O U N D L E ’ S S T O RY

A H ISTO RY O F TO WN A ND SCH O O L

W SMA LLEY L W B D . A , . .

VI CAR OF O U N D LE A ND R UR AL DEA N A ND HONORARY CANO N O F PE TE RB ORO UG H CATHEDRAL

LO NDO N T H E S H E L D O N P R E S S

RTH MB R N V N W C 2 NO U E LA D A E UE , . . RK AND T RONTO THE MACMILLA N co NEW YO O : . TO THE MEMORY

FREDERICK WILLIA M SANDERSON

HEADMAS TER OF OUNDLE — 1892 1922.

FELL Asms p 1 TH NE 922 5 JU 1 . ,

e a e ed th e oss b e and was s fi ed H tt mpt imp i l j u ti .

d ' PRINTED IN G REAT B RITA I N BY W ILLIA M CLO WES A ND S ONS , LI MITKO

LO NDO N A ND B ECCLES .

PREFA CE

HAVE advocated always the teaching of history

from local and immediate surroundings , on the ou principle that you must begin where y are . The force of the imagination upon conduct may be

great, but to allow the imagination an illimitable field

in conjuring up the past is risky . To this end , I set out some few years ago to write an “ Oundle Child ’ s ” “ History , when some of Older growth inquired , Why ” ’ out " of O undle s leave us Hence this record story . It is Often said that there is no room for originality of in the writing history , and , certainly, this is largely true with regard to my little book ; but I may claim to have spent much time in research and to have

‘ o B ut it not elucidated a few p ints . could have been put together without the kind help of many friends . To some I have expressed acknowledgment in the of course the narrative , and I cannot name them all ; but I desire to mention those to whom I am especially Cobthor ne indebted . To Mrs . Smith , of , Oundle , to of of Miss Smith, the Rectory, and to Miss Dixon , a Rose Cottage , the daughter of a lover of arch eology, I owe my sincere thanks for the loan of documents and papers . Dr . George Bidder, of Cambridge , Canon of Howard , late Dean Stamford , and Mr . A . H . M . l Spence , Of Pembroke College , Oxford , have kind y assisted me in confirming facts . To the late Rev . R . M . ’

tson . S er j ean , Rector of St Peter s , Northampton , iii IV PREFACE

l I am greatly indebted , and it is especial y pleasing to mention the condition with whi ch he desired me to a of associate my cknowledgment the use of his notes . It was that I should make it known that any expense incurred by him in connection wi th the research into Oundelian matters was defrayed by the late Mr . R . P .

Brereton , whose name is recalled by many with deep regard . Two other names I mention with gratitude—the l first is that of Mr . H . M . King, of Ound e School , “ ” with whom I have had many conversations , and who has added to his kindness by reading the proof him sheets . The other is that of to whose memory my book is dedicated and who alone read the MS . and gave me constant encouragement . My friendship one with him is of the greatest inspirations of my life . had of If he had lived , I hopes seeing the Story on ” h the Screen , which would have made the istory of - the old world town of Oundle live with a fuller vitality than print can give . But he has gone from shadows to reality . Perhaps some one else may come forward to make this possible . M W . S ALLEY LAW .

A u ust 1922. g ,

O T —In N E . quotations I have preserved the actual of spelling , even though there may be variants proper few names within a lines . CONTENTS

CHA PTER I IN THE DAYS OF THE RE OTORS .

II THE ARI . P SH CHURCH

III ALK ROUND IN 1565 . A W

I G REAT FOUNDER V. A

V. PARISH PRIE ST AND B ENE FAOTOR

I THE COMMONWEALTH—B EFORE AND AFTER V .

S OCIAL LIFE IN ' THE E IGHTEENTH CENTURY

WHAT WE HAVE HEAR D WITH OUR E ARS AND OUR ” FATHE RS HAVE TOLD U S

E P ILOGU E

INDEX

O UNDLE’ S STO RY

CHAPTER I

I N THE DAYS OF THE RECTO RS

of — in - U ndela HE town Oundle the Anglo Saxon , has behind it a very long history circling round

the Parish Church, but bringing also before the n imagi ation kings , queens , archbishops , and high Officers of State, as well as the business man and worker, who have all made their contribution . Of the man to Whom it is indebted for its name we can say nothi ng ; but it would appear t o be most probable that it is not to the river (Avondale) but t o a person that ’ o We must ascribe it . Unna s dales speak to us f the scenes which have formed the background of the actions Of a long series Of lives since the days O f our unknown out we ancestor, Unna . As has been pointed , if walk from Biggin to the town along the B enefield Road we shall be able to note the formation of the ground and ’ welcome Nature s assistance in the realisation Of our r * sto y . Professor Skeat , in writing to a friend, said ll I wi believe Oundle to be derived from Avondale, r aven m In whenever I hear any Englishman call a a mu . ” my experience no one would think of it . Oundle is built on a road from Peterborough to Mar ket on Harborough, and stands a spur of the Great Oolite

’ a e n C mb r idg Cou ty Geographies. M . W . B r own s Nor th am t n p o shi r e , p . 6 0 . 2 OUNDLE ’ S STORY

92 (clays and limestones) , at a mean elevation of feet - 1 above sea level , the Parish Church being on ground 11 feet above . The town is triangular in form , and the streets are so placed as to receive the westerly and north westerly winds and to be protected from those from the east . Of John Morton , the author a Natural History of 1712 Northamptonshire , educated at Oundle , in described Oundle thus

n -u Ou dle is a fair, well b ilt, pleasant and healthy ’

i . i on town , advantageously and sweetly s tuate Tis bu lt e a d clining ground , on the North side of the River Nene , Of which, at a small distance , encompasses it in the figure u — a crescent, and enriches its fr itful meadows a situation ” very agr eeable with regard to health . — The mean estimated population from 1870 18 80 was

persons , but in recent years , in spite of the rapid t Of dl grow h Oun e School , whose numbers were included Of 19 11 1921 in the census and , the returns show and respectively .

The man who , by his death in Oundle , has made its name famous in ecclesiastical history has been described - - Of as light hearted , wrong headed , full genius , but s defective in judgment . The most eloquent man of hi day, he was overbearing in argument, but in action he ” was tolerant and generous .

was . 70 9 . It This St Wilfred , who died in Oundle in as 665 l w at the Council of Whitby in that Wi fred, then under thirty years of age , made his mark as the advocate Of Of uniformity of church custom on the plan Rome . Wilfred so attracted t he Royal attention of the King that he was called to be the second Of the Bishops of York . But according to the principles advocated by him at

Whitby, Wilfred journeyed to the Continent for his con secration , and upon his return , after a very long stay abroad , found himself forestalled and another Bishop IN THE DAYS OF THE RECTORS 3

chosen in hi s place . Being ultimately admitted to his

was . See, it not long before he was again in controversy now of Theodore, Archbishop Canterbury, the founder of our i paroch al system , determined to have dioceses Of

manageable size , and proceeded to divide that of York t o into three . Against this Wilfred appealed Rome, and

thus initiated , so far as records go, the system Of appeals

. u as to Rome Although successf l , Wilfred w not permitted

the fruits Of victory, but was condemned to imprisonment , partly on suspicion of having obtained the Papal Bull by

. hi s fraud Upon release Wilfred , in company with five

priests , migrated to Sussex, where he found the inhabitants as wholly ignorant Of the Divine Name . There w a failure

of Of s i . the crops , and the people had no knowledge fi h ng sea Wilfred collected eel nets and cast them into the , and fish divided the he secured into three portions , namely,

for . for the poor, for the lenders Of the nets , themselves Of The people soon came to love him , and his work conver on sion went rapidly . on i He founded a church at Selsey, a spot long s nce submerged in the Channel . The King of Sussex gave Wilfred 87 hydes of land and 250 men and women living ” it one of upon bondsmen and bondswomen . Every these he immediately freed and afterwards baptised . ’ A portion of Wilfred s Old diocese was after some years him— l given back to but on y for five years , when he was r — 05 once more an exile . F om 692 7 he acted as Bishop of s V the Diocese Of Leicester, and probably fir t isited his of Oundle during that time, and founded monastery

St . An drew . al On a further appe to Rome , Wilfred was again condemned by a Council , but at length, upon the inter Of cession the Pope , he was allowed to hold the Bishopric

of . i see Hexham In his Old age he w shed, like Elijah, to the monasteries he had founded , and on his round of of 0 9 visitation he arrived in Oundle in the autumn 7 . was on 3r d Here he taken ill , and died October , while the 4 OUNDLE’S STORY

i 3oth 10 4 monks were s nging the verse of Psalm , When ” Thou lettest Thy breath go forth they shall be made . 190 9 e - In October, , the tw lve hundredth anniversary of u in his death was commemorated in O ndle , and the font the Parish Church dedicated by Bishop Glyn Of Peter ’ borough . After Wilfred s death the monastery founded was by him in Oundle plundered and burnt , and lay waste for more than a century . It 13 interesting to note that m the middle Of the tenth ’ u cent ry Archbishop Wulfstan , one of Wilfred s successors S ec al his was in the of York , so ended days in Oundle and ’

95 6 . buried here in Not long after, Wilfred s church was E the wold rebuilt by l , Bishop Of Winchester, and became

. of the Parish Church A carved stone Saxon work , ' coflin perhaps part of a cross or lid, remains , but no part of the Saxon church is to be found in the present fabric . ZEthelwold Of Of was a disciple Dunstan , Archbishop was i 963 Canterbury, and made B shop of Winchester in , i i and with the encouragement Of K ng Edgar , rebu lt the monastery of Medeshamstede (Peterborough) . The story on of his dream , in which he was warned to move from

is . Oundle to Peterborough , told by Hugh the Chronicler i We give it , first , in the or ginal for the purpose of easy m and per anent reference .

r i el l Restau at o Burgi per sanctum A d uuo dum. r aefinitum sur r exit Post p autem tempus a Domino, sanctissimus ZEdelwoldus EpiS COpus Wentanae Civitatis in tempore Edgar i regis chr istianissimi qui expandens u a r aefi ur atae h a reas alas aquil e sibi p g late per or em , Anglim coepit plurima monaster ia per diversa fundar e vel constr uer e aut reparare loca ; adjuvante Domino et amminiculante et beni nissimo Ed ar o sibi rege piissimo g g , Cum ue noctu ue infudar et asti tit ei q in tali die q , o opere uadem eum ut q nocte in visu Dominus , moncus ad medit er r aneos r oficiscer etur uoddam Anglos p , quatenus q antiquum Sancti Petri monasterium destr uctum in IN THE DAYS OF THE RECTORS 5

r i r r e ar ar et Par uit p o em statum p . Quid multa ille i s r om tus stat m ju sis qui ad omnia bona agenda p p erat . Veniensque in pr ov inciam ad ipsms monaster ia quondam U ndala dictam utans ue possessionem , p q ipsum esse locum quem sibi Dominus demonstr av er at quia aptum et ydoneum inv ener at coe it constr uer e Et ad hoc ipsum locum , p . ecce ei i a ar er e di natus monens iterum Dom nus pp g est, ipsum ut cr e idi nem i si us aululum r o r eder etur per p alvei p p g , p . donec ad ipsos parietes i psius combusti monaster ii per v enir et laetus et ussa com lens r e er it . Qui , de visione j p , pp ument or um et ecun dum ibi in ipsa ecclesia stabula facta j p , mne s ur citia et immunditia r e let o mque locum p p um. Qui dolens in intimis visceribus quod tam pulchr um Dei templum ita ad nihilum esset r eductum ; coepit tamen t idens instant em emundar e . E v locum , quod ad tam o or t er ent Wintoniam r ediit ut se magnum locum p , , r a ar ar et et de r ecans eum hac p p , die ac nocte p , qui sibi ost ender at ut ei r ab er et necessaria p , quo tam grande Et uodam intr s opus per fi cer c posset . dum die q a set u or atur us ex andissét solus oratorium su m more solito , ac p de r ecans ut et r e ina manus suas ad Deum , p sibi regem g m cat er os ue et utor es r a dictum q optimates , pios adj ad p Opus et cater a ua ince er at facer et fer t ur stetisse ad , q ipse p , , ibi r eginam clanculo ex industria retro ostium in angulo ut auscultar et quomodo vel quid Deum servus Dei depre disset ni ua un u r o car etur . ua au c e asset Q cum om a, q q g , subito pr a siliit ac compr ehendens cum ; dixit Deum et i sam exaudi sse e us i sam ue ollicetur p preces j , p q p con solatr icem et ad utr icem com ul j in omnibus fore, p

regem cater osque et similia agere . At ille quamv is aululum v er ecundatus incr e asset tamen p p eam, omnium it ua mox v e bonorum largitori gratias eg . Q ad regem niens cuncta per or dinem qua audier it b onamque v oluntatem siu Pontificis cunctis i sum ue ho ip s. coram pandit p q r tatur et de r ecatur ut a adificet et r estaur et p , ecclesi s Dei , , quo r r et Et sibi regnum caleste adqui e . quia erat idem rex sapientissimus at erga r eligionem et ecclesias Dei dev otis si mus mox acci tum e i sco um r a ce it ut , ad se p p p p , instanter, ua ince er at consummar et r omittens se ci q p , , p in omnibus auxiliatur um et lar iter im lev it ut fore . Quod g p postea ” atuit p . 6 OUNDLE ’ S STORY

