St. Mary Colechurch 105/23

Introduction

This property, together with 132/24, occupied the Poultry frontage between Old Jewry and Coneyhope Lane (Grocers' Alley or Grocers' Hall Court). The properties were probably 16 to 18 ft. (4.88 m. to 5.49 m.) deep N.-S., the rear boundary probably being defined by the S. wall of a long cellar stretching from Old Jewry to Coneyhope Lane, which survived until the 17th century. (fn. 1) Originally 105/23 and 132/24 were in one ownership with 105/22 and 132/25, but had ceased to be so by 1212-13 (see 22). At some time between the 13th and the mid 15th century the middle part of the Poultry frontage (in St. Mary Colechurch parish) came into the possession of Chicksands Priory, which held 105/22 and 132/25. That part is thereafter described as 105/22J.

Thirteenth to sixteenth centuries: 105/23 and 132/24

In the early 13th century, perhaps in 1212-13, Geoffrey fitzPeter, earl of Essex, granted to Shouldham Priory, Norfolk, which he had recently founded, 12 shops with solars (soliis) in the parish of St. Mary Colechurch, opposite the shopkeepers (ex opposito soppar'), between Old Jewry ('the lane lying between the shops and the church of Colechurch') to the W., and Coneyhope Lane ('the lane lying between the shops and the chapel of St. Mary de Cringehop') to the E. The grant was to find lights and communion wine, and for the souls of the grantor, his parents, and King Henry and King Richard. In 1250 Henry III ordered the justices of the Jews not to disseise the priors of Holy Trinity, London, and Shouldham, of the lands they held in London of the fee of John fitzGeoffrey, justiciar in Ireland, by reason of an inquisition into lands and tenements which had belonged to Jews in the time of King John. John fitzGeoffrey was the son of Geoffrey fitzPeter by his second wife. In 1291 Shouldham Priory had property worth £3 p.a., in St. Mary Colechurch parish and £4. 10s. 8d. in St. Mildred Poultry parish. In 1365 the prior and convent of Shouldham granted a rent of 10 marks (£6. 13s. 4d.) to the Minoresses without Aldgate, from their lands in London, almost certainly these. (fn. 2)

In 1366 Thomas de Staundon, citizen and cofferer, surrendered his life-interest in Shouldham Priory's tenements in the parishes of St. Mary Colechurch and St. Mildred Poultry which he held by their grant. The priory evidently granted the property again to de Staundon and his wife Agnes, either for a term of years or for life. In 1370 they granted to John Farneborowe, citizen and cofferer, their shop with houses over at the corner of Old Jewry Lane, in the great tenement which they held of Shouldham in the parishes of St. Mary Colechurch and St. Mildred Poultry, to hold for 14 years at £3. 6s. 8d. rent. De Staundon and his wife were to repair the shop, and could distrain for arrears of rent. The shop lay between Old Jewry on one side and the shop held by Richard de Betoigne (probably also part of the 'great tenement') on the other. In 1392 Shouldham Priory had rents of £9. 13s. 4d. and £16 in Cheap ward; it is not clear if the 2 figures are totals for each parish or for some other combination of properties. In the late 15th or early 16th century (between 1486 and 1493, or between 1504 and 1515) John Fawteles was in dispute concerning a tenement and shop in Poultry which he held on lease from the priory. He had closed up an entry passing through his shop to the tenement of the Pewterers' Company (105/22), which was attempting to recover damages against him. Fawteles sought to have the process delayed until the prior could bring evidences concerning the matter into Chancery. In 1535 Shouldham Priory had 4 tenements in Poultry worth £11. 13s. 4d., charged with £6. 13s. 4d. quit-rent to the Minoresses without Aldgate. Shouldham's tenements were probably held on lease, with repairs to be done by the tenants ('farmers'). Shouldham Priory was surrendered in 1538 and the Minoresses in 1539. In 1539- 40, 1540-1, and 1542-3, the Crown received £2. 13s. 4d. from William Hardy for a tenement in Poultry (105/23A), £3. 13s. 4d. from Robert Austen for another (105/23B), £2. 13s. 4d. for one held by Agnes Skinner, widow (132/24A), and £2. 13s. 4d. for one held by Ralph Westwood (132/24B). (fn. 3) In 1543 the first two tenements (probably corresponding to 4 of the original shops) were granted by the Crown to Robert Austen, citizen and grocer, and their later history is given with the rest of his property under 105/24. The second two tenements, probably corresponding to 6 of the original 12 shops, in St. Mildred Poultry parish, were granted with 105/22A-D and 132/25 to William Wyatt, and their later history is given under 105/22 and 132/24-5. (fn. 4)