows: the entry, 18 ft. by 4 1/2 ft. (5.49 m. by 1.37 m.); the yard 15 ft. by 11 1/2 ft. (4.57 m. by 3.51 m.); a vault, 9 1/2 ft. by 9 ft. (2.9 m. by 2.74 m.); a cellar, 15 ft. by 8 ft. (4.57 m. by 2.44 m.); a staircase 9 ft. by 8 ft. (2.74 m. by 2.44 m.); the cobbler's shop, 8 ft. by 7 1/2 ft. (2.44 m. by 2.29 m.); a parlour 14 ft. by 11 1/2 ft. (4.27 m. by 3.51 m.); a kitchen, 16 ft. by 10 1/2 ft. (4.88 m. by 3.2 m.); a back yard 7 ft. by 4 1/2 ft. (2.13 m. by 1.37 m.); a room at the stair head, 11 1/2 ft. by 9 1/2 ft. (3.51 m. by 2.9 m.); a chamber to the street, 12 ft. by 10 1/2 ft. (3.66 m. by 3.2 m.); a buttery above stairs, 10 ft. by 6 ft. (3.05 m. by 1.83 m.); a chamber, 18 ft. by 12 ft. (5.49 m. by 3.66 m.); a chamber, 18 ft. by 16 ft. (5.49 m. by 4.88 m.); another chamber 17 ft. by 13 ft. (5.18 m. by 3.96 m.); a passage, 11 ft. by 3 ft. (3.35 m. by 914 mm.); a garret, 21 ft. by 16 ft. (6.4 m. by 4.88 m.); another garret, 21 ft. by 12 ft. (6.4 m. by 3.66 m.); and a garret with a countinghouse, 14 ft. by 14 ft. (4.27 m.). The viewers also noted that a little jetty in Lady Weld's house (i.e. the great house on the site of the precinct of St. Thomas of Acre, see 142/2) was said to belong to this house, which would thus appear to have extended N. behind 21C and D probably over the area once occupied by the vestry (cf. above). In 1631 Thomas Fulcher, citizen and grocer, took a repairing lease of this house, where he dwelled, for a term of 30 years from 1633 at £4. 10s. rent and for a fine of £66. 13s. 4d. payable in 1633. One of the conditions of the grant was that Fulcher was to cause the encroachment made by Lady Weld's tenement to be removed. (fn. 12)

The Thomas Fulcher, grocer, who took the lease in 1631 was probably not identical with the Thomas Fulcher, tailor, who held the house in 1622 and may have been the latter's son. In 1638 Fulcher's house was valued at £16 a year. According to the Mercers' accounts Fulcher paid the £4. 10s. rent to the company until 1643, when he was succeeded by the parishioners of St. Mary Colechurch, although according to their own records the parishioners held the property and paid the rent to the company between 1640 and 1663. The parishioners enlarged the structure (see 21A) and were probably responsible for dividing it into two houses, the lease of which they proposed in 1641 to sell for a term of 21 years at 10 years' purchase. In 1648 the houses were said to be in the possession of Mr. Rand, probably the James Rand who died in 1642 and was succeeded by his widow Elizabeth Rand. Elizabeth held the property by lease from the parishioners of St. Mary Colechurch, and in 1651 the 2 houses there were held by her tenants, Thomas Newton, grocer, and Allen King. Newton's house probably occupied the S. part of the property and in 1652 the Mercers' Company granted John Reignolds, merchant tailor, a lease of it for a term of 31 years from 1663, when it was due to revert to the company, at £3 rent and a fine of £60. At the same time the company granted a lease of King's house in identical terms to Elizabeth Rand, widow. John Reignolds paid the £3 rent to the company between 1663 and 1666; he seems to have lived in the house, which was rated at 5 hearths in 1662-3 and at 4 hearths in 1666. Elizabeth Rand died in 1658, leaving to her niece Alice Causton, wife of Leonard Causton, an annuity of £8 from 21B for so long as the lease she had from the parish should run. Elizabeth was succeeded as payer of the £3 rent to the Mercers' Company for the N. part of 21B by her son James Rand, who continued to pay the rent until 1666. Rand did not live in the property which was probably a house of 5 hearths occupied by Thomas Newton in 1662-3 and 1666. (fn. 13)