ZEdelwol The restoration of Burgh by Saint d. More Of was over, when the time appointed the Lord come, l old i Of Of ZEthe w , most sa ntly bishop the city Winchester, arose in the time of Edgar, most Christian monarch, who spreading his golden wings like an eagle far and wide to u o r through the realm of England , began fo nd or build restore very many monasteries in di fferent places with the help Of the Lord and with the support of the most pious l and benign King Edgar himse f. And when he had Spent himself in such work day and night, on a certain night the Lord stood by him in a vision warning him to set out to the midland English as far as a certain ancient monastery

Of St . Peter, which had been destroyed, that he might restore it to its former condition . Why many words s to Immediately he obeyed the command , being quick carry out all good works . And coming into a di strict l formerly the property of the monastery ca led Oundle , and thinking it was the very place which the Lord had shown u to him , because he had fo nd it fit and appropriate to that l place , he began to bui d . And behold again the Lord vouchsafed to appear to him , warning him to go a little - further along the edge of the river bed itself until he should Of And come to the walls the burnt monastery . he , joyful l because of the vision and fulfi ling the commands , found set up there in the church itself stables of beasts Of burden and cattle , and the whole place filled with filth and foul h ness . And he grieving in his inmost heart t at so fair a od temple of G should be brought to nought, nevertheless l began immediately to c eanse the place . And seeing how much was needed for so great a place he returned to

Winchester to prepare himself, and praying day and night had him hi that He Who shown these t ngs , would provide him with what was necessar y that he might complete so

great a work . And when one day he had entered alone s hi s into hi oratory to pray, according to wont, and had to spread forth his hands God , praying that He would make the king and queen and the rest of the nobles hi s pious helpers for the appointed work and the other things

which he had begun, it is said that the queen stood there mi intentionally , in a corner behind the door, that she ght hear how or in what way the servant of God was praying to

8 OUNDLE ’ S STORY

a leu ar um leu ar u pastur Silva III g longitudine, II g m oner atur latitudine . Cum valet XX solidos , De mercato XXV Valuit V o solidi . solidos m do XI libra .

6 U nd e The same Church holds hides in el . There is

9 . 3 l land for ploughs there In demesne are plough ands , 3 23 10 9 la serfs , villeins , and bordars with plough nds . 203 250 There is a mill rendering . and eels . There are 5 0

. 3 2 acres Of pasture There is wood , leagues long , leagues

b 203 . road . When stocked it is worth From the market 2 8 5a comes 5 . It was worth , but now it is worth

We shall be able to give details Of the mi ll later on in our story . We must interpret the measurements given here with i f V h d a very d f erent ision from t at which we have to ay . Thr ee leagues by two leagues would mean that the woodland Of Oundle included acres . The increase in value of the manor retained in demesne between 10 66 and 10 86 was probably due either to the condition of waste in the former year, or to the clearing of the woods Of whi ch had taken place in the interval twenty years . A similar clearance had taken place in Ashton , for, according to Domesday

4 A scetone The same church holds ; hides in . There 2 is land for 8 ploughs . In demesne there are ploughs 1 11 ll 2 6 with serf and vi eins and bordars with ploughs . 325 There are 2 mills rendering 40 8 . and eels and 16 acres

f . 8 4 a O s. no of meadow, and cres wood It was worth , w

a Of There is a person l note, Ivo holds the Abbot half a hide . It is worth - Of In a twelfth century survey Oundle , there is also 1 evidence of a personal note . There also Vivien , small ” Tur old virgate . Abbot is recorded to have given Vivian of Chur ehfield khide in Oundle . Tur old or Thorold of Fescamp was Abbot of Peter not i borough from 1069 to 10 99 . It is unt l sixty years ’ r old s 115 9 after Tu death, , that we have any information IN THE DAYS OF THE RECTORS 9

o of of a Rector f Oundle, Ralph, to whom a grant is made ’ four acres of land by permission of the Pope . In Ralph s day the Parish Church was probably a cruciform building 12 of with a central tower . In 16 the monks Peterborough e displeas d King John , who took revenge upon them by burning their property . He sent forces to burn the church of and town Of Croyland, but happily the scruples their s officer prevented such a catastrophe . The church in

Oundle also escaped, although the monastery granaries here were destroyed . It was not uncommon in those days for the Abbot to appoint men in minor orders to be Rectors of the churches

. 1223 under the monastery In , a Subdeacon named John of de Burgo, was appointed to the Rectory Oundle , and it was stipulated that he should continue to attend school . x of But ne t came John de Oundle, the first man whom we c we have re ord as bearing this designation , and Of whom still possess a memorial , though it has ceased to be legible . n two Bridges , the historia , tells us that j ust centuries ago there existed in the church a fine fior iat ed cross with an inscription in Lombardic characters to the memory Of this ’ John . In Bridge s day the inscription remained thus

Johan : de : U ndele : ke CI LID : Re : De ote S c pe.

O f h John was also Rector Scotter in Lincolns ire, where monks of the Peterborough were also patrons , and where

in most cases the men appointed were in minor orders . o cr oss al Though the indentati n Of the one remains , there can be little doubt that the memorial slab in the chancel floor Of our Parish Church just to the south Of the organ is

that which tells Of this Rector Of very early days . Passing we over it daily have recalled often the words , There God was a man sent from whose name was John . Thus does the memory Of John of Oundle call down the centuries to the men of his town Men sent from God 10 OUNDLE ’ S STORY

In 1267 the Abbot of Pet erborough obtained the ’ i of 14 priv lege a days fair here, beginning on the feast of

Ascension . — After Hugh de Colingham ( 1278 9— 1295 and Roger 1295-6 one Boudon ( there came , Robert de Croy

land who retained the Rectory for forty years , and whose

body was placed to rest in the Parish Church . This man of had simply reached the Office acolyte, but was evidently as t o a man Of influence , seven years after his appointment Oundle (in 1310 ) he was permitted to hold also the Rect ory two b e o f ne e . Peakirk, and years later a third fic

’ 1313 Cr o l In Whitsun Week, , during Robert de y and s incumbency the parishioners of Tansor were making their customary Whitsuntide procession to Oundle preceded by h their cross and candles . They ad just entered the church yard when some of the inhabitants of Oundle rushed upo n t hem , attacked both priests and people , broke up the staff of the cross into three or four pieces and trod the cross under ‘ n ’ their feet in an heretical and diabolical ma ner . The

Bishop in consequence excommunicated the Offenders . for c The real reason this attack was certainly lo al jealousy,

and no anger against the symbol of Christianity . Pro was bably it was customary , and considered courteous , for the crosses of surrounding parishes to be lowered on or entering the town the churchyard Of Oundle . At any d rate the entry is Of interest as showing that Oun le , an of was d as early centre Christianity, regarde the mother church or minster Of some of the surrounding parishes who ” came at Whitsuntide to make their Pentecostal gifts .

al Bishop D derby of Lincoln , who excommunicated these Offenders , granted an indulgence towards the repair

Of Oundle bridge . It is interesting to note that four years after the above 1317 of c date, viz . in , John Gifford, Rector Cottersto k , s founded in that parish one of the largest, if not the large t , colleges of private foundation of a chantry character

i r of r a Victo r ia H sto y No th mptonshi r e . IN THE DAYS OF THE RECTORS 11

throughout the kingdom . Through its Rector, Robert de wi Croyland, Oundle became linked th the foundation Of ’

. 7 1317 . King s College , Cambridge On July , , Edward II promulgated a writ for establishing the King ’ s College in ’ of the University Cambridge . The King s scholars took up their residence two days later— ten and a warden - v e 13 9 rising to the normal of thirty fi scholars in 1 .

’ In 1336 the question Of giving the Society (King s O n d Hall) a permanent home f its ow was taken in han . On October 28 of that year the king purchased from

Robert de Croyland, Rector Of Oundle, a large house built on the ground now occupied by the walls and grass plot in Of front the chapel of Trinity College . It has been suggested that this was the house that had been previously

hired for the scholars . The house bought from Robert de d Croyland was built round three si es of a square , the centre

block standing near and parallel to the present chapel , and the two projecting wings extending beyond the path no which w runs from the Great Gate to The Lodge . It

was . in two storeys , of wood and thatched In assigning rooms to the scholars those on the ground floor were known as celary and those on the upper floor as

1342 was Robert de Croyland died in , and buried by the ’ of Prior Peterborough on St . Matthew s Day before the altar of the Parish Church . Before the burial , the sacrist on Of of the Abbey publicly claimed in the church, behalf ’ the Abbey, the deceased Rector s best saddle and bridle as r b enefice a mo tuary due , in that he had held a in the W patronage Of the abbey . Mortuary dues ere paid in we see Oundle , as shall later, until well into the nineteenth century . ’ Cr o land s y successor was a great personage , one John de Thoresby, Canon Of Lincoln and Southwell and keeper ’ of the King s Privy Seal . He was so constantly engaged

“ ’ ’ a ” Th e K n s S cho ar s and K n s H , pu i s ed i g l - i g ll bl h anonymously on th e six hun dr edth anniver sar y of King ’ dwar I E d I . s r w it . 12 OUNDLE ’ S STORY in London in attendance on the king (Edward and ” i put to such expense in so doing, that the k ng provided a grant for a year to meet the expense of food andtravelling ’ for Thor esby s attendants and ser vants from Oundle to

London and back for a year . Thoresby was Rector for h l i t ree years on y, dur ng which time he was made Dean el of Lichfi d in addition to all his other Offi ces . He became ’

of . Bishop St David s , then Bishop of Worcester, and 135 2 A of ultimately in rchbishop York, which he retained

21 6 1373 . for years , dying on November , We should — remember Thoresby for two things he settled the primacy of in favour of Canterbury , and laid the foundation the f present choir O York Minster . Thoresby was followed in 1346 by one James de Beau was a ecclesi fort , who also statesman rather than an

o ffi . hi s asti , and who also held many o ces Like prede of cessor he held the Rectory Oundle for three years , l et when he exchanged with one Roger Holm, who, on y y sub- was of a deacon , already an incumbent in the diocese l Salisbury . The year after his appointment to Ound e he Obtained leave Of absence for five years that he might study at a University .

Three other Rectors followed Holm , and then came rivals to the throne in the persons Of Thomas Brake and was John Boor . The former duly appointed and insti t ut ed n of by the mo ks Peterborough, but the king , who his claimed the patronage , gained the day in favour Of nominee . When , however, Richard II . was dethroned , Brake commenced an action for the recovery Of his bene

fice and was ultimately reinstated in 1407 . Thi s year Of settlement Of differences between Rectors m witnessed the co mittal of a serious crime in the parish , in the neighbourhood Of the south side of the Brick - B enefield n stock now the Road . The legal chro icler recorded it as follows Phillipus Skynner de Oundell in dicta Gaole existens eo quod ipse indicatus est coram pr efatis custodibus IN THE DAYS OF THE RECTORS 13 pacis eo quod ipse simul cum alns ignotis die Jovis in festo “ Apostolor um Simone et Jude anno regni regis Henrici 1111 post conquestum octavo Rob er tum Hamond de Oundell apud Oundell in quodam loco vocato Pekkesle felonice r it e r er it M il e r edi inte fec t mu d av . at daqu fuit uxor p cti Roberti Hammond et Johannes filius ejusdem Matilde in dicta gaola existentes eo quod ipsi indicati sunt coram pr efatis custodibus pacis eo quod 1psi die Veneris proximo post festum Apost olor um Simone et Jude anno regni “ regis Henrici IIII post conquestum octavo pr edictum Phillipus Skynner apud Oundell feloni ce r eceptav er unt scient esipsum Phillipum esse felo domini regis et fecisse ni et ur der r di t Et eO felo am m um p e c um. de quod prefati Matilda et Johannes Lawe fuer unt conscientes cum prefato Phillipo die et anno supr adi ctis ad feloniam et mur der um i ” pr ed ctum faciendum . Which being translated reads

Phillip Skynner of Oundle b emg ln the said gaol because he was indicted before the aforesaid guardians of the peace on in that he , together with other persons unknown , Thursday in the festival of the Apostles Simon and Jude Of r in the eighth year the reign of King Hen y IV . since the n co quest, did feloniously slay and murder Robert Hamond of Oundle in a certain place called Pekkesle l d (Pex ey) . And Matil a the wife Of the aforesaid Robert Hamond and John son of the same Matilda being in the said gaol i n that they were indicted before the aforesaid d on Guar ians of the peace, in that they Friday next after the festival of the Apostles Simon and Jude in the eighth year of the reign of King Henry IV . since the conquest, did feloniously receive the aforesaid Phillip Skynner at Oundle knowing the said Phillip to be a felon against the Lord King and to have committed the aforesaid felony and

murder . And for that the aforesaid Matilda and John Law were accessory to the aforesaid Phi lip on the day and year above mentioned for committing the murder and ” felony aforesaid .

