St. Mary Colechurch 105/10

Introduction

This tenement lay at the E. end of Cheapside and at the beginning of the street (now known as Bucklersbury) which lead towards Walbrook. It faced N. to wards the Conduit and it was bounded to the W. by 105/5-9 in Bordhaw Lane, to the S. by 145/16, and to the E. by tenements in the parish of St. Benet Sherehog. It is possible that 105/10 and 145/16 (q.v.) were originally one property, but they were distinct by 1288.

In 1858 the property was nos. 79-80 Cheapside and no. 1 Bucklersbury.

Twelfth to sixteenth century

In the late 12th century Canterbury Cathedral Priory had a rent of 10s. p.a. from the land or tenement of William son of Alulf, due on the feasts of the Purification (2 February) and St. Peter ad vincula (1 August). In a rental c. 1220 the rent was said to be due at Easter and Michaelmas from Peter son of William son of Aiulf, from the land between Bordhage and the land which was of H... (part lost) of the church of Colechurch, vico medio (for 'H's' land, see 105/19). Although the refer ence to Bordhaw suggests that the rent was due from 9 as well as 10, later evi dence indicates that only 10 was so charged, at least by the later 13th century. In a later, 13th-century, Canterbury rental the land (once) of William son of Alluf fus, in the parish of Colechurch, was held by Aaron son of Abraham the Jew. There were 7 shops there at the end of Cheapside, opposite the house which Henry de Waltham had made, where knives were sold, under the church of Colechurch (see 105/19). A later addition (late 13th or early 14th century) to the rental said that John Gisors now held the land and owed the rent. The rent had fallen into default by 1315-16, and remained so because the priory did not know who held the land. (fn. 1)

In 1261 Henry III renewed or confirmed his grant to Sir William de Valers, kt., of 3 houses in the parish of St. Mary Colechurch in Cheapside opposite the Conduit, and a vacant plot of land behind the houses, late of Aaron son of Abraham, together with other lands in London worth in all £12. 9s. 8d. De Valers is probably identical with the William de Waleys, kt., who held or had held the tenement to the E. of 9 in or before 1271. John de Gisors had the property from c. 1271. In 1275 the land of John de Gisorco lay to the E. of 9E. John son of Peter de Gysors died in or before 1282, but his enrolled will makes no reference to any property in this parish. Margery la Potere held the tenement to the E. of a part of 9 in 1281-2, but it is not clear whether this was part of 10 or another part of 9. If it was 10, she can only have been a tenant, as the property remained with the Gisors family. By his will proved in 1296, John de Gisors (son of the first John) left a shop and appurtenances in foro de Chepe, abutting towards the Conduit on the S. side (i.e. on the S. side of the Conduit), and now held by Nicholas le Coffrer, to his daughter Beatrice. This was probably only a small part of 10, the rest of which went with other lands not specifically devised to the testator's (eldest) son and heir John. Each separate legacy was entailed on the legatee's issue, with remainder to the testator's nearest heirs in blood. The shop left to Beatrice probably therefore returned to John de Gisors. (fn. 2) In 1297 the heirs of John de Gisors were said to hold the tenement to the E. of 7, but thereafter until 1351 all abutment references from 105/5-9, 145/16, and the tenements in the parish of St. Benet Sherehog were to the tenement of John de Gisors. (fn. 3)