21C-F

These were 4 tenements between 21B on the S. and 21G on the N. One of them, for which no rent was received in 1509-10, was held by Thomas Perte, tailor, for £1. 6s. 8d. rent from 1510 to 1521; William Trome, tailor, then paid the same rent for the tenement between 1521 and 1538 and was probably living there c. 1522-4. A second tenement, which was probably adjacent, appears not to have been let between 1517 and 1519, but from 1519 to 1528 Thomas Perte held it for £1. 6s. 8d. rent; William Yong then paid the same rent between 1528 and 1532, and William Trome paid it between 1532 and 1538. Christopher Wodehouse paid £1. 6s. 8d. rent for a third tenement between 1517 and 1522, when he died a pauper and resident of this parish; Robert Bentclause was said to pay this rent in 1522-3. John Sinygnal (also spelled Snegnall), a resident of this parish, was recorded as paying the rent between 1523 and 1528, but in fact died in 1521 and was succeeded by his widow, Joan, who was described as a tallow chandler and was recorded as paying the rent between 1528 and 1538, when she was said to dwell in the house. Joan's son, Morgan Synygnall, probably also occupied the house at this time and by his will, drawn up in 1538 and proved in 1540, left the wares in his shop (probably part of 21C-F) to his wife Elizabeth. William Goldring held the fourth tenement for £1. 13s. 4d. rent between 1517 and 1521; Edward Sole held it between 1521 and 1527; and John Holbeme, tailor, held it from 1527 to 1538, when he was said to dwell there. In 1538 the hospital granted a lease of these 4 tenements with their shops, solars, tenements, and appurtenances to Stephen Cobbe, citizen and haberdasher, for a term of 50 years at £5. 13s. 4d. rent. The landlord was to be responsible for quit-rents, repairs, and paving. (fn. 14)

In 1542-3, when Stephen Cobbe paid the rent to the Mercers' Company, the four tenements were said to be held by John Holbeme, Joan Smygnall, and Joan Twine (sic), widow (presumably of William Trome), who held two of them. The 3 tenants probably all lived there. From then until 1588, when the lease ran out, the rent was paid by the same succession of tenants as for 21A and 21B (see above). In 1588-9 the company received the arrears of rent for the tenements directly from Robert Cobbe's undertenants and paid him the £4 due for the last term of his lease. The 4 tenements were then let separately for a total of £7. 16s. 8d. rent. (fn. 15)

21C

The most southerly of the 4 tenements (21C) was inhabited by Alexander Alleyn in 1558, when it was valued at £1. 13s. 4d. p.a. Thomas Steede lived there between 1571 and 1574, and in 1574 the communicants in his house comprised himself and 2 servants. Margaret Gibson was living there in 1586, when she sued for a lease. In 1588 she was granted a lease in return for a fine of £6. 13s. 4d. and a rent raised from £1. 13s. 4d. to £2. 10s. She was living there in 1602 and paid this rent until 1607, when she was succeeded by her assign, Baldwin Derham, junior, citizen and mercer. In 1608 Derham took a repairing lease of the tenement with its cellars, solars, and rooms, for a term of 21 years at £4 rent and in return for a fine of £20 payable in annual instalments of £4 from 1609 onwards. Thomas Palfreyman paid the rent as Derham's assign from 1609 onwards, Weston Filiall paid it from 1614 onwards, Thomas Dalby paid it as Filiall's assign from 1618 onwards, John Banks paid it as Dalby's executor from 1619 onwards, and Joseph Deards, citizen and grocer, paid it from 1628 onwards. According to the parish assessment lists Arthur Filoll, probably a relative of Weston Filiall, inhabited the house in 1612, and Philip Pratt between 1619 and 1624. (fn. 16)