’ of In the days Brake s successor, Richard Ashton , w o was 1439—147 h Abbot of Peterborough from 1, 14 OUNDLE ’ S STORY

Of of consecrated at Peterborough two suits vestments , one al black velvet and the other Of white damask , and so three

dl Chur ch . bells , probably small hand bells , for Oun e His

successor, Abbot William Ramsey , consecrated another

bell . These matters were brought to light some forty to fifty years later when a dispute arose between the Bishop O f Lincoln and the Abbot of Peterborough as to the right Will am S aundb ek to consecrate , y Coke , Thomas , John r Castell , and other parishione s of Oundle giving evidence f in favour o the Abbot . The last incumbent of Oundle to rise to the episcopate n 1447 was Joh de la Bere , who , in , was made Bishop of ’

. 1469 St . David s In the tithes of Ashton and Oundle of Sw nle Mills , together with four acres arable land in y y (thi s I cannot trace) and a little meadow between Dodmor e

and the Nene , passed to the Rector , and in return the monks Of Peterborough received tithes of all loppings and

underwood in the parish . The year 1477 was one which greatly affected the after saw O history of the parish . It the last f the Rectors of

Oundle . The monks Of Peterborough , as we have seen ,

had long been patrons of the living . They now became on possessed of the Rectorial manor , condition that a Vicarage be sufficiently endowed and a competent sum — of money for the monks were the almoners Of the poo r be distributed yearly among the poor parishioners by the ”

i of . d ocesan the place The king, in return , received from the monks some 8 4 acres in the parish O f Cottingham

but the monks gained largely, for they received the total d income amounting to £5 4 63 . 8 . and paid the resident - 63 . 8 d. priest or Vicar substitute) £13 per annum . Of t e this agreement we shall hear again later, but it is h of explanation that which puzzles many, namely, the fact that there is a Rectory upon one side Of the churchyard was and a Vicarage on the other . The arrangement approved by the Bishop of Lincoln , in whose diocese Oundle was then situate and who was ever remembered in

CHAPTER II

THE PARISH CHU RCH

N the conspectus which we print on the Opposite

page, it will be seen in the first diagram that the r was Norman Chu ch cruciform , and that definite dimensions are assigned to it . If we grasp the position of this building we shall be helped very greatly to trace its development .

There is evidence for a cruciform church with a central its 1n tower, the end walls of four limbs being line with the a outside walls Of the existing ch pels and aisles . The nave was part of an early church (possibly Saxon) consisting of hi nave and presbytery, to w ch a central tower, transepts , and chancel were added during the first part Of the twelfth t century , in place of the presby ery . C L — i TH E CHAN E . The head Of its North w ndow remains above the arch leading into the chapel . Portions of an f external sill string remain in the opposite wall . Part o a shallow buttress may be seen from outside built up in the East wall Of the North chapel— the corresponding buttress was removed when the South chapel was rebuilt . — TRA NS EPTs. The great width for their period of the

E B . aisles suggests that their North and South walls were built in line with already existing transepts ; in fact the - South west quoining of the South transept may be seen outside where the transept and aisle meet . The side walling

I am indebted for these notes on th e Nor man Chur ch t o ’ r u r . n a of S . e e s o e e a r e Mr . A th B Whitti gh m , t P t r C ll g , C mb i , an wh o h as devoted gr eat time and pains to th e stu y of th e sub j ec t . CO N S PECTU S S H EWI N G P R O B A B LE D E VELO PM E N T O F P A R I S H CH U RC H

THE PARISH CHURCH 17

Of the transepts still exists above the arches into the aisles and chapels . THE NORMAN CHANCEL AND TRANSEPTS CONTEM — l PO RA RY . The top Of this wa ling comes some feet below

f of . E O E . the top the present walls . The walls the extension of the chancel (with no doubt the Norman chancel more t - to the West) are of the same heigh . The North east - — - skew back still in S im Of the Old steep gable of the chancel shows that not more than one course can have been removed from the walls . The Norman plinths of the chancel arch and the E . responds Of the transept arches remain below the present bases , and show that all three of on arches were two orders , inner supported attached - on one semi columns and outer detached shafts , Of whose bases still remains in the church . R — of CENT AL TOWER . The Norman plinths the chancel 3 9 wi and transept arches are feet inches de, while the walls

2 11 . above are only feet inches thick Moreover, the out sides Of these plinths align with the outside faces of the side walls Of the transepts and chancel . The natural con s 3 9 elusion, that the e plinths once bore walls feet inches thick, is in keeping with two further pieces of evidence . 5 In the South transept the strip of walling inches wide , on most to the North the inside of the East wall , is rougher hi than the rest, evidently dden in the wall originally ; of and , although the South tiebeam the transept roof is

close against the South wall , the North beam is six inches hi away from the North wall . T s shows that when this nl transept was e arged in the fourteenth century, the

thicker walls were still standing . Greater height can have e been the only reason for gr ater thickness , and the breaks in the clerestory walls show that a central tower at least as high as the clerestory existed when the latter was

built . - EVIDENCE FOR STAIR TURRET AT NORTH WEST CORNER — OF TOWER The block of masonry on whi ch the War

Memorial is placed has been unexplained hi therto . The break in the North wall of the clerestory is directly o Of 5 above the resp nd the arcade, and nearly feet West of In the break the South wall . When the central tower as a w removed , the South half of the rch between the North 18 OUNDLE ’ S STORY

was 2 aisle and the transept rebuilt, making the arch feet wider and leaving its apex 1 foot North of the middle of r of the span . The No th chamfer the East respond Of the arcade is continuous (instead Of being broken by abacus) and the hoodmould on the North side of the arch ends abruptly over the respond ; which shows that a wall formerly projected northwards at this point . This solid block can only have enclosed a newel stair leading to the on i tower . The break the North side of th s block is where the West side of the newel came . The stair must have b was i een entered from the North transept . It bu lt

E E . before the . additions , but perhaps later than the central tower . V — al THE NA E . A nave with the West w l in line with E E . the West walls of the aisles must have existed when . aisles were built . Absence of bonding between the nave was i and the aisle walls shows that the nave the earl er . Existing cruciform Norman churches have naves Of about e l this size compared with their East rn limbs . The wal ing in the spandrels Of the nave arcades is contemporary with r a the cle estory, but the old nave w lls must have been at 3 least as high as the arcades and probably feet higher . - A consideration Of the North east corner of the S outh aisle shows that the nave walls were at least 1 foot higher than the side walls of the other three limbs . The nave is 7 inches narrower and rather North of straight with the chancel . This indicates that it is earlier than the tower n and the Eastern limbs . The only visible maso ry Of the nave (the West half Of the masonry below the War Memorial and the South side of the West respond of the South arcade) shows stone of different character from the of Norman walling and differently faced . The East wall the nave (West face) went directly South from the break in the masonry below the War Memorial . There must have been originally a small presbytery in the space now i t between the transepts , wh ch accoun s for the Norman n tower and chancel being wider than the ave . If the tradition that [Ethelwold rebuilt the church between 963 98 4 and has any sure foundation , there is no reason why the nave and presbytery should not have formed the church ” that he built . THE PARISH CHURCH 19

Entering our Parish Church with the above most care ful our we and detailed notes in hands , shall have done more than grasp the structure Of the building at the close of the twelfth century we shall be able to trace many of of the marks its development . If we look at the second diagram we shall see that in i the th rteenth century, the South and North aisles were t o added, the chancel lengthened and the w chapels pro i e v d d. Some have thought that , although there was no

North chapel to the original Norman church, a North chapel may have been added before the other develop

ments shown in the second diagram . This depends largely upon the date Of the closed doorway in the North wall Of the North chapel and Of the string course under the West

window Of the North aisle . In the lengthening Of the two chancel three windows were inserted, on the South on not and one the North side , though their height was of of that the present . The bases Of the pillars the arches in the chancel have deep wat er moulds and trefoiled heads appear in the windows and head of the — Of piscina space marks the thirteenth century. The lancet window at the West of the South aisle is an evidence of earlier date than is to be found in the North a of isle , with the possible exception the string course

already mentioned . of Of In view the above description the Norman church, on it is interesting to trace the height , either side Of the of nave, the spandrels in the arcade up to just below the hi was not i clerestory, w ch added unt l the fourteenth of century . Towards the close that century the central l tower either fe l or was removed, and the chancel arch and

the arches leading into the transepts were reconstructed .

Mr . Hamilton Thompson places the date of this later 1338 Of alteration at about , by reason the close corre spondence Of the moulding of the arches to those at Cotter

stock , which can be fixed to that time . He suggests that the Black Death which followed some ten years afterwards 20 OUNDLE ’ S STORY

probably postponed the buildi ng of the Western tower and spire . The tower and spire date from the close of the four t eenth or beginning of the fifteenth century . The height Of the tower in comparison with that of the nave suggests that it may have been intended to heighten the nave . It is a great pity that when the tower was restored some 34 years ago, the mouldings on the West front just above the base were not fashi oned like the original mouldings which may be seen within the church . ’ According to Leland s itinerary, we can fix the actual year of the erection of the South porch at 1485 . He says

r Viat e mar chaunt One Robe t a of the towne there , o sowt he and Johan his wife , made the go dly porche They made also on the south syde of that chirche yarde a s u r i praty almose house Of q a d stone . And a goodly large

haule over it for the B r other hodde Of the Chireh . At Of the West ende the Chirche yarde , they made lodgings i cantuar e . for too Prestes , founded there by them The scripture in brasse on the Almose house doore berith the

1485 . date of the yere Of Our Lorde , , as I remembre At the North West ende Of Oundele chireh yard is the ferme or t er or ow parsonage place impropriated to Pe b . It is a ' L Pet er b or ow of by yere . was lord also the town and ’ ” now the King hath alloted it onto the Quene s Doure .

of The vestry Of two storeys , to the North the Sanctuary, of 190 8 is a Tudor erection . In the summer a chamber was sunk outside the Vestry to the North to contain the

boiler for the heating apparatus . A workman was picking some feet below the surface in order to make an aperture Of for the water pipes through the North wall the Vestry , l Of when he found, embedded in the midd e the wall a graceful two-handled earthenware drinking cup Of the

Tudor period . The cup contained no coins nor anything associated with the ceremony of the laying of a foundation

22 OUNDLE ’ S STORY The Puritan has always had a very insufficient idea to r of the advantage likely accrue f om hearing sermons . one But though extreme may account for another, it does not justify it . If some Of my younger brethren are tempted to think that preaching came in with the Re t formation , and may therefore be es eemed lightly, I would ask them to pay a visit to such churches as Burford or Oundle, where the pulpits date from the fifteenth century . This places upon the man in the pulpit a greater responsibility than should even be there normally and in the most modern of pulpits . Whether there is any truth in the tradition that the f lectern came rom Fotheringhay, I do not know . It would - certainly appear to be pre Reformation, and is well known in by connoisseurs the history of metal work .

Fine examples Of the usual English type of eagle a t lectern may be seen , mong many others too numerous o mention , in the churches Of Holy Rood , Southampton ; i ’ St . Margaret, K ng s Lynn Holy Trinity, Coventry ; St . r Peter, Oundle ; and St . Grego y, Norwich, which bears t he date of

Having regard to the date Of printing, and the story Of the English Bible , we must not imagine the first purpose d of the lectern to have been that for which it is used to ay . It would probably stand in the choir to hold the books from which the chanters chanted the sung portions Of of The Hours . The ancient custom placing the book stand o n the wings Of an eagle comes from the symbolisa ’ so tion Of St . John s gospel by the eagle , which is aptly illustrated in the window in memory of the late Mr . John o Hume Smith on the South side f the chancel . Visitors to the church will find the following points of : detail to interest them Within The pulpit, lectern , side

“ — Dinander ie A Histor y and D escription O f Medi a v al ” - A r t W r . Tav enor er r . o k , by J P y THE PARISH CHURCII 23

screens dating from Richard II . , consecration cross on West Of side arch in Lady Chapel , the North chapel , in which

Robert Browne was condemned, and which was previously aumbr e s a Consistory Court , the Laxton Chair, y in Lady

1676 . Chapel and North transept, Vestry chest dated : Without The South Door, stone coffin in porch , mark of on of sundial West side South porch , North doorway se which is Older than the wall in which it is t . CHAPTER III

A WALK ROUND I N 15 65

Of n O f FTER the death Catheri e Parr, the manor Oundle and B iggin was given to the Right

Honourable John Earl of Bedford, Lord Privy

26 15 50 . Seal , by letters patent dated January , In 1565 t l September , , Thomas Aus el , on behalf of the Lord c Of the Manor, with the assistan e Of Edmund Elmes and i Oliver St . John , Esqu res , Humphrey Michaell and Adam Of Smyth , Gents , made a survey all the messuages , tene ments , cottages , Burgages , arable lands , meadows , pastures , o o feedings , wo ds , underwo ds , commons , etc . within the Of o l lordshi p or manor Oundle and Biggin . Nt On y did ‘‘ ’ they carry out this survey upon sigh ; but they also examined several persons and credible rent rolls and Old evidences . It was certainly a thorough and most exhaustive n survey, as the i troduction shows the mind Of the surveyors that it should be for it began thus