By his will, dated and proved in 1351, John de Gysors (III), citizen, left all his shops and solar(s) near the Conduit, between 8-9 on the W. and the tenement formerly of Thomas Hauteyn (in St. Benet's parish) on the E., to his wife Alice for life, with remainder to his son Edward in tail, and then to his own right heirs. Alice then married John de Chichestre, goldsmith. In 1360 John de York, citizen and draper, brought pleas of intrusion against them, concerning his free tene ment in the parish of St. Mary Colechurch. It is not known what de York's inter est was. William Sporle, draper, was also named in one of these pleas, but his interest is likewise uncertain. In 1368 the tenement to the E. of 7 was said to be held by John de Chichestre and his wife Joan, but the latter name appears to be an error, as Alice wife of John de Chichestre was alive in 1380 when he made his will. (fn. 4) She appears to have died by 1385. By this time the sons of John de Gisors (III) were dead and the heirs to this and much other property were Margaret, daughter of Thomas son of John, and the feoffees of Francus Nichole, son of Felicia, daughter of Thomas son of John. Other daughters of Thomas, and their children, also survived. Margaret had married firstly Henry Picard, citizen and vintner (d. c. 1361), secondly Bartholomew, Lord Burgherssh (d. 1369), and third ly, before 1385, Sir William Burcestre, kt. (fn. 5) Francus Nichole had enfeoffed Thomas Vynent, Sir John Chelray, clerk, and Richard Forster with his share in the reversion after Alice de Chichestre's death. By his will of 1379, proved in 1380, Nichole instructed his feoffees to divide his lands and reversions equally between Thomas Vynent (son or grandson of Juliana, daughter of Thomas Gysors) and Paul Gisors, son of Peter Spicer (and of Isabel, daughter of Thomas Gysors), to hold to them and their issue in tail for ever. If either died without issue, the other was to have his half; if both died without issue, the property was to go to the nearest heirs of the blood of Sir John de Gisors in tail, and so 'from heir to heir' for ever, but always excluding Margaret Burgherssh and her issue. He made this exclusion propter ingratitudinem quam in predicta Margareta inveni. (fn. 6)

In June 1385, notwithstanding these instructions, Nichole's feoffees, with Paul Gisors, granted his share in the shops and solars late of John de Gisors near the Conduit, with abutments as in 1351, which they now held in common as copar ceners with Lady Margaret, wife of Sir William Burcestre, kt., to her and William, their heirs and assigns for ever, in return for a quit-rent of £5. 6s. 8d. (8 marks) from the same property for ever. Chelrey and Forster subsequently disposed of this quit-rent, and of other properties late of Nichole, according to his will (for the descent of this quit-rent, see below). In July 1385 William Burcestre and Margaret granted a quit-rent of £2 from their property near the Conduit to Wil liam Wandon, for life. Margaret, wife of Sir William Burcestre, died in 1393, and he died between 1405 and 1410, survived by his widow, another Margaret. In 1422 Richard Wakeherst and Richard Ailard of Sussex, feoffees of William Burcestre, granted to his son John Burcestre the reversion of his lands and tenements in the parish of St. Mary Colechurch and elsewhere in London and outside, now held for life by Margaret, William's widow. Sir Thomas Sakeville, kt., one Walter, and Henry Botiller, co-feoffees with Wakeherst and Ailard, had released all right to them. John Burcestre was to hold the lands and tenements in tail, with remainder in default of issue to Williama, daughter of William Burces tre and wife of Walter Urry, and her issue. Sir John Burcestre still held 10 in 1452. It is not clear whether John and Williama were the children of Margaret Gisors or not. (fn. 7)

In 1453 Sir John Burcestre, kt., and Thomas Hoo of Sussex, esquire, granted the tenements belonging to Burcestre, sometime of 'Gysors of London', in the parish of St. Mary Colechurch, by the great Conduit, to William Lemyng, citizen and grocer. Elizabeth, wife of Sir John, was not to claim dower in the property after her husband's death. The transaction was completed by a conveyance from Burcestre to Lemyng, Robert Beaumond, clerk, John Lorchyn, grocer, Elias Harwode, goldsmith, Thomas Swetenham, and John Grey the younger, grocers and citizens, in 1453, and a fine between Burcestre and Lemyng, in which Burces tre called William Brampton to warrant. In these transactions the property was referred to as lands and tenements, or a messuage between 5, 6, 7, and 8-9 on the W., 145/16 on the S., and the tenement of John Brayton, in St. Benet Sherehog parish on the E. Hoo quitclaimed to Lemyng in 1456. In 1458 Margaret, widow of Thomas Berners, esquire, quitclaimed to Lemyng in the property. She was a descendant of one of the daughters of Thomas Gisors, and had a share in the quit-rent reserved by the feoffees of Francus Nichole, but it was her interest in the property as a possible heir in tail, not in the quit-rent, which she now quit claimed. (fn. 8)