Deards petitioned for a new lease of 21C in 1628 and was promised one for 21 years at £4 rent and for a fine of £26. 13s. 4d. if his uncle, Nathaniel Deards, who may have inhabited the tenement, would undertake certain repairs. A view taken shortly afterwards listed the following rooms: a garret, 21 ft. by 15 ft. (6.4 m. by 4.57 m.); a kitchen and passage, 13 ft. by 10 ft. (3.96 m. by 3.05 m.); a chamber, 13 ft. by 9 1/2 ft. (3.96 m. by 2.9 m.); a house of office, 5 ft. by 2 1/2 ft. (1.52 m. by 762 mm.); a hall and passage, 18 ft. by 11 ft. (5.49 m. by 3.35 m.); a shop and yard, 22 ft. by 12 1/2 ft. (6.71 m. by 3.81 m.); and a cellar, 14 ft. by 10 ft. (4.26 m. by 3.05 m.). The shop and yard probably occupied the full extent of the property on the ground, and the house probably contained 3 storeys together with the garret (cf. Fig. 12). Deards obtained the lease, which in 1630 was granted on his behalf to William Alexander, citizen and scrivener. In the lease the house was said to have been occupied by John Billet, deceased, and was now occupied by Deards himself. In 1638 the house appears to have been inhabited by Mr. Turner and was valued at £10 a year. (fn. 17)

In May 1648, 3 years before the end of the term, the house on lease to Alexander was said to be worth a fine of £20 for a 21-year term. At about the same time a view was taken of the house, which was described as being held by Abraham Turner (presumably the Mr. Turner who lived there in 1638) under a lease granted to John Mathew, mercer (there was probably a confusion with 21E here). The rooms were described as follows: a cellar, 13 ft. 4 in. by 11 ft. (4.06 m. by 3.35 m.); a shop and staircase, 16 ft. by 12 ft. (4.88 m. by 3.66 m.); a yard 11 ft. by 4 ft. 8 in. (4.06 m. by 1.42 m.); the hall and kitchen over the shop, 18 ft. by 12 ft. (5.49 m. by 3.66 m.); a staircase and house of office, 5 ft. by 5 ft. (1.52 m. by 1.52 m.); the room over the hall and kitchen, 20 ft. by 12 ft. (6.09 m. by 3.66 m.); and 2 garrets over that room, 20 ft. by 12 ft. (6.09 m. by 3.66 m.). This house contained 3 storeys and garrets above ground and the first and second storeys would each appear to have jettied 2 ft. (610 mm.) over the street beyond the storey below. Minor differences in measurements apart, this was clearly the same structure as that surveyed in 1628, although the kitchen had apparently been moved from the second to the first storey. George Widmerpoole, mercer and keeper of the Mercers' Chapel, and Abraham Turner, haberdasher, petitioned for a lease of the tenement in Turner's possession and formerly leased to Mathew. As a result Widmerpoole was granted a lease for 21 years in reversion at £4 rent and for a fine of £20 of the tenement formerly held by William Alexander and then in the possession of Abraham Turner, citizen and boxmaker. In 1651, when the lease came into effect, Widmerpoole was relieved of the obligation to pay the fine, on condition that he spent the same sum on repairs. This he did and later that year was dwelling in the house. In 1652 the company granted him £30 towards the repairs. Widmerpoole continued to pay the rent until 1666. Widmerpoole appears to have divided the house into 2 parts. In 1662-3 one of 3 hearths including a common oven was occupied by William Hunt, and the other, also of 3 hearths, was occupied by Thomas Bonny. In 1666 the property appears to be represented by a house of 4 hearths occupied by Samuel Johson (rectius Jackson?) and one of 3 hearths occupied by John Crooke. (fn. 18)

21D

The next tenement to the N. (21D) was inhabited by Edward Willett in 1558 and 1571-4, and in 1574 the communicants living there were himself, his wife, and a son. In 1588 Willett was granted a 21-year repairing lease, with no fine but at a rent improved from £1. 6s. 8d. (its valuation in 1558) to £4. He died in 1589 and his widow Elizabeth died later the same year. Willett's son Richard Willett then held the property, and in 1597 was succeeded by his widow, Margaret, who paid the rent until 1601. John Willett, presumably Richard's son, then paid the rent, and was living in 21D in 1602 and in 1608, when he took a 21-year repairing lease of the tenement with its cellars, solars, and rooms at £4 rent and for a fine of £20, of which £10 had been paid and the remainder was to be paid in annual instalments of £5. John Willett was still living there in 1612. From 1613 onwards Giles Bynks, paid the rent as Willett's assign, but between 1619 and 1624 John Lucas, presumably Bynks's undertenant, was living there. (fn. 19)