For easmuch as some men will say and hold an oppinion that sur v ayes will not continue good to bring a man of ear es knowledge the lands above twenty y , but that it i e i i ought to be renewed aga n . And although that opp n on be true when surveys be unskillfully and unorderly o inion i Of u made , yet that pp touch ng the order this s rvey u i i r is not true , beca se th s survey by th s o der following which I take in thi s bo oke will abide good for ever unless the whole towne shall happen to be decayed or burned (which God forbid) or else if a great Spinkelin decay of 24 A WALK ROUND IN 1565 25

the tenements of the towne happen to be made in many and sundry places and streets Of the same or unless a man will for the nonce turne the fields Of land into plaine grounds or else cast furlongs one way or else cast a dozen or twenty lands together throughout the field . The hi for cause why t s survey must continue is this, example I begin at one end Of the towne at a place certaine and tell of sa which side the house I goe in , house by house . I y the first house Of that side in the tenure Of such a man

and telleth of what measure it is of length and breadth, and then the second house eastward of that in the tenure Of such a man and telleth the measure thereof and so forth Of of house by house in order, whether they hold the lord or not so the manor as hereafter example telleth thee, that by order and measure you shall attain the knowledge of Of every one that is holden the lord either free, by copy, or by will and Of all others admit that a great part Of the tenements of the town were disordered and exchanged from the order Of thi s book ; as if a man purchasing 5 6 7 8 9 10 or 11 , , , , , tenements in his own hands lying together and new build them and make them all in one ou front, whereas they were in many fronts whereby y or w cannot tell how thereof is holden free , by copy, at ill or how it is holden . Therefore the remedy is first to bring n you to knowledge, first to go to the tow with this book and begin to fetch the measure of all those tenements until you come to the tenements which are now so builded together and then by measure shall you set the same tenements now builded by thi s book in order again and say in the tenements cast together this many foot broad alld long by copy by such a rent as thi s book shall show llee t Of .

At this period the plan of the town was practically the - without Cla thor n B enefield same as to day p Road, Road ,

and houses beyond the south end of St . Osyth Lane . There of have been alterations in the naming the streets . The whole main street now known as West Street and North Street was regarded as one and called by the name Of High

Street . New Street was then Bury Street, St . Osyth C 26 OUNDLE ’ S STORY

’ a . was L ne (St Sithe s Lane) also known as Lark Lane , and of the site Jesus Church, with the houses to the West B enefield between Stoke Road and Road, was generally ” as spoken of as Chapel End . This last name w due to the fact that there stood formerly on a portion Of the site ’ ” . of a chapel called St Thomas Canterbury s Chapel , which had two half acres of land lying in two furlongs in Hill field and one acre of meadow called the Harp lying in the ’ Ow furlong in St. Sithe s meadow which land and meadow Michael Turke hath purchased under the title freehold of ” u land meadow and past re without houses .

in hi s Leland , Itinerary (about says when he saw Oundle, this was now a private house , but there was a large window to the East and West and on the North 3 large arch with a smaller one and pillars for a ’ door . At the time of Mr . Austell s survey there were

u . three ho ses upon the site of Chapel End, Mr Philip Stockwell being the owner of that which stood upon l the actua site Of the former chapel , the other two

being owned by Messrs . Michael Turke and Richard

Bonner . From whom did Michael Turke purchase these as lands It looks though Henry VIII . received a certain portion of Guild and Church proceeds before his death as a result of the Act passed for the purpose in the last year ’ of his life . The Protector Somerset s advisers reported there is a chapell of ese standing in the seyed ‘h cov er d w leade towne y , unoccupied , no lands thereto defac d belonging, but the chur che yard : and y by the i r e u r the yt yt towne . Wherefore the Townesh ppe q y y maye ’ m i sti please the King s a e e to take the same , and suffer

t he chappell at Ashton to stand in plaice Of that . Also t y is to be considered and r ememb r ed that all the lands G l s u nose i belonging to this ui de y very R y housing, wh ch ’ wilb e to the King s great charge yer eyle in r epayr ing the A WALK ROUND IN 15 65 27 same and that all the r esydew Of the lands being in the ’ s ti same towne y the Quene s grace during her ly c, the ’ ' r ev er con thereof in the King s maiestie ; and y the w for asmuche same towne is a market to ne, and as there bathe byne a free school kepte at Fotheringhay whiche

‘ ‘ is nowe dyssolv ed y is therefore expedyent that there were a new erected in this towne of Oundell the same ‘h being W in iii myles Of Fotheringhay .

If we follow the itinerary Of this sixteenth century surv ey we see the plan Of the town as I have just mentioned

I beginne this my survey and measure of the towne of Oundle at the West end Of the same towne in an end there called Chapell End and at the easter ne arch Of a little stone bridge called Warren ’ s bridge leading to S toake and soe goe eastward on the South side of that towne house by house , both free and coppie and they stand in order unto a lane Of that side called Mill Lane and then downe the Mill Lane 0 11 the one side and up againe on the other side and that done I goe up into the High Street again on the same South side and soe goe eastward house by house unto another lane called St . Sithes Lane otherwise called Lark lane and then down that lane on the one side and up againe on the other side and that donne I enter againe into the High Street on the same south side and soe goe eastward house by house through Jerico Lane and Ducke Lane until I come to the further end of that side Of the towne almost to the North bridge and that ended I beginne with the North side of the same town at the said North bridge and at a lane next Dowell Wong Close and then come down the towne Westward on the same North side from the same line house by house by the church to Bury S tr eet e leaving the shops and the stalls in the midst Of the S tr eete and then down Bury S tr eete to Church Lane and after Church Lane then to Bury Street againe on the one side and up againe on the other side Of the same Berry Str eete and that donne into the High Street again untill I come to the further end of the said Chapell End all Of that side and then I goe to the two 28 OUNDLE’ S STORY

tenements and St . Thomas his chapell , all three standing in of r the midst a st eete in that end .

The sixteenth century description of the sheps and stalls in the Market Place on either side Of the site of the Old Town Hall is well illustrated by a well-known print Shille e r by the late Mr . b a e . These shops following are builded in a manner like cheefe — is a square pile and lye the next the crosse that , of l between that crosse, and the two long rows stalls ca led ’ one the butchers row, the named the North row and the ui other the South row . In the square pile is b lded these on seven shops following . I begin the middle end or house on the East end and so goe round shop by shop on the North side , West end , and South side to the common ” Bakehouse where I end . There are many residents in Oundle who remember the ’ or 1825 hi Butchers Row Shambles , built soon after , w ch ‘ r an South and Nor th fr om the Mar ket Place to Church Lane between the Rose and Crown Inn and The

National Provincial Bank . It is interesting to know that a walled market occupied this exact position in the sixteenth century , as the following memorandum made ’ hi us at t s point in Mr . A tell s survey shows Hereafter followeth several shops with chambers standing over them on this side Of the street in the row and in the order of the houses and behi nd them was sometime ’ a wall market and was made a yard to one Of the Lord s ” tenements .

It was not always that the Surveyor and the owner of property agreed as to the dimensions or rents of their holdings . For instance , a memorandum attached to the measurement of Richard Cliffe ’ s property in High Street states

He claimeth and occupieth by colour Of the general wor ds of his said deed but hath not the four acres and a

30 OUNDLE ’ S STORY

assigns from Michaelmas last . A covenant that the said Thomas shall sufficientlie uphold repaire and maintain the said mill and mill dams floodgates and washes and the houses to the said mill belonging there is a piece of great wast ground lyeing between the said mill and the ” said Back Lane called the Mill Yard .

The house now called The Waggon and Horses Inn was then known as The Bull . The Bull was then the of Of property Elizabeth Wells , wife Simon Wells , but lately f d or O Re b ne . the relict Humphrey Mrs . Wells was also the Owner of land as a freehold in Hillfield in a furlong ”

s. i there called Waterford Th s had become freehold, but Mr . Austell adds a memorandum Of interest thus

’ Thi s was a mannor in Waker lees dayes and kept a Courte Baron upon the same which is now di smembr ed b ecause the land is sold to diverse persons as appeareth in ” this booke in diverse places . Passing up the Smith side Of the High Street—now — West Street we fi nd the title Of the site Of one or two s other in ha and house is claimed by the College of F g y, an interesting historical reference occurs in the survey as follows

If question hereafter happen to come that Ffodr ingay la nd being colledge land ought not to pay free rent to e Ffr odr in r a Oundle mann r . Because g y and Oundle were ’ t e one was both h King s at time . Truth is because Oundle ’ Queene Catherine s j oyntur e at that time therefore was the said rent allowed to the said Lords the purchasers

that the Queene should not lose her rent . — Ship Lane between Cobthor ne and the house until recent years known as the Ship Inn— existed — then as now and was called Parva v enella a little of Cob lane . The house then standing on the site thorne (so named by the present owner after Cobthor ne f ’ l urlong in St . Sithe s field) was the property of John Em in, A WALK ROUND IN 15 65 31

26 27 being numbered with a cottage and from Mill Lane . as In addition to the cottage, it is described cum horreo, stabulo et divers adifics et cr ofto de bona pastur adj ac Jac ” i s m n i ul i . e. n ldi , with bar , stable, and various bui ngs and ” a field Of good pasture closely adjoining lying together . Four houses immediately preceding B r amston House were the property as life tenant of Margery then the wife Of Randulph Robinson but lately the relict of Thomas Franklin

TO hold the same to the said Margery for the term of her life and after the death of the same Margery then to the purpose and use of her two daughters called Margaret and Catherine and after to the death of their heirs then to the purpose and use of the executor of the said Thomas Franklin for a term Of life Of 67 years Paying to the poor 20 of O f Oundle 3 . per annum and after the end the said term then as to one part of the same for the purpose Of the executor Of the said Thomas and as to the other part for the poor Of Oundle in perpetuity .

The latter bequest forms part of the Town Estates of Of the Feoffees Oundle , who were allotted by the Enclosure Award in lieu O f the premises two pieces Of land containing r l 4 1860 1a. 3r . 8 . 11a. 1 . 37 . u p and p On J y , , a portion 3 of the latter, some acres or thereabouts , was sold to the Oundle Burial Board for the purpose of the Oundle ’ sum O f £315 ; Cemetery, for the Thomas Franklin s will - 12 15 44 . was dated May , , twenty one years before Mr ’ l Austell s survey . Mr . Frank in was a weaver and had his shop, as stated above , near to the Market Cross , on the South side Of the Market Place . The tenor bell of the Parish Church, which with other bells was cracked 18 68 with fire in , bears these words — T EA YRE FECIT O N THE O LD B ELL WA S THE FOLLOWING INSCRIPTION : THOMAS FRANKLIN PAID FOR — ME O F WHOSE SOUL I HU HAVE MERGE THOMAS RA GS DA LL 48 TOB Y ROSE c . w. 17 . 32 OUNDLE’ S STORY

Franklin directed that he should be buried within ’

. of . s St John s aisle , before the image St John Evangeli t , ” being Within the parish church of Oundle, and being a member Of Our Lady ’ s Guild he left to it £2 a year ” hi s to be paid for keeping obit within the same church . Of He bequeathed Item , to the reparation the bells iid ” withi n Oundle Church x . He left his russet gown to hi s s one friend, black gown to a second, and hi sanguine

r . 3 eer e gown to a thi d To one person he left g viz . a ” ’ axen fi , harden , and a woolen , to another a bastard s ” ” t o loom , and a third a broad loom . After other bequests Item I bequeath to Katherine my daughter £10 and 2 Of flaxen 1 of 6 pairs sheets and pair harden sheets , r sa 2 2 pieces of pewte , that is to y, pewter platters , pewter 2 dishes, and pewter saucers , and my great spice chest, ” and c r ot my se ond g eatest p my second greatest pan .

I ui l n connection with the ancient g lds of Ound e , which Of possessed land in various parts the parish , the following B r amsto bequest, charged upon land at the back of n

House , is of interest This was purchased as Guild land of Oundle and h sur v e soe continued to t is survay, and, at this y found by evidence to be the Lord of this mannor and one parte of the evidence is a Will that Dame Jane Wiote widdow lady wi Of the mantle and ring, did by the same ll dated the “l — VII — f Ma 150 6 21 . I 4 O y, anno Henrici regis will that my executors shall have my interest and terme of and in a ’ monaster ie O close of St . Sithe s land which I hold of the f Peterboro by coppy of courte roll and the issues thereof shall be to the guild of Oundle upon condition that the Aldermen of the same Guild shall yearly upon good friday before service within Oundle church distribute to 6 d 15 poore men and 15 poore women 2s. . and the same ” poore men and poore women the sawter of our Lady .