In 1470 Lemyng granted the tenement to John Porter, vintner, and Bartholo mew Horwode, grocer, citizens. In 1471 Horwode granted it to Robert Rache ford, Thomas Hille, and John Berell, grocer, Edmund Shaa, and Robert Hardyng, goldsmiths, all citizens, to fulfil Lemyng's will. Porter then quitclaimed to them. Lemyng's will has apparently not survived, but according to a later indenture he left this property in Colechurch parish to his wife Beatrice for life, with remain der to Holy Trinity Priory, Aldgate, to keep an obit for William and distribute £1 yearly to the poor. In 1496 it was agreed between the prior of Holy Trinity and Thomas Roche, baron of the Exchequer, John Huse, esquire, and one Morgan, executor of Beatrice, widow of William Lemyng, and the master of the hospital of St. Thomas of Acre, that the masses and alms ordained by Lemyng should be carried out, and that if the priory failed in this they were to pay £10 p.a. to the hospital of St. Thomas of Acre, who would then undertake to perform them. Because of his service to William and Beatrice, William Mathewe was to be allowed to have the house he now lived in (probably part of 10) rent-free for life, and also to receive 1s. 4d. weekly and a linen gown worth 6s. 8d. yearly from the prior for life. (fn. 9)

The descent of the quit-rents

The rent due to Christ Church Canterbury was in arrears by the early 14th cen tury and was probably not received after that. The quit-rent of £5. 6s. 8d. (8 marks) which the feoffees of Francus Nichole received in return for conveying his half-share in 10 to William Burcestre and his wife Margaret was afterwards disposed of according to Nichole's will. Both Thomas Vynent and Paul Gysors, on whom he had directed it should be settled in tail, had died without issue by 1402. In that year inquiry was made as to the surviving heirs of the blood of John Gisors. These were found to be Richard Crowland and his sister Agnes, children of Thomas Crowland and of Alice, daughter and heir of Lady Idonia Gunwardby; Lady Margaret Philpot; and Thomasina, Margaret, and Idonia, daughters of Thomas Godelak and his wife Joan, sister of Margaret Philpot. Margaret Philpot and Joan Godelak were two of the four daughters of John de Stodeye and his wife Joan, who was the sister of Idonia Gunwardby. Joan de Stodeye and Idonia Gunwardby were the daughters of one Belton and his wife Joan, fifth daughter of Thomas son of John Gisors (III). Richard Forster and John Chelrey, surviving feoffees of Francus Nichole, granted half of the quit-rent and half of Nichole's other rents and properties to Richard Crowland in tail, with remainder to his sister Agnes in tail, a quarter of the same to Margaret Philpot in tail, and a quarter to be shared among Thomasina, Margaret, and Idonia Gode lak, and their heirs in tail. If any of the lines failed, its share was to go to the others according to the same principle of division. (fn. 10)

The way in which these shares of the quit-rents descended is not certain. In 1452 Stephen Brouen, citizen and grocer, William Babyngton, Robert Babyngton, Richard Quatremayns, esquire, and Robert Burton confirmed to Thomas Berners, esquire, and his wife Margaret, one of the daughters and heirs of John Seintjerm ayn, one third of £2. 13s. 4d. (4 marks) rent from the tenements now of Sir John Burcestre, kt., in the parish of St. Mary Colechurch. They were to hold to them and the heirs of Margaret's body, with remainder to the right heirs of the body of John Seintjermayn, then to the heirs of the body of Joan Goodlak, then to the heirs of the body of Margaret Philpot, then to the heirs of the body of Agnes, late the wife of John Whatton. The amount of the rent, and the remainders, suggest that this was the half-share left to Richard Crowland, now further divided between (presumably) 3 daughters of John Seintjermayn, who could have been the son of Crowland, bearing a different name, or the son of a daughter of Crowland, or, possibly, the son of Agnes, sister of Richard Crowland. In 1458 Margaret, widow of Thomas Berners, quitclaimed to William Lemyng in 10, and in 1460, as the wife of John Cassus, esquire, granted her one-third share of £2. 13s. 4d. rent to Thomas Swettenham, citizen and grocer. This grant appears to have been in breach of the entail. No record of the descent of the other shares in the rent appears to survive. (fn. 11)