In 1628 Bynks was offered a new lease in reversion of 21D for a term of 21 years at £4 rent and for a fine of £30. The house described in a view on this occasion was of similar size and layout to 21C and its parts were listed as follows (cf. Fig. 12): a cellar, 14 ft. by 11 1/2 ft. (4.27 m. by 3.51 m.); a shop and entry, 17 ft. by 12 ft. (5.18 m. by 3.66 m.); a yard, 11 ft. by 5 ft. (3.35 m. by 1.52 m.); a chamber, 18 1/2 ft. by 11 1/2 ft. (5.63 m. by 3.51 m.); a kitchen and staircase, 11 1/2 ft. by 10 ft. (3.51 m. by 3.05 m.); a chamber, 12 ft. by 10 ft. (3.66 m. by 3.05 m.); and a garret, 20 ft. by 11 ft. (6.1 m. by 3.35 m.). In the event, the lease was in 1629 granted to William Freeman, citizen and merchant tailor, who then occupied the house, for a term to begin in 1631 on the conditions formerly agreed with Bynks. Freeman appears to have assigned the lease to John Metcalf, who paid the rent to the company from 1630 onwards. In 1638 Metcalf's house was valued at £10 a year. In 1647 Metcalf petitioned for a new lease. The structure described in the view carried out soon after this request was evidently the same as that described in 1628, although some of the dimensions given were up to 1 ft. 4 in. (406 mm.) less. The later view mentions a stair at ground and first-floor level and described the room at first-floor level as a hall and closet. There was also a house of office and a coal-house projecting over the yard and measuring 5 ft. (1.52 m.) square; this was probably at first floor level. The house was said to be worth a £25 fine for a 21-year lease in reversion, but Metcalf was ordered to repair it before a lease would be granted. In 1649, after the repairs had been carried out, a 21-year lease was said to be worth a fine of 'only £50' at £4 rent and Metcalf was granted a new lease on these terms on condition that he spent £5 more on repairs. Ten pounds of the fine were to be paid in 1649 and the remainder in annual instalments of £5. (fn. 20)

Metcalf was one of the keepers of the (Royal) Exchange and died in 1656, when his widow Mary was dwelling in 21D and was granted an extension to her lease. By 1657 Mary had married Thomas Bonny, citizen and goldsmith, who in that year was granted a lease for a term of 21 years. Bonny continued to pay the rent until 1666. The house appears to have been divided into 2 parts before 1662-3, when it was probably represented by 2 houses, each of 3 hearths, occupied by Joseph Moore and Frances Hoell, widow. In 1666, when they had the same number of hearths, these houses were occupied by Thomas Bonny himself and by James Townsend. (fn. 21)

21E

The next tenement to the N. (21E) may have been that for which John Collier had a grant of a lease for 21 years from 1576 confirmed in 1581, when he was to suffer Badger to continue out his time of 32 years. Nicholas Badger was living in the house in 1558 and 1571-4, and in 1574 his house included himself, his wife and 2 other communicants. In 1588 Badger was granted a 21-year lease of his house, with no fine but at a rent improved from £1. 6s. 8d., its valuation in 1558, to £4. Badger, a citizen and merchant tailor, did not take up the lease, but continued to pay the £1. 6s. 8d. rent for his house, where he lived as a tenant-at-will, until he died in 1618. The next tenant was John Mathewe, citizen and mercer. In 1619, in consideration of his expenses on repairs, Mathewe took a 31-year repairing lease of the tenement with its shops, cellars, solars, chambers, and rooms at £1. 6s. 8d. rent. Edward Malin probably lived there between 1619 and 1624. In 1627 John Mathewe was succeeded as leaseholder by his assign William Simes, and Simes's executor paid the rent for the first 3 terms of 1648-9. (fn. 22)