The fifteen of each sex were apparently to be bound , ’ b n n i y the receipt of the be efactio , to rec te Our Lady s A WALK ROUND IN 15 65 33

psalter. This was an indefinite term applied sometimes

of . . of to the psalters which St Anselm, St Edmund i Canterbury, Stephen Langton , and others were comp lers , poems in praise Of Our Lady consisting of 150 strophes 150 mediav al sometimes to aves ; sometimes , in late so times , to the rosary . The psalter being composed , would easily be di vided among the fifteen . The poor people probably seen lost their doles by the Act diverting

Guild estates to the King .

Peculiar interest attaches to the house, and cottage di Of adjoining, stan ng on the site the present Anchor ’ Inn at the Eastern extremity Of St . Osyth (St . Sithe s)

Lane . John Cooke had become the owner from the Lord ’ Of the Manor at the time Of Mr . Austell s survey .

by virtue of the hospital of John of Jerusalem in England th and by deed Of Robert B ullaine dated 2o day of January lb of in the l 7 year the reign of King Edward IV . TO hold the same for hi mself and hi s assigns in perpetuity paying annually to the Lord King by virtue Of hi s Master ” one shi p Of the said Hospital penny .

This latter fact explains the meaning Of the crowned hi lion, w ch troubles visitors to Oundle, torn from the Royal Arms of that time and now fixed as a separate figure over the door Of the cottage adjoining the Anchor Inn . Though l hi s on he has lost a leg, he has still his tai up and crown to assert his previous attachment to Royalty. Additional interest is given to thi s figure by reason Of the fact that 15 64 in November, , only a few months previous to Mr . ’ l r i Auste l s su vey, th s cottage and several adjoining were s Rushdon co sold by Sir Thomas Tre ham, de in mi tat ” of r of Northampton, father Francis T esham Gunpowder the Plot fame, who had been owner previous to that time . Why did Sir Thomas sell this property We know that one of this property belonged at time to the Knights St . ’ Tr esham s was John Of Jer usalem . grandfather appointed b as L y Queen Mary, in the l t year of her reign, ord Prior 34 OUNDLE ’ S STORY

. is Of Of the Order There , to the memory Tresham the

Prior, in Rushton Church a monument which is said to nl one is be the o y Of its kind in England . It an altar tomb in alabaster and marble , the recumbent figure is - life size and clad in the habit Of Lord Prior .

Of On the west side the tomb is a shield of arms , and over all is an escutcheon of pretence , containing ten coats . of — Four these coats Ross , Parr, Fitzhugh, and Marmion of V were borne by Catherine Parr, the consort Henry III ’ and these appear on the Shield of Sir Thomas Tr esham s ”

r . wife, who was daughter to Lord Pa r Thomas Tresham only enjoyed the Office of Lord

Prior for a year before his death . It seems probable that ’ either Tresham held this property in St . Sithe s Lane

on Of of . behalf the Knights St John , or that , being his saw own private possession, the grandson no point in retaining it now that the connection with the Order had ’ been severed by hi s grandfather s death . The footway to the south Of the house now called or — known as The B er r ystead now the property of — l Oundle School was then ca led Duck Lane , and at the bottom stood two cottages with gardens owned by John

Fletcher . Next door to the house now called Laundimer — House another bo arding house of Oundle School stood two houses owned by Henry Hilton which were of Silb e o soon to pass into the hands William y , and up n l Of that site Nicho as Latham , whom we shall hear soon , - in another forty fiv e years was to build his almshouse and school . Pot was The lane now called Black Lane , in the or sixteenth century, Dwell Wong Lane Dowell Wong

The Survey does not give a full description of the of Rectory, but speaks the mansion and outbuildings and describes the four houses then standing between the A WALK ROUND IN 15 6 5 35

Rectorial Manor House and the front gates . It is also ul or caref to mention the way easement, leading between the manor house and the four houses , from the main - street as it is to day . The Survey especially wishes it to be noted that the Rector— the advowson being not included in the letters patent to the Lord Of the Manor but resigned in the King ’ s hands — holds in various fields and meadows in the parish 6 6 acres or thereabouts - e under the name and sub title of parsonage gl ab e . Note this parsonage impropriated is letten to this day for ” - f 4d. six O £15 133 . Sixty acres land were duly allotted f 0 to the Vicarage by the Parish Award o 18 7 .

Chur chyar de and Church is the next and extendeth in length from the said tenement in the tenure Of Nicholas ” Desb or o (that is the southernmost of the four houses mentioned above) unto the late Guildhall now made a S choolehouse which adj oyneth the churchyard on the ” north . The late Guildhall [which measured 72 feet by 38 feet] Of our Lady of Oundle being a very faire hall builded now r one with freestone , and pu chased by Mr . Laxton four times Maior of London and is now made a free schoole house and lands by him is given for the maintenance of a schoolemaster there and the same lyeth between the churchyard on the north cont : in lengt h on that side ’ 4 pches 6 feete and between the Lord s customary tenement called the cr owne [known later as the Thr ee Tuns] in the tenure Of Henry Chawth om e on the south cont : on that Side 4 pches 6 pedes abb ut : upon the corner Of that Str eet e east cont : at the end and the west est at either Of them 21 pches 12 feote and Note the lands of that ” “ " 9 ° Guild 22 0 11 and se e purchased .

We shall see that a school was actually in being in the Guildhall before the generous thought and act of t i William Lax on made greater th ngs possible . The Commissioners of Somerset the Protector in their report say 36 OUNDLE’ S STORY

Also there ys one house callyd the Guild House worth by the yere to be lett XII under whi ch there is inhabiting w dowes VII pore y rent free , the upper parte Of which r house ys v e ye mete for a scole .

As the Surveyor turns round from the Market Place (although that term is not used) into Bury Street he notes s the stock . The Lord ’ s Stock house and cage for punishment Of Offenders standeth at the corner at the west parte of the ‘ said tenem adj the high crosse their and lyeth in B ur ystr eete cont : 12 foote and abbut s upon the South t 6 ” head con in breadth foote . At a later date the stocks were removed to the west of the present site of Jesus Church . Until fifty years ago ” was ll or less that area genera y designated as The Stocks . TO run round the stocks was a frequent pastime Of several living parishioners in their youth . At the north-east corner of Church Lane we reach the S ’ ite Of the original schoolmaster s house, now the junior - physics lab . Of Oundle School . The sixteenth century Surveyor describes it thus

A messuage or tenement some time used for the private chambers Of the Guild Of our blessed lady at Oundle being well builded and now purchased by one a Mr . L xon mayor Of London and is made a lodging for the schoolmaster Of the free schoole and the same messuage lyeth between the churchyard vers . orient containing in length on that side 6 pches 9 feete and b etweene the free tenement of Richard Moreton vers . occident containing on that side 6 pches 9 feet e abbutting upon the said ustr i estimacon church lane vers . a conta ning by on that end 6 pches and upon a garden of a stripe Of lan d Of the ’ lord s in the tenure of Richard Moreton called the horse r ent market lyeing in B u ystr eete vers . boreal c : at that ” n end o e perch 2 foote .

Returning into Bury Street along the north side of

38 OUNDLE ’ S STORY It will be seen that the present Vicarage— indeed the l one— on y stands upon land derived from two titles . 5 50 This must be, after years , the explanation Of an anomaly which neither rating nor taxing authorities have hitherto been able to explain . The Vicarage house and — garden as much allied as any house and gar den ever — were are rated separately to this very day . Govern O ffi cialdo ments come and governments go, but m remains . of To the north the Vicarage, as disclosed by the above on of of description , the site the extended portion the ’ was or Churchyard , a portion Of the lord s garden the garden of the Bury Stead (or Burgh Stead) . The site of the Bury Stead itself was facing the street at the north west corner and to the extreme west of the present of Rectory garden . A portion the wall which marks the eastern limit Of the B er r yst ead is still standing in the Rectory garden and is roughly in a line with the present eastern boundary wall of the Vicarage garden . The B er r st ead house now conventionally called The y , situate in North Street , became the property of Mr .

Whitwell early in the seventeenth century . Mr . Whitwell was owner Of very extensive property and land in the ’ O f i parish, including land of the lord the manor s or ginal demesne of B er r yst ead to the east of the house now B ur hstead e so called . After the original g in Bury Str et fell into disuse for its purpose and decay, it became natural to transfer the name to the house which was near to the B ur ghst ead lands and was owned by one who s f wa also owner O a portion Of those lands . 15 65 of of In the tenant at will the Earl Bedford , Of

B ur hst ead . n ui the g was Oliver St Joh , Esq re, no doubt f of . o a relative the first Baron St John Bletsoe , who had r e r e then just been created a peer . Mr . St . John , as p of a was senting the lord the m nor, one of the supervisors ’ of of Mr . Austell s survey . The description the house seems to call up a picture of feudal days . A WALK ROUND IN 15 65 39 The house called the Bury Stead contains a General Hall with cook house adjoining and several little garrets under one roof, a tiled stable , and the malthouse thatched with strawand the site with premises Of the same contain 3 8 ” 1 acre roods perches .

After the house fell into decay, or became Obsolete

for . its purpose, some cottages were built thereon In 1889 October, , there died in the Laxton Hospital , at of 107 one who the age , Stephen Coles , remembered from his early boyhood his father pulling down these cottages . The Site of the débris Of these cottages is marked by a mound in the Rectory garden . Very early in the nine t eenth centur y the then owner of the Rectory effected an of exchange with Sir Isaac Pocock, lord the manor, of of Of B ur st ead i another piece land for this site the gh , wh ch we became enclosed within the Rectory garden . But must return to the sixteenth century ; and crossing to the east side Of the street we come to the Tabret— the — Talbot as we know it whose name has been revived recently in the opening Of the Tabret Room . Of this change Of name we will speak later . The Talbot Lane Of 18 11 (so called in the Parish Award , and leading from so the hotel yard to Milton Lane, called in existed ’ at the time of Mr . Austell s survey as a right Of way over ’

o . Mr . Dobbs cl se

’ Here is a lane at the yard s end of this tenement or ’ Inne wh said Inne hath out of John Dobbs close follow ing and for the easement Of that lane for gests to come in to and from the common field with carts horses and easiament the cattle . The Guild paid for that to said ‘ Dobbs and to such persons as did Own that tenem and " close 2 by year e and yet Dobbs and his tent of his house to have easiament with passage to and from the field and at the pchse of the Guild land the king did alow the 2/ to the pchaser s in the particulars to be paid to ’ wh ul Dobbs partic ars the king s surveyor Mr . Marsh Of fmt ” that shire made by the p Of the chiefest men Of Oundle . The family Of Dobbs retained the ownership Of this 40 OUNDLE ’ S STORY

for close certainly more than a century and the yard, or a Well was well y rd now known as Drumming Yard, for ’ a very long time known as Dobbs Yard . Leaving Bury Street and turning into High Street we find that the fourth house walking westward towards Chappell End belonged to Margaret Gibson . In connection with thi s u house , the S rveyor gives , as an addendum , a short abstract Of title of three lines which is of great interest as it explains most probably the origin Of the term B as of dl sett as applied to the part Oun e beyond St . Osyth ’ Lane . Margaret Gibson s house was acquired in the reign one Of Henry IV . by Bassett and passed from Bassett to r ml — — u — — G i yn thence to Taylor Th rlby Baker Gibson . This Bassett may have been descended from the great s justiciar Ralph Ba set , who was raised to prominence I by Henry . , and who gave his name to Sutton Basset on the borders Of Leicestershire and founded the Baronial ” house Of Basset of Weldon . The survey makes no of mention the Drumming Well , but notes the existence of the well yard The Well Yard being within the breadth and length Of the said tenement is appointed and accepted to the ‘ - said tenem of William Miller and the same well yard cont : in length 5 pole and in breadth at the south end 2 e 15 feete and at the north end 1 feet .

hi We may be permitted to speak here fully Of t s Well . I Leisur H our 1878 n the e for November, , an article on Folklore about Wells contains the following paragraph .

Among other superstitions connected with Wells , We may mention that in Northamptonshire the well at Oundle was said to drum against any important even ” Of Baxter in his World Spirits , says

u When I was a schoolboy at O ndle, about the time m one of the Scots co ing into England, I heard a well , in D ’ u an n a I obs yard, dr m like y drum beati g march . A WALK ROUND IN 1565 4 1 heard it at a di stance then I went and put my head into l the mouth of the wel , and heard it distinctly, and nobody

. a in the well It lasted sever l days and nights , so as all the country people came to hear it . And so it drummed of on several changes tune . When King Charles the

Second died, I went to the Oundle carrier at the Ram Inn , Smithfield in , who told me their well had drummed , and I many people came to hear it . And hear it drummed once since .

218 of The London Chr oni cle or Un ver l No . i sa Evening P ost 20 23 175 8 , for Saturday, May , to Tuesday, May , , contained two paragr aphs under the heading of Country one Of News , which was

22. Northampton , May The remarkable drumming u well at O ndle, in this county, which has been silent ai several years , now seems ag n to claim the attention of l its on the pub ick, by repeated signals , began Saturday, ’ t look d the 13 h instant, which are upon by many super stit ious people as a prediction of some great events near ” at hand .