Sixteenth and seventeenth centuries

By 1535 10 was divided into 3 tenements, and this division may have taken place much earlier. Edward Sole, grocer, occupied one of these tenements (10B), called the Bell, in 1519, when there was some dispute over the title; he may have been tenant as early as 1514. Holy Trinity Priory was dissolved in 1532, and in Janu ary 1535 the king granted to Nicholas Sympson, clerk of the privy chamber, and his wife Joan several properties lately belonging to the priory, including 3 messuages in the parish of St. Mary Colechurch, in the tenure of Edward Sole, William Raymond, and Anthony Totehill, grocers, to hold rent-free for life, in survivorship. The rent value of these properties was £12. 13s. 4d., but the Crown never received this. In 1544 the reversion of the property, apparently still held rent-free by the Sympsons, was sold to Roger and Robert Taverner. The tenants were Raymond, for a house (10A) rented at £4 p.a., Sole, for a house (10B) rented at £4. 13s. 4d. p.a., and Totehill, for 10C, at £4 p.a. No charges or quit-rents against the income from the property were noted. Later in 1544 Roger and Robert Taverner sold the 3 messuages to William Fox, citizen and goldsmith, for £68. The occupants in 1558 were Fox himself (10A), William Awder (10B), and Anthony Totehill (10C). In 1561 Fox leased 10C, called the Half Moon, late held by Anthony Tothill, to Mark Dingley, for 30 years at £4 rent, and in 1562 leased the Bell (10B) to George Hawse, salter, for 21 years at £4. 13s. 4d. rent. Then in 1565 Fox, with Henry Vyner, citizen and mercer, sold all 3 tenements to Mark Dingley, citizen and grocer, for £600. The occupants were Fox (10A), Hawse (10B), and Dingley (10C). Dingley leased 10A to Stephen Mountney, citizen and haberdasher, for 21 years from 1566 at £5 rent. In 1571 Dingley mortgaged the 3 tenements to Edmund Hampden of Stoke Poges, Bucks., esquire, for £500. It may have been in order to pay off this bond that Dingley and Hampden subse quently sold off the freeholds of 10A and 10B. (fn. 12) The layout of the houses can be reconstructed from detailed descriptions of about this time (Fig. 3).

10a

Stephen Mountney occupied this property in 1571. In June 1573 Hampden and Dingley sold him 10A, known as the Fox. The use of a privy vault, which extended under 10A but was associated with 10C was excepted from the grant. Later in 1573 Hampden and his wife Isabel and Dingley and his wife Clem ence quitclaimed to Mountney. At Easter 1574 Mountney, his wife, and 3 other communicants occupied the house. In 1575 Mountney granted the Fox to John Lacye, citizen and clothworker, as security for an existing debt of £686. 16s. The grant was to be void if the money was repaid by the end of the next year. The property was described as a messuage or tenement, lying at the E. end of Cheapside in the parish of St. Mary Colechurch, opposite the Great Conduit, between 8-9B on the W. and 10B on the E. It contained a cellar next to the street, measuring 25 ft. (7.62 m.) N.-S. by 11 ft. 10 in. (3.61 m.) wide at the N. end and 8 ft. 6 in. (2.59 m.) wide at the S. end; another cellar 17 ft. 6 in. (5.33 m.) long by 7 ft. (2.13 m.) wide; and an 'inner cellar', partly under 10B, measuring 11 ft. by 14 ft. (3.35 m. by 4.27 m.). On the ground floor was a shop, 26 ft. 4 in. (8.03 m.) long by 15 ft. (4.57 m.) wide at the N. end; a yard behind the shop, 24 ft. 8 in. (7.52 m.) N.-S. by 11 ft. 4 in. (3.45 m.) E.-W.; and a warehouse behind the yard, 20 ft. 6 in. (6.25 m.) N.-S. by 10 ft. 2 in. (3.1 m.) E.-W. at the N. end and 9 ft. 1 in. (2.77 m.) at the S. end. Excepted from the grant were the use of a privy vault, the 'tunnell' or fimibulum (? latrine pipe) passing through the inner cellar, and part of another privy vault under the yard. The intermixture of cellars and privy vaults under 10A-C probably reflects the fact that they once formed one house. (fn. 13)