Before the end of 1647 this house seems to have been in the possession of Colonel Thomas Jackson, citizen and pewterer, who already held the house adjacent to the N. (21F) and evidently hoped to take a single lease of the two properties. He was probably the Mr. Jackson who occupied 21E in 1638, when the house was valued at £10 a year. A view of Jackson's house in Old Jewry taken in 1647 concerns 21E and lists the following rooms: the cellar, 13 1/2 ft. by 12 ft. (4.11 m. by 3.66 m.); the shop and staircase, 19 ft. 3 in. by 11 ft. (5.88 m. by 3.35 m.); the hall over the shop, the staircase and a closet, 20 1/2 ft. by 12 ft. (6.25 m. by 3.66 m.); the kitchen, chamber, and staircase over the hall, 23 ft. by 12 ft. (7.01 m. by 3.66 m.); and a garret, 22 ft. by 12 ft. (6.71 m. by 3.66 m.). The property appears also to have included a yard (cf. 21F), but this was not mentioned in the view. In 1647-8 Jackson spent about £50 on repairing this house, and in 1649 he was offered a lease of 21E and 21F for a term of 26 years at £8 rent and for a fine of £130. Jackson did not accept the offer, but in 1650 did take a lease for the same fine and for a term of 27 1/2 years from 1649. He continued to occupy the property comprising 21E-F until the Great Fire and in both 1662-3 and 1666 his house was rated at 6 hearths. (fn. 23)

21F

The next tenement to the N. (21F) was inhabited by Joan Trymme, widow, in 1558 and by Henry Worthy between 1571 and 1574. In 1574 the communicants in Worthy's household were listed as himself and 3 servants. In 1588 Worthy was granted a 21-year repairing lease, with no fine but at a rent improved from £1. 6s. 8d., its value in 1558, to £4. Worthy paid this rent until 1601, when he was succeeded by his assign, John Evans, citizen and goldsmith, who was living here in 1602. In 1604, in consideration of expenditure on the structure estimated at £100 and further expenditure to be undertaken in making a new cellar there, Evans took a 31-year lease of the tenement with its cellars, solars, and rooms at £4 rent. Thomas Fulcher lived in the house in 1612, and between 1619 and 1622 Thomas Browne lived there. In 1624 Evans was succeeded by his assign Matthew England, haberdasher, who in 1633 was succeeded by Philip Pratt, citizen and grocer. (fn. 24)

Pratt lived in the tenement and in February 1633 both he and England sought a new lease. When Pratt's house was viewed in 1633 he was described as a tailor. The house evidently occupied 3 storeys and a garret above ground, and was described as follows: the shop, entry, and staircase, 17 ft. by 12 1/2 ft. (5.18 m. by 3.81 m.); the cellar, 16 ft. by 10 1/2 ft. (4.88 m. by 3.2 m.); the kitchen (probably behind the shop), 12 ft. by 10 ft. (3.66 m. by 3.05 m.); a back room behind the kitchen with a house of office (this room was probably on the N. side of the kitchen and was probably identical with the larder below Mr. Cowdall's chamber, i.e. below part of 142/1A), 12 ft. by 9 ft. (3.66 m. by 2.74 m.); a hall, 15 ft. by 12 ft. (4.57 m. by 3.66 m.); a workhouse (probably behind the hall), 12 ft. by 11 ft. (3.66 m. by 3.35 m.); a chamber, 18 ft. by 12 ft. (5.49 m. by 3.66 m.); a back chamber, 11 1/2 ft. by 11 ft. (3.51 m. by 3.35 m.); a garret, 21 ft. by 12 ft. (6.4 m. by 3.66 m.); and another garret, 12 ft. by 10 ft. (3.66 m. by 3.05 m.). The house was said to be worth a fine of £60 for a 21-year lease at the old rent, on condition that the tenant repaired it within 2 years. Pratt undertook these repairs and in 1635 took a lease on the terms offered. In 1638 his house was valued at £12 a year. (fn. 25)