Moreton , who paid a great deal Of attention to this phenomenon, noted that the l well is di gged on the side of a Hil . The depth Of it 39 3 m Foot, inches ; but in com on computation about

40 Fe et . The Spring that supplies the Well , comes in : ] thro Sand, which is found in a fissure or interval , on Of Of the side a Stratum Of Stone , at the bottom the well . hi 12 T s fissure seems to be about inches in depth, a spit that was thr ust into the sand having gone down to that ’ em t d depth . When the well was p y and cleansd in the month of November, some years ago, the Spring came in very slowly, sometimes it arose in bubbles . The water is and commonly thought as clear, reputed as wholesome , when the Spring is attended with that drumming noise as at other times . The noise is sometimes so loud as to be l heard in places sixty yards distant from the wel . Its of beats or strokes, as to space time are generally well of nigh equidistant one another. How many beats there D 42 OUNDLE ’ S STORY are in a quarter of an hour or in any other determinate of was so space time, I not curious as to Observe . [More ’ 170 0-170 8 ton s Observations extended over eight years , ] or The noise sound at first is less loud , becomes louder by

degrees, and then abates again to a softer noise , as at the ” first .

. sen. or tham t on Mr Beeby Thompson , , still one of N p i ’ t sh re s best geologis s , had no doubt that the explana tion of the drumming was due to air being expelled from n compression from rock crevices i to the well , through a ” water seal , periodically in bubbles .

s . But we must rejoin our friend Mr . Au tell He had previously referred to the right of road from the Tabret

Yard to the north leading to Milton Lane . He now calls attention to the right Of way to and from the Tabr et Yard and High Street

here is a lane taken forth of the est side of that close ‘ both for hi s Easem and the easement Of the said Inne called the Tabret in to and from the common field with

& c . Of their cattle, and the Aldermen the guild Of our ’ Lady at Oundle compounded with the said Dobbs ancestors to give the 2 shillings per annum for the said easiament to the Tabret wh is allowed by the king to the purchasers Of the guild land to be paid yearly to the said Dobbs or to ” the owners Of the said tenement . Here is a note to property near to the present Cross

Keys , which reads very much like a modern directory the said land adjoini ng was some time parte of the pond and willows in the same , is occupied by the said tenant lO Oke more for this in Mill Lane in the Entr yes there upon ” Johan Turke . The owner Of one of the three houses in Chappell End in the sixteenth century was John Chapman . He held it from the Rector Of Oundle under a deed of conveyance 15 da of from Hugh Law and Thomas Law, dated the th y a of April in the seventh ye r King Edward the Sixth . It

’ a: as and Nor thanmtonshi r e s Notes Quer ies. A WALK ROUND IN 156 5

was formerly part Of the property Of the College of Fother in La of ghay . Hugh w was Lord the Manor of Ashton and owner Of the field on the east side of the North ’ now of bridge, the property Of the Trustees Creed s ’ ” Charity and still called Law s Holme . Members Of the Oundle Golf Club will recognise the following

Henry Henson of the lord by copy for a quarre of stone and a lyme kilue to make lyme Of the same stone the short lees at the north end of the said furlong called lyme kilne lees which lyeth between the high way to ’ B r ickstock l Pexle and the lord s wood ca led y.

We have mentioned the name Of Basset as probably

giving his name to a portion Of Oundle . The names

of . l Wakerley, Bonner, and others recorded by Mr Austel ” - Dodmor e e e t o . P xl are in frequent use day , y ” ” on of Field, Hill Field , etc . , were frequently the lips - ur Oundelians. We sixteenth cent y On the other hand , ” ” Str an land S ul Str on land hear Of g , which ho d be g , ” ”

i l . Cherry Mill , wh ch shou d be Jeremie Hill , etc

There were a few houses lying away from the town , and these are duly enumerated as well as the Common Fields ’ and the Lord s Wood . The woods are referred to as ’ Pexle r y Wood, Pa ke Wood, Hill s Wood, Little Lane , and

South Wood . The woods seem to have been neglected — c akes of Oun ell at that time e.g. all the in the wood d when they come to 12 or 15 foote hi gh they grow to a broad topp immediately the underwood indifferent well sett themes with sallo and oake much hazell and very much . There are tod ay in Oundell a fewcopies Of a very crude block drawing Of the Parish Church upon whi ch the Church is described as dedicated in the name of

St . Lawrence . This is probably due to the fact that a ’ faire was regularly held on St . Lawrence s Day . This fair was one Of two new fairs granted by the Earl of Bed ford, the lord of the manor, the other being kept on 44 OUNDLE ’ S STORY

’ St . Valentine s Day . By a strange coincidence these words ’ are being written on St . Valentine s Day, but we have heard

Of . was no horse fair Eighty years ago, so great the business done on this day that no children were allowed of o to leave their homes for fear accident . The fair n 15 65 Whitsun Monday, now also extinct, was described in ” n i tie f as being Of a t qui . The profits O t ells of this fair

. n were set down by Mr Marsh at four and twenty shilli gs , and the two new faires yieldeth yearly for the t ell what ” may be gotten . In addition to these principal fairs there was also a weekly market held each Saturday, the tolls of the same amounting to This was chargeable Of cattle upon all horse , all kinds , of pedlers , Of chapmen , f ” o m . glovers , tanners and such like but no tole co e The i l lord of the manor st l holds the market rights . The lordship or manor of Oundle and Biggin was formerly of a liberty within itself, and the bailiff of the lord the manor served all manner of process and not the sheriff ’ s was li f . bai f There a custom or tax on Colchester ale , and as the number of brewers was fewer the tax was raised

4 d. in from 2d. to apiece to make up the deficiency in a e come . The right to levy land tax and pown g also appears to have been included in the letters patent from the Crown . The latter tax was on all persons that have hoggs , and the same persons as have hoggs may not keep ’ is them in the lord s wood there Parke Wood, which ’ sev er all alwaies but in all other Of the lord s wood there they may go as it be seav en years after every sale of the ” same wood except the Parke Wood before excepted . owna e l The reference to this tax of p g recal s the fact that , ’ in Mr . Austell s day, the osier bed by the brook beyond ’ the meadow adjoining Warren s Bridge on the south was ” i e called Triangle P gh el. There would appear to have been the right for the parishioners to pastur e cows on

Kiln Lees and Damhead Close . We must now say Good bye to Mr . Austell , but we shall not forget the picture he has given us of Oundle in the sixteenth century .

46 OUNDLE ’ S STORY

Co Y O L E R — o i d P H D s c nt nue .

r . Peter Hen yson . Bridget Miller

Henry Henson . John Moreton .

Robert Henson . Robert Norris .

Hugo Hodges . Bridget Power .

John Hodges . Susanna Power .

Peter Jackson . John Reynolds . i Johanna Lyon . William R ppon .

Gilbert Martindale . Giles Rowe .

Robert Masse . Johanna Turke . Med l ca fe . Richard Edward Webster . Me o es John d w .

A T T I T O R T E MA O R TEN N S A W LL OF HE L D OF H N .

Thomas Cotton . Richard Rippon .

m . r . John Ly a . Oliver St John CHAPTER IV

A G REAT F OUNDER

HE large number of altars and chapels , together with the frequent attendance of worshippers in

the Parish Church, necessitated a large staff of 15 26 clergy . In there were five clergy in addition to the

. r Vi car who Vicar David Newton, the fi st , was appointed

148 1503 a ke . His in 1, was followed in by John R nwy was on 8 successor, Humphrey Morice, instituted January , 5 — or o 1 17 18 . There was a subsidy tax levied n the clergy 15 26 i in by Card nal Wolsey, and under the returns of the Diocese of Lincoln the clergy (with stipends and tax Of Oundle) are shown as following

Oundell.

a : U mf dus Mor ce V car . Rece ed £ 13 6 8 M g r i y , i iv D educt Payment to S ir William Mor ice chaplain 1 6 8

Tax 1 a a e 1 6 th p y bl Assistant Cler gy S ir William Mor ice £ 1 6 8 tax payable S ir William I er land £ 5 6 8 7 1i S ir Thomas B utteler £ 5 6 8 7 11 S ir Ralph H yll £ 4 0 0 S ir Robert Wilkynson £4 0 0

was Mr . Morice evidently a man of accommodating disposition, his principles could be made to suit, for he held the living from 15 17 until his death at the close of

15 65 i . e. , practically all through the Reformation, the reigns of Henry VIII Edward VI . , Mary, and well into 47 48 OUNDLE ’S STORY t hat Of Elizabeth . It seems likely that he also imparted B tt eler this same spirit into his assistant clergy . Thomas u at the age of seventy received a grant from the Guild of

£5 63 . 8d. 15 50 as Our Lady Of in , when he is described i ” unmete to serve a cure and hath no other lyv ng. Pre sumabl on I er land y he retired this pension . William had held the double Offi ce Of assistant curate and teacher of the Guild School held in the Guildhall before that hall was r of pu chased bythe man whom we are to tell in this chapter . Ier land appears to have held the Office Of schoolmaster - 15 5 4 two of . until , when he would be eighty years age

Probably Sadler, shortly to be mentioned, assisted him in the last few years .

It was Mr . Morice who just before his death showed to was . of 1477 Mr Austell the agreement , under which he established as Vicar in the Vicarage in Bury Street . He was buried in the chancel Of the Parish Church . 15 5 9 - In January, , two members of a well known Ashton family, Henry Hayles , yeoman , and Henry Hayles , Of lése ma esté and husbandman , had been found guilty j

E . rebellion , but were pardoned by Queen lizabeth We like

m . to i agine that Mr Morice urged the Earl Of Bedford, lord of the manor, to use his influence on their behalf. The name Hayles Of Ashton” continues in our parish registers 163 well on into the seventeenth century . In 1 William Hayles Of Ashton died possessed of considerable property s in that parish, which he had purcha ed from Hugh Lawe ,

hi s son . and Thomas Lawe , and left it to William Hayles At the end Of the gangway in the North transept of oak the Parish Church there is a heavy chair, cut into the head of which is the inscription

SVMPTV A PQMATO II QAQN

N D 1576 : LONDINE SIUM A .

This union of Latin and Greek is to inform us that the chair was provided at the expense of the Sellers Of T HE L AXTO N C HA I R I N N O R TH TR A N S E P T

A GREAT FOUNDER 9

Spices Of London in the year 1576 evidently as a chair ’ in which the headmaster of Sir William Laxt on s School was sit on to when , a Sunday, he took the scholars to church . It was difficult to find a Latin word in whi ch to compress f ” the Wardens and Commonalty O Grocers . When ’ ’ many Visitors to Oundle hear of the Grocers Company s dl School in Oun e they show a very slight knowledge, if any,

Of the great guild movement Of the past . There can be few towns in England whose story provides better opportunity for catching the Spirit Of this movement than that of

Oundle , which has from early days been connected both ul i with the work and usef ness of the provincial Gu ld, as we have already seen , and also Of the great companies Of ’ of the city Of London, which the Grocers Company holds l the second place . If visitors to Ound e will look up to the eastern gable Of the great hall Of Oundle School they will

see . a statue Of St Anthony, who was the founder Of lay o monastic orders , and whose disciples earned their wn living as traders . They extended their trading establish ments from Egypt and Constantinople through Lombardy to England, and there is reason to believe that the quay or wharf known in later times as the Steelyard was of of originally a monastery the lay monks St . Anthony, and that those monks are meant by the term Merchants ” of the Steelyard . These merchants Of the steelyard paid r of toll to the king in kind, the toll being a ce tain quantity ll ” pepper . They are also ca ed Easterlings , which pro ” bably meant Men of the East . The Pepperers and Spicers Of London were the English trading r epr e sentativ es of the Brethren of St . Anthony in the thirteenth of and fourteenth centuries . In the reign Edward III . t l the Pepperers and heir trade a lies , who weighed by of avoirdupois , elected the keeper the great beam Of the ’ eso r asso or of king, at which the p g , merchants pound fifteen 9 1345 ounces , was used . On May , , the Pepperers , who f had lately suf ered great reverses as traders , held a meeting to continue their connection as the social and religious 50 OUNDLE ’ S STORY

of . fraternity St Anthony and ado pted St . Anthony as their patron saint . The Objects of the fraternity were stated to be for greater love and unity and to maintain ” ne and assist o another . Among the early members Of the minister ium mistery (from ) were three parsons , namely, h Sir Jo n de Londre , parson of St . Anthony ; Sir John de

of . W Hichan , parson St Anthony ; and Sir Simon de y, ’ of parson Bertes . In 1376 an ordinance Of the Grocers Com pany was passed whereby it became permissible to admit those of other misteries by common consent and entrance

of £10 . Mar chant z fee A complaint to the King, that Les nomez Grossers engrossent toutes maner es de marchandises vendables the merchants called Grossers engrossed all manner of merchandise vendible -shows that they w m a I n 13 3 ere general erch nts . 7 the records show the title of the company to be no longer that O f the “ ” n O f Fraternity of St . Anthony , but the C ompa y G l rossers . We have previou s y mentioned the A ct V I P a . Of arliament in the l st year of Henry I I , whereby the property Of the religious guilds passed of to the Crown , and amongst them that the Guild in Oundle which formed so important a part of the r e li i f g ous life O the town . The Object of those guilds was br ether n b ur ial to support the Of the guild, the of the dead , of r and the performance religious se vices , remembrance of the departed in prayer, and an annual festival with collection of aims for the poor . Insults Offered to a member Of the guild by another member were duly punished, and any who did not fulfil their Obligations were expelled . The local religious guild was suppressed , but the City of London Guild lived on probably because Of the wealth and prominence Of its members . The Grocers ’ Company became incorporated by royal charter in the reign Of Henry VI . , and in the same reign received the exclusive right of garbling throughout all places in the kingdom Of England except the city of n was n Londo . Garbling the cleansing or examini g Of