Mountney evidently failed to repay the debt, and in 1591 his son Richard Mountney, merchant, quitclaimed to John Lacy in the Fox, already in his occupation, for a (? further) sum of money. In 1604 John Lacie, citizen and clothworker, sold the Fox to Thomas White, D.D., for £330. It is not certain who was tenant at this time. In 1612 Edward Lane occupied it. In 1614 White leased the property, now known as the Golden Fox, formerly occupied by Lane, to John Eason, citizen and grocer, already in occupation, for 60 years from 1613 at £32 rent. No fine seems to have been taken. The schedule to the lease suggests a main building of 4 1/2 storeys above ground, probably with two staircases and rooms at a slightly different level at the back. The hall, kitchen, and one or two small chambers were on the first floor over the shop; a chamber over the hall, with a counting-house, the maids' chamber, and one or two back chambers on the second; and two more chambers, called the 'fore up chamber' and the 'next chamber' on the third. The hall had a boarded floor and wainscot round, the kitchen was stone paved. The chamber over the hall was wainscoted and had windows to the street. All the windows were glazed, apart from a lattice over the entry. The shop, on the ground floor, had chests, partitions, cupboards, and wainscot boxes and a writing seat in wainscot. Behind the main building was a stone-paved yard, and in the warehouse behind were more chests, partitions, and boxes to hold wares. (fn. 14)

Thomas White, D.D., founder of Sion College, London, also founded the Temple Almshouses, Bristol, to which he granted 10A c. 1615. For some years the rent income (£32) from this formed the largest part of the whole endow ment, but later this was augmented by the grant of further lands. The lessee and rent-payer from at least as early as 1618 was John Collins, succeeded in or before 1644 by his brother Ralph Collins. By 1657 the Golden Fox was known as the Sun. After Ralph Collins's death (after 1661) his executor William Collins apparently paid the rent, but in 1664-5 John Underwood, who married Ralph Collins' widow, paid the rent. Underwood was the leaseholder at the time of the Fire. Since Eason's death, however, which occurred before 1617, the property had been occupied by John Lawrence, by successive underleases from the leaseholder. Lawrence appears in tithe and rate assesments, but in 1638 his house was only rated at £20 p.a. John Lawrence's house had 6 hearths in 1662-3; it seems to have been entered as 'Joseph Larrant' in 1666 but this was probably an error. (fn. 15)

John Lawrence was occupying 10A at the time of the Fire, but died not long afterwards. He had declined to rebuild, as did the leaseholder Underwood. John Osborne, citizen and salter, was willing to rebuild for a reasonable term. After negotiation, the governors of the almshouses in Bristol, referred to as Temple Hospital, agreed to pay £250 towards rebuilding, Osborne to pay the rest, and to give him a 31-year lease at the old rent of £32. Osborne called this 'the hardest bargain in London' and certainly it was less advantageous than that of many existing leaseholders. The hospital's statutes did not allow it to make longer leases than 21 years, so a decree was obtained from the Fire Court confirming the agreement, in January 1671. The foundation had already been surveyed for the hospital in May 1669. (fn. 16)