In 1644 Pratt, having obtained the company's permission, assigned the lease to Colonel Thomas Jackson. In 1647 Jackson was granted a lease in reversion of his dwelling house in Old Jewry (21E or 21F) at the old rent of £4 and for a fine of £50. Jackson's house was viewed in 1649 and was evidently the same structure as Pratt's house viewed in 1633 (21F), except that it now included a yard, measuring 8 ft. by 7 ft. (2.44 m. by 2.13 m.), taken out of the other house (i.e. 21E). Some of the dimensions in the 2 views however, differed by up to 2 ft. (610 mm.), and the shop, entry, and stair in 1633 were in 1649 described as 2 shops 'now laid in one'. From 1649 Jackson held the two adjacent houses (21E-F) under one lease (see 21E). (fn. 26)

21G

This was a tenement in St. Mary Colechurch parish between 21F on the S. and 142/1 on the N. In the 16th century it was combined with 142/1A (in St. Olave parish) to form a property which was said to be in St. Mary Colechurch parish and was known as the Sun. This property was then acquired by the owner of the remainder of 142/1 and subsequently the S. part of the enlarged property on this site was probably in the parish of St. Mary while the N. part was in the same parish or that of St. Olave (see 142/1). The modern boundary between the two parishes runs along the S. side of 21G. The line of the northern boundary of 21G during the later Middle Ages may in the early 13th century have been followed by the northern boundary of the capital messuage of Peter son of William son of Alulf, although in the 13th century at least two properties to the N. of the capital messuage were said to be in the parish of St. Mary. The boundary between the two parishes was probably adjusted in the 13th century in response to the increasing density of housing in Old Jewry, but some uncertainty over the parochial attribution of individual houses persisted into the 17th century (see also 19, 142/1 and Figs. 10 and 12).

In 1517-22 Lawrence Bardeney held the tenement represented by 21G for £1. 6s. 8d. rent. Thomas Adams then held the tenement for the same rent until 1538. Adams was the collector of the hospital's rents in London and also held the tenement adjacent to the N. (142/1A) for 16s. 8d. rent. In April 1538 Adams and William Butler were appointed rent collectors of the hospital in London and on that account were allowed to hold these two tenements rent-free for the term of their lives. The two tenements then were combined into one known as the Sun. In 1547, when the Sun was held by William Butler, the Mercers' Company agreed that Thomas Leigh, who lived in the great house immediately to the W., on the site of the former hospital precinct (142/1), should have a lease of the Sun for the remainder of the term of the lease to Sir Roland Hill under which Leigh occupied the great house. In 1550 the Sun, occupied by William Butler, gentleman, was sold to Hill and Leigh. (fn. 27)

For the later history of the property on this site, see 142/1 (Appendix 2).

After the great fire

After 1666 21A-F was rebuilt as 3 separate messuages, of which the boundaries can be reconstructed from the surveys of foundations and other records.

The southernmost of the messuages occupied the site of 21A and the S. tenement within 21B. John Reignolds, who had held the S. part of 21B, took a lease of the newly-built messuage at £8 rent (the sum of the two rents due before the Fire) for a term of 61 years from 1668. A foundation was surveyed for him in June 1668. The next newly-built messuage to the N. was let to James Rand at £12 rent for a term of 51 years from 1669. No plan of Rand's foundation survives, but he held the land on the N. side of Reignolds's foundation and his rent amounted to £1 more than the sum of the rents for the N. part of 21B (which he had held before the Fire) and 21C and D. In the 18th century the house on this site extended back a short distance along the N. side of Mercers' Chapel. Before the Fire this piece of ground on the N. side of the chapel may have been occupied by the Mercers' Company, and Rand's additional rent may have been paid in consideration of his having taken it into his house. The third newly-built messuage corresponded to 21E and F and was let to Colonel Thomas Jackson, who had held both properties before the Fire, for a term of 61 years from 1668 at £8 rent. His foundation was surveyed in May 1668. (fn. 28)

In 1671 Sir John Frederick, who occupied the great house on the site of the precinct of the hospital of St. Thomas (142/2), was in dispute with Rand and with Thomas Jackson and his son Samuel Jackson, pewterers, over the use of the wall of his property as a party wall with the houses in Old Jewry. In addition, Rand and the Jacksons had arranged to carry rainwater from their houses into Frederick's gutter and had constructed windows overlooking Frederick's property. An accommodation was reached whereby the Jacksons, and probably also Rand, were prevented from building higher but were to retain their windows at Frederick's pleasure, putting blinds over them. (fn. 29)