5 2 OUNDLE’ S STORY

i 22 15 Sir W lliam Laxton made his will on July , 56 . He gave

TO the poore Within the Spitall of Saynt Bartholomew ’ in West S mythfield and Christ s Hospital two hundred oo‘ ’ pounds to the p prisoners Within Ludgate xx . to ew ate ‘ ‘l‘ the poore prisoners within N g xl . to the poore W n Of ' every the Counters xx . to the poore prisoners with ‘ ‘h the Kings Bench xl . And to the pore prisoners w n Mar shals e ’ the y xl . And I will the several somes before given to the poore prisoners shall be bestowed in Bree de . I give to the Company of the Grocers to make them a ” b ur all dynner at my y tenne pounds . To an apprentice in whom he was interested he left £200 fift - . To no less than y eight persons he bequeathed ” black gowns . Included in these were forty poor persons his a to wear them on the day of burial . The Lord M yor of London, the Sword Bearer, Sir Thomas and Lady White , i Of Sir Robert Broke , Ch ef Justice the Common Pleas , and others . He did not forget his relations left behindi n the his neighbourhood of Old home . He left legacies to the of Of of four children William Laxton Gretton , and to each of of the eight children Robert Laxton Gretton , and to any child of Thomas (eldest son of Robert) who might be born ’ after his (Sir William s) death . Widow Chr istian Webster of £10 e Oundle receives , and William Ab ll , whose name will of n be found in the list Freeholders , is to have a mourni g ring of the value of £10 . After other legacies to his step children and others , he leaves his estate to Lady Laxton hi s u for her life , and after her death property in the co nty - of Hertford to his step son Nicholas Luddington ; hi s - pr operty in Suffolk and Essex to hi s step daughter Anne

Lodge , wife Of Alderman Thomas Lodge ; two houses in o f the city London to William Mason , and the residue to

m of Joha n . Joha e Wanton, the wife his cousin y Wanton

He appoints Lady Laxton sole executrix , and John Machell n , Thomas Lodge , Nicholas Luddington, and Joh outhcote S overseers to assist her . A GREAT FOUNDER 5 3

’ l Laxt on s i But the codicil to Sir Wi liam w ll , made the s ame day, is more germane to the history Of Oundle, for therein he states that he is fully minded to found a Free

Grammar School at Oundle to have continuance for ever, and which shall be kept in the messuage or house of late of called the Guild Fraternity House Oundle . He is also

minded, he states , to have seven poor men perpetually to be found at Oundle each to have eight pence weekly towards their maintenance and free house room in the

same Guild House . For this purpose he bequeaths unto the Wardens and Commonalty of the mystery Of Grocers Of within the City London , and to their successors for ever ,

of . property in the parish St Swithen, at London Stone , and Ster b our ne in Lane, Saint Nicholas Lane, Abchurch Lane, or Candlewick Street , and East Cheap, elsewhere withi n of Of the City London lately purchased Weldon , Esquire , upon condition that the said Wardens and Commonalty ’ shall make suit with hi s executors to the King and Queen s Majestys the said Guild of Fraternity House to be employed and used for the Schoolhouse and for the habita tion of the said seven poor men . The said Wardens and Commonalty are also to provide a Schoolmaster and Usher £18 £6 1 3s. 4 and to pay them respectively and d. He wills also that the said Wardens and Commonalty Of Grocers aforesaid shall with the advice and consent Of the

Vicar, Churchwardens , and four of the best and honest hi of l paris oners Ound e aforesaid, for the time being, [select] seven poor honest men dwellers in Oundle to be beadmen for him . The said Wardens and Commonalty shall also pay or cause to be paid to the said Vicar, Churchwardens , etc . , twenty-four shillings yearly for the reparations and main t enance of the said messuage . He wills his body to be of buried in his Parish Church Aldermary, and that a tomb be made over his grave in a laudable manner. i 29 15 5 6 Laxton d ed on July , , a week after the signing

Of his will , and was buried as directed by his codicil in the

u Of . Parish Ch rch St Mary, Aldermary, as appears by an 5 4 OUNDLE ’ S STORY

’ extract from Stow s Survey, there being no register Of his nor burial in that parish, a tombstone existing .

St . Mary, Aldermary . 15 45 Sir William Laxton , Grocer, maior , founded a faire free schoole at Oundle Northamptonshi re with sixe s almes hou es for the poore . 15 5 6 Sir William Laxton , Grocer, maior, deceased , and 15 63 Thomas Lodge , Grocer, maior , were buried in the

vault Of Henry Keble whose bones were unkindly cast out,

and his monument pulled down , in place whereof monu

O f l . ments were set up the later buried Wil iam Blunt, L 1 94 Mountj oy buried there 5 . A fair Tomb In the Chancel

S ir William Laxto n lyes inter r ed Within thi s holy Vault That by good life and happy death Th e e f nd o r whi ch h e sou ght . O o r and c h e was e ed f P o Ri h b lov , Hi s dea n s e e r e us li g th y w j t , G o d h ath hi s Soul hi s Body her e ” Consumed i s to dust .

16 15 5 6 On November , , Alderman Lodge, who had ’ ’ Laxt on s r married Lady daughter, informed the Groce s ’ Company of Sir William Laxton s devise to them and the Company expressed their willingness to receive the same ” i hi s with thanksgiv ng for genteel remembrance . But for some reason or other there was delay on behalf of the Company in making application to the Crown for the ’ h Laxton s Guild all at Oundle in accordance with request . of of It so happened that the lord the manor Oundle , the

Earl of Bedford, was a member of the Government, and in 15 5 7 , he called upon the Company to further the legacy ” of . F Mr Laxton for the erection of a ree School at Oundle . The Earl ’ s interference may have been due to the fact ’ that Lady Laxton , in anxious loyalty to her husband s wishes , had herself made application for the grant of the

Guildhall . Upon a valuation of it (says Bridges) the m executor of Sir W . Laxton intending to establish a A GREAT FOUNDER 5 5 perpetual foundation for the relief of poor persons it was ” rated to the Lady Laxton at xx" Owing to difficulties apparently in the interpretation 1572 of the will , matters dragged on until , when a friendly suit appears to have been instituted by the Company against Lady Laxton and Mrs . Wanton in order to ascer tain exactly the legal interest of these two ladies . A of decree dismissal was issued by consent , conferences ul on 6 1573 were held, and timately May ,

At this Court the Common Seal of this Company was brought down to seal one of the Indentures Tripartite between the Lady Laxton and t he Company concerning ’ the maintenance of Sir William Laxton s School in Oundle and the said Lady Laxton di d seal another part Of the ” Feoffment i — said Indentures and also a Deed Of conveying, ’ ’ we imagine , the Guild, Schoolmaster s , and Usher s house and a Letter of Attorney for delivery of possession of ” Houses in Oundle and London .

hi 3r d About a month after t s , on the June , possession was taken Of the Guild Hall for a Schoolhouse under the will Of t (or codicil rather) Sir William Lax on, by Mr. Owenshaw and Mr. Hawke, two Of the feoffees appointed by the ’ Grocers Company . A house for the schoolmaster and another for the usher according to a deed of feoffment made by

Dame JOhane Laxton whi ch was doone in presence Of a great number of the Town of Oundle both Old and young and there was given to 48 S coller s a peny a pece to ’ the intent they should the better remember Mr . Warden s ab o wt e i being at Oundle the sa d possession . And there was also given to fyv e poore Women that before were placed by the Lady Laxton and now removed to place 12d Men there, to each Of them .

Then Mr . Wardens returned to their Lodging, where

one . they found Mr Chues , a Gentleman dwelling nighe to wr en Oundle, to Whom Sir Walter Mildmay had yt his Of ad s Letter request to assist Mr. Wardens with his v y e 56 OUNDLE ’ S STORY concerning the ordering of the said School and other things there Then they satt all down and began to confer what things were next to be done and after consideration had , it was thought good to call in John Sadler who before had ‘1 S choolmr s byn Of the free School, but now, Of late had discontynued and had not taught there but placed a s o young man in hi ro m . And it was declared unto the r said S choolm that from henceforth the School shall be kept in such order as Sir Wm Laxton in his Will hath i Midso r r apo nt ed. And that from m next the S choolm is to have for his Wages £18 a year and a House to dwell in And therefore except he will be from thensfor th r esydent in Oundle and be dylligent in teaching Of the S coller s that r off t a they may p y under him , th t he shall remain there . dl To which the said John Sa er answered , that he myndeth to be r esydent and to use himself so hereafter that he ’ (b m al Of hopeth the p sh l have cause to lyke well him, whereupon it was thought good to prove him to see r om sed whether he will do as he hath p y . And Mr . Wardens required them of the Towne that if at any time they see that he doe s not hi s dutic that they will for with wr yt e them thereof they will see that redress shall be had with as much speed as may be .

Then Mr . Wardens called in the young man which the said Schoolmaster had placed in his room, named Robert Lynacr e and declared unto him that from hence " forth there must be an Usher to teach S coller s in the s S hoolm' School under the c . And that his wages must be £6 13 4d a year a House to dwell in, And did ask him whether he had good will to teach them for the said

Wages , who answered , that he will gladly do his best to th nketh teach but y the Stipend to be very small , nev er the less , he minded to take payment in hope that some augmentation of his living will come hereafter by some ’ d Man s means , and he was a mitted Usher . There was then called in John Choor ne who is the Mynister in Oundell (for there is no Vicar by cause the Lyv ing is so small) And the 2 Churchwardens were l Edw‘ l Cutb d called for, Barber A exander ea , Barbe r Cutb ead was there but was out of Towne . A GREAT FOUNDER 57

Then was called in some Of the honest substantial] i Mr persons parish oners of Oundle named Thomas Clerk,

Tuckin ham . John Frances , Wm g and John Clement And ’ Laxto s r e u r ed n . according to Sir Wm Will , Mr Wardens q y their advises consents in the nomynating and electing 7 l Al Of poor men , dwe lers in Oundle , to be msmen of Sir Al W. Laxton, Knight, sometime derman Of London , d And when the persons afs saw to the nomynation of the 7 des r ous said poor men Mr . Wardens were very y to have such 7 men as were without Wyv es (although there be a very great number of poor Men) Yet will there not be meete t o r eceiv e found one man Alms , that was without a i fa n 7 Wy e, therefore were y to take poor Men which have W v es y whose names are these, Robert Clerk, John Keyte ,

Richd Deacon, John Brooks , Phillip Lowden , Hugh ‘ F sher 7 y , Rob Bonds , the which poor men were sent for and called in, And Mr . Wardens declared unto ’ them that according to Sir Wm Laxton s Will they must inhab t 85 7 y dwell in rooms , which shall be made for S them under the Schoolhouse , And that each of them hall d of 8 have after the rate a week paid them quarterly, And they were also exhorted to live quietly and godly together, even like Brothers and Sisters . And it was also plainly declared unto them that when it shall please God to cawl any of them out Of this tr ansyt or y live that W v es their y can have no longer abode there , but must to then presently provide other dwellings , for according ’ Laxton s Sir W . Will there must be other men forthwith all placed in their rooms . And they were very well con tented 85 did thank Almighty God for sending such a l in good help towards their maintenance and yv g. ’ " a o nte school Mr . Wardens did also pp y for the m ’ Lo dging the Tent sometyme called the Priest s House or ’ like se a o nt Priest s Chambers . And did wy p y for the ’ ‘ somet me G b sons Usher s Lodging the Ten y called y House . And it was agreed and concluded that there shall be a partition made in the yarde lying between the S choolmr e v and the Ush r, reaching from Wall to Wall , e en to the ’ of North side a Window, in the Schoolmaster s House . And the Usher to have a Door in the partition 85 egress E 5 8 OUNDLE ’ S STORY

t ’ regress to within the Schoolmas er s Yard, to fetch

Water there . Forasmuch as Mr Wardens found the School House even in that order as it was when it was a brotherhood House to eat drink in whereby it round about more lyke a Tavern than a Schoolhouse they therefore di d make request to the Inhabitants of Oundle to take such order as the sd Schoolhouse be made with formes desks after the manner Of the Schoolhouse at Stamford and to white wash the Schoolhouse round abo ut to see the t lin r y g of the same to be well fixed tho oughly cemented , Of Almsmens And also to remove the partition the Houses , set one to every partition under Of the greate Beams , so 5 7 where there is now but rooms , there shall be for 7 so Lodgings the Almsmen , And when the rooms be i made, either to place the men there according to the r ancienty or else to make 7 lots and every man to take his good fortune . And Mr . Wardens did thereupon pay to the ’ one Churchwardens in hand for year s reparations, which ‘ shall ende at Midst twelvemonth xxiv “ And they did all willingly and faithfully promise to do all things that

Mr . Wardens had requested them in the best manner that ” they can .

Although no monument is to be found in St . Mary , sa Aldermary, we might y in Oundle more appropriately tod ay than at any previous time Si monument um n r equir is cir cumspice . But o the east end of the Laxton School in the churchyard will be found an inscription in and i Latin, Greek, Hebrew, wh ch according to an Old translation may be read thus

O nd e n a h e di d et At u l bor , wh t g I n L ndon r ea a n o with g t p i , Laxton to O ld and youn g hath set ” A comfor t to r emain .

munificentl He y gave, together with the buildings, ” two £38 a year as endowment for masters for the poor .

60 OUNDLE ’ S STORY

Scholar that they may give him or them understanding Of such orders as be here included provided that the Scholar before his admission into the Grammar School be able to write competently and read both English and Latin and if the Schoolmaster or Usher upon proof or trial Of hi s capacity find him not meet to learn to signify the same t o his friends to remove him and none to tarry above five years in learning his Grammar wi thout great cause ” of alleged and allowed by Mr Wardens the Grocers . If the Scholar be not dwelling in the town but is to of be boarded there, the Parents shall take advice the as Schoolmaster and Usher that he be not placed where , it or w is known , the good man his ife are such as shall give to example the Scholar to follow Idleness , Gaming, or other n s vain pastimes not meet for Studi e t . Every Scholar at his first admission into the School shall pay Sixpence to the Usher which money he shall have to the Intent he shall keep a Register book therein to wri te the names and surnames Of the Scholars at their entering the time

Of their departing, wherefore they went away and whether ” they went to the Universities or no .

m. 7 e . Prayers were to be said at ; and teaching, reading and interpreting in the morning to be from to

1 to 5 6 . Afternoon school to be from or p m. of according to the time year , to close with prayers in was which mention always to be made of the Church, the ’ Queen s Majesty, the Realm , the Lady Laxton, and the

Company of Grocers . The Master and Usher were usually to speak in the one Latin tongue to their Scholars , and likewise scholar to another as well in the school as coming and going to school . one There was to be only afternoon holiday each week, and on Sundays and Holydays the scholars with the Master and Usher were to resort to the Parish Church in the time of Common Prayer, each scholar to have a Prayer Book either in Latin or English as the Master should appoint .

Just three years after their former visit , namely in 1576 May, , the Wardens came to Oundle again , bringing A GREAT FOUNDER 6 1 with them an examiner in the person of the Revd . Mr .

f . o . Blaze , parson St Vedast Foster in the city Of London

He preached in the Parish Church on the Sunday, when

he did make a very good sermon, and where was ” a great audience of gentlemen of the county and others .

Not only did he examine the scholars , but he also ques tioned the almsmen and found them very ignorant and took order that if they did not learn the Lord ’ s

Prayer, the Belief, and Ten Commandments before Whit ” suntide their pension shall cease . In 1592 the schoolmaster was requested to act as pay master to the almsmen . S O did the Old order change, giving place to new, and the Guild School pass into the Public School , for Sir ’ Laxt on s was William School , from the first, something of more than a local school . Not only does the first list scholars include the son of a cobbler and a son Of Edward ” Lord Montague , but pupils were attracted from far and

wide . A point Of evidence in thi s direction is fixed in our Parish Church in the shape Of a mural monument on the West wall . It reads as follows

l eth of Lor in e son Here y ye Body William g , second

O f William Lor inge Of Haymes in the County Of Gloster . " Esqr e Linially descended from The Right Ye Honorable S Neale Lor inge one Of ye Founders Of ye Noble order of ye d of Garter . He tooke to wife Edith aughter Thomas

Warren Of Snowshill in ye County Of Gloster Esq . who is r descended of S John de Warren second sonne Of The Right Honorable John Ye last Earle Warren Squire of Sussex by whom he had issue 5 soums 5 daughters h 6t B NI 1628 died day Of March . AN . . . To whose memorie Edith hi s most sorrowful wife in t estification Of her everlasting love doth with unf ayned ” teares consecrate this monument .

This William Lor inge Of Gloucestershire had two sons ’ Laxton s at Sir William School and, quite probably, was 62 OUNDLE ’ S STORY

taken ill and died in Oundle when he was vi siting his boys . Amongst those keenly interested in the School from the of first was Sir Walter Mildmay , Apethorpe Hall , who was

Chancellor to Queen Elizabeth . He founded Emmanuel

College , Cambridge , for the furtherance Of essentially ” 15 83 Protestant principles , and in January appears to have promised two scholarships to be held at Emmanuel by Oundle School boys . It is not clear whether the promise was ever act ually fulfilled .

But, however this may be, the impetus given to educa tion by William Laxton was destined to carry along a swelling tide which tho se now living have been privileged to see at far the greatest height it has at any time yet reached .

THE S CHOOL ARMS . CHAPTER V

PARISH PRIEST A ND B EN EFACTOR

UST four years before the Wardens of the Grocers ’ dl 15 69 Company came to Oun e, namely, in , there arrived at Barnwell one who was to prove a k dl benefactor, both in education and in y charity, to a

. was wide district This was Nicholas Latham , who the son of the keeper of Brigstock Great Park , and was born in

15 48 . When Latham was quite young, his father appears was to have moved to Rushden , where the lad brought up and whence he had the great advantage Of walking day by day to Higham Ferrers to attend the Grammar School d foun ed by Henry Chichele, Archbishop of Canterbury, 4 2 in 1 2 . Latham always remembered his home and school , for in addition to many other benefactions he gave a sumto realise £3 yearly to be distributed to six poor of people Rushden , where he was brought up, and a like amount to be distributed in the same way to six poor

of . people Higham Ferrers , where he was educated We can think of two possible factors which might influence greatly the mind of Latham in after life . He would probably hear from his father stories of the difficulties which arose from time to time in connection with the struggles of the people for the maintenance Of their ul common rights in the Great Park, and he wo d also of hi hear from his teachers the story C chele who, by reason

Of diligence in study as by other qualities , had risen from a poor station in Higham Ferrers to the highest position in the Church . 6 4 OUNDLE ’ S STORY

. the Of Mr Austell , in his survey, noted right the ’ parishioners of Oundle t o pasture hogs in the Lord s

t. e. woods , except in Park Wood , there was a common r right to pastu e in Parsons Wood , The Hills , Little Hall , Fo 60 70 and xley Wood , covering altogether between and acres . When Austell made his survey Nicholas Latham O was just seventeen years f age . Four years before 15 44 Latham was born , in , an Act was passed in which it was set forth that after the commonable woods had been enclosed seven years , they were to be laid Open for the Commoners , and convenient spaces were to be left for their cattle to come into the woods and there to pasture and feed . When Latham had been but two years in

Barnwell , an Act was passed which makes it clear that c for hogs were ommonable , it is enacted thereby that

if hi s of any person or persons suffer swine , being the age O f ten weeks or above during such years as the said woods or or be appointed ordained by this Act to be inclosed , to go r un in any common or several grounds or woods unless the ’ ’ same swine be sufficiently r ingg d or pegg d that then the Of owner or owners such swine shall forfeit four pence .

All this would be of great interest to the son of the park keeper, and incline him more and more to be the friend of the poor . At twenty-one years of age Nicholas comes to Barn ’ in well , deacon s orders , to minister to the people, where he — 15 69 4620 is to remain the remainder Of his life . On l his arrival he finds no Vicar at Ound e, and none is appa r entl n 15 83 y appointed u til , fourteen years afterwards , of and during the remainder his ministry, five Vicars of - . fiv e Oundle come and go When he was forty , Latham of married Mary Foster, the daughter Hen ry Foster Of son who e Burwash , in Sussex, by whom he had a di d in infancy . Latham saw his parishioners coming from Barnwell and ill- and into Oundle market along a rough made road, PARISH PRIEST AND B ENEFACTOR 6 5 - so constructed the pathway which extends to day from just Opposite Barnwell Railway Station to the parish

boundary at Oundle Pumping Station . Moreover, he gave

4 d. to the parish of Barnwell a sum to bring in £6 13s. a year to repair the same path . He also provided for the repair Of the road from Bythorn to Tichmar sh . The almswomen had disappeared from the Old Guild Almshouse in Oundle, and men had taken their place under the will Of Sir William Laxton , and encouragement had been given in Parliament for making provision for the aged . The Spoliation Of the guilds Of England was beginning to

. A ct on 24 15 96 be felt An was passed October , , for or the erecting of hospitals , abiding and working houses ’ for the poor . Latham 8 heart was touched, and in 15 99 December, , he purchased from Sir Edward Montagu the site for erecting In his own parish Of Barnwell a hospital for the maintenance of twelve poor people who must be f upwards of fifty years o age . The three first to be single or or men ; nine others to be men women , single, widowers , t o widows ; and besides these, w women who were to take care Of the sick . He also duly provided them with pensions , clothing, firing, and washing . He also further afterwards erected and endowed a Fr ee School in his own

n . parish and at Brigstock, Weekley, and Hemi gton ’ It is , however, Latham s generosity towards Oundle i e w th which w are the more concerned . He was gradually becoming possessed Of property in various places with a view to doing in Oundle as he had done in Barnwell . In the meantime he was anxious to show such immediate kindness t o the parishioners Of Oundle as he was able . Of He therefore got into touch with the Vicar Oundle , and wrote to him a letter of whi ch note was duly made by the Trustees Of the Town Estates as follows 26 160 8 December , . Forasmuch as it hath pleased God to move Mr Latham now Minister of Barnwell in the County Of Northampton to give (after the death of him and his wife) to six of the poorest inhabitants of our Town 6 6 OUNDLE ’ S STORY

Of Oundle ten shillings apiece to be paid by the Warden of the Hospital in Barnwell aforesaid or their successors for ever upon the one and twentieth day of December And for that the said Mr Latham is desirous to see the same hi s gift in some part to take place, he hath appointed yearly during their lives that the said poor inhabitants shall have half the said money given to them videlicet five shillings apiece for the said poor people as by a letter under the h andwriting of the said Mr Latham dated the tenth day Of December 160 8 more plainly it doth appear . Therefore to the end that God ever may be prayed to for this His mercy vouchsafed us and that this so godly and ’ charitable a deed Of Mr Latham s with his full purpose will and intent therein may the better be known to our succeeding posterities we that now be inhabitants Of the said town Of Oundle have caused his said letter to be set down and written v er bation in thi s Book of our town

& c. as accounts and business , , follows

B ear sle To his loving neighbours , Mr y Minister of Oundle and to the Churchwardens and Con stables there Or either of them After my hearty commendations having so long time dwelt near to your town of Oundle and enjoyed your neighbourly and friendly acquaintance I could not but in some sort show my thankfulness towards ur said town and therefore have appointed the yparden Of the Hospital in Barnwell or their Bailiff and Successors for ever to pay or cause to be paid after the decease Of me and my wife unto six of the ‘ poorest inhabitants of your town of Oundle x apiece “ for ever to be paid them yearly on the 21 day December which six poor people Shall be named and appointed by the Minister Chur chwar der s and their u Successors for ever . And the said poor people m st upon the XXI day of December yearly come or send for their money to the Wardens or Bailiffs with a ’ fficer s certificate under your said O hands, or the most part of them that they whose names are under written are the parties whom they have appointed to receive the said money and because this year is scarce

6 8 OUNDLE ’ S STORY

John Goodwyn , Thomas Gilbert , William Jerman , and r s ell William Pa t .

At the same time Mr . Latham was making definite preparations for the erection of his Almshouse and School 20 16 10 in Oundle , and on November , , he purchased from h S lb e Jo n y y the site of the hospital , described in the deed as a messuage in Oundle, abutting upon the common street , leading towards the bridge , towards the north, i for whi ch tenement was then in bu lding, the establish ment of a hospital or almshouse in the place where the ” same tenement late stood . The actual deed of founda 15 1611 tion was dated May , , and by it the new building was declared to be erect ed and founded as a hospital and abiding place for the finding sustentation and relief of or certain aged , poor, needy, impotent people to have con ” n e tinua c forever . The alms persons were to constitute a corporation and ’ to be called , in English , by the name of Parson Latham s ” a Hospit l in Oundle, and in Latin Hospitium Latham

Rect or is in Oundle . The body and members of the hospital were to consist of a Warden , and not more than o w sixteen other aged po r . The Warden as to be called in ’ English The Warden of Parson Latham s Hospital in Guar dianus Oundle , and in Latin , aut Guardiana ” t i Rect or