10b

This property, known as the Bell, had been leased by William Fox to George Hawse, salter, for 21 years from 1562 at £4. 13s. 4d. rent. By 1571 it was occupied by John Nasshe. In 1573 Hampden and Dingley sold it, still occupied by Nasshe, to William Hayward, citizen and grocer, for £220. The property consisted of a cellar, 22 ft. 8 in. (6.91 m.) N.-S. by 13 ft. 7 in. (4.14 m.) E.-W. at the N. end by Cheapside and 13 ft. 7 1/4 in. (4.15 m.) at the S. end; a shop, measuring 27 ft. (8.23 m.) N.-S. by 15 ft. 3 1/2 in. to 15 ft. 7 in. (4.66 m. to 4.75 m.) E.- W.; a yard behind the shop, measuring 11 ft. 2 in. (3.4 m.) N.-S. by 10 ft. 11 1/2 in. (3.34 m.) E.-W. at the N. end and 11 ft. 2 1/2 in. (3.42 m.) E.-W. at the S. end; and a coal house at the S. end of the yard, measuring 20 ft. (6.1 m.) N.-S. by 9 ft. 7 in. (2.92 m.) E.-W. at the N. end and 8 ft. 7 in. (2.62 m.) E.-W. at the S. end. The other rooms of the house above the shop were not listed. The grant also included the easement of a privy vault and the pipe or 'tunnell' passing through part of the cellar of Stephen Mountney (10A). Under the yard was a vault, extending also under part of 10A, belonging to Mark Dingley, then occupying 10C. John Nashe, his wife and 3 other communicants lived together in a house in the parish of St. Mary Colechurch in 1574. John Slater, citizen and apothecary, lived in 10B in 1612 and 1617-22. By his will of 1620, proved 1622, he left his dwelling-house in the parish of St. Mary Colechurch known as the Plough to his 3 children John, Susan, and Martha Slater, for their lives, saving always his wife Susan Slater's life-interest in one third of the same as dower. After the death of the longest-lived of the children the property was to remain to the right heirs of John the son. In 1638 10B was occupied by Mr. Sleigh, probably tenant by lease, and was valued at £24 p.a. In 1656 Thomas Ewen of Limehouse and his wife Martha, one of the daughters of John Slater, citizen and apothecary, leased one third of 10B, the Plough, and of all shops, cellars, solars, rooms, wainscot and fixtures, to Edmund Sleigh, citizen and alderman, for 21 years (provided that Martha and her brother John lived so long) at £6. 13s. 4d. rent. In the same year Thomas Ewen and Martha apparently leased a further third of the same property to Sleigh, for 2 years at £16. 13s. 4d. rent, with the same proviso. Sleigh also ap pears to have held 10C on lease from other members of the Slater family. He had died before April 1657, when his widow Elizabeth granted, assigned, or mort gaged her interest in both properties to [Robert] Abbott, citizen and scrivener. The transactions in 1656-7 are only recorded in an incomplete copy of a deed, and it is possible that there are errors or omissions in the transcription. John Chapman occupied 10B in 1662-3, when it was said to have 7 hearths, and in early 1666, when it was said to have 6 hearths. (fn. 17)

At the time of the Fire John Chapman, citizen and mercer, occupied 10B, described as a messuage called the Plough in the parish of St. Mary Colechurch, formerly held by Edmund Sleigh, alderman; Chapman was probably tenant of Christopher Buckle, esquire, of Banstead, Surrey. A foundation (apparently the front part of the plot only, where the shop had stood, as it measured 16 ft. to 18 ft. (4.88 m. to 5.49 m.) wide by 26 ft. (7.92 m.) long) was surveyed for Chapman in April 1669, between Lawrence (10A) to the W. and Mr. Woodward (presumably 10C) to the E. In May 1669 Woodward, who had begun rebuilding, was found to have encroached by some inches onto Chapman's land towards the back. Chapman also alleged that the wall was insufficiently built, but this was not found to be the case. In June 1669 Christopher Buckle leased the toft to Chap man for 62 years at £15 rent, payable from 1670. Chapman was to undertake the rebuilding, and thereafter to repair and maintain. The foundation had probably not yet been cleared of rubble, since all the stones, brick, lead, iron and other materials on the premises were granted to him as well. In May 1670, after a complaint by Chapman concerning his house in Cheapside near Bucklersbury, the City's viewers declared that two walls built at different times, by Mr. Savill, carpenter, and Mr. Colly, bricklayer, should have been bonded together, but now on settling had begun to separate and had 'flared and bellyed out'. The builders were to shore up the floors and take down and rebuild the defective parts. (fn. 18)

10c

In 1573 Edmund Hampden and his wife Isabel quitclaimed to Mark Dingley, citizen and grocer, in the tenement Dingley now occupied in the parish of St. Mary Colechurch, between 10B to the W. and the house of John Bristowe, in St. Benet Sherehog parish, to the E. A watercourse or compluvium running from 10B through part of 10C into Cheapside was reserved in the release, and a vault under 10A-C confirmed to Dingley. Mr. Dingley, his wife, and 5 other commu nicants lived in this house in 1574. In 1575 Dingley and William Colles, grocer, sold 10C, in which Dingley lived, to Nicholas Backhouse, citizen and grocer. Dingley probably kept the leasehold interest in it which he had by Fox's lease for 30 years from 1561. The property contained a cellar, between 21 ft. 7 in. and 22 ft. 4 in. (6.58 m. to 6.81 m.) long N.-S. by 12 ft. 2 in. to 12 ft. 4 in. (3.71 m. to 3.76 m.) wide; a vault under the yard of this tenement, the Half Moon, measuring 8 ft. 10 in. to 9 ft. 2 in. (2.69 m. to 2.79 m.) N.-S. by 13 ft. 7 1/2 in. to 12 ft. 6 in. (4.15 m. to 3.81 m.) E.-W.; and a vault under the yards of 10B and 10A, measuring 9 ft. 2 in. (2.79 m.) N.-S. at the E. end and 10 ft. 2 in. (3.1 m.) N.-S. at the W. end, by 21 ft. (6.4 m.) E.-W. along the S. side and 19 ft. 6 in. (5.94 m.) E.-W. along the N. side. On the ground floor was a shop, some 25 ft. (7.62 m.) N.-S. by 15 ft. to 14 ft. 2 in. (4.57 m. to 4.32 m.) E.-W., and behind it a yard, warehouse, and a house called a 'stewe' measuring together some 19 ft. 9 in. to 19 ft. 11 in. (6.02 m. to 6.07 m.) N.-S., by 14 ft. 2 in. to 15 ft. 4 in. (4.32 m. to 4.67 m.) E.-W. (fn. 19)

On his death in 1580 Nicholas Backhouse held the messuage called the Half Moon, and a vault, in the parish of St. Mary Colechurch, late of Mark Dingley, worth £4 p.a., according to inquisition. By his will of 1576, proved in 1580, however, Nicholas Backhouse left his tenement in Colechurch parish, which Dingley still held of him, at £20 rent, to his wife Emma for life, with remainder to his eldest son Samuel in tail. This entail may have been broken by a recov ery in 1616, when William Burlas, kt., and Nicholas Fuller, esquire, recovered 2 messuages, in the parishes of All Hallows Honey Lane (11/2) and St. Mary Colechurch; the latter tenement could however have been 105/2, q.v., held by the Backhouse family later in the 17th century. (fn. 20) In 1612 and 1619-24 10C was occupied, and possibly also owned, by Francis Slater, grocer, brother of the John Slater (d. 1620-22) who owned and occupied 10B at that time. Francis Slater, parishioner of St. Mary Colechurch parish, died in 1629, leaving all his lands and tenements in London to his son Anthony Slater, saving the dower of his wife Margery for life. Francis Grove and Adam Grove, or one of them, occupied 10C, probably in the early 1630s. In 1638 it was occupied by Mr. Harvie, and valued at £24 p.a. In 1656 Dame Jane Fairwell of Newthall (Notts.) and Richard Slater of Newthall, who were probably either Anthony Slater's widow and son or his children and co-heirs leased 10B to Edmund Sleigh, citizen and alderman, describing it as a messuage or tenement formerly called the Half Moon and lately called the Ship, formerly occupied by Francis and/or Adam Grove and then or lately by Edmund Harvey esquire and/or Edmund Sleigh, situated in or near Cheapside in St. Mary Colechurch parish, for 21 years at £30 rent. Sleigh also held 10B, on lease from the children of John Slater. He was dead by April 1657, when his widow Elizabeth granted, as signed, or mortgaged her interest to [Robert] Abbott, citizen and scrivener. It is not clear who occupied 10C in 1662-3; it was probably the empty house with 7 hearths listed immediately before 10B in the Hearth Tax return of March 1666. No foundation survey was made, but a Mr. Woodward appears to have held the lease in 1669. (fn. 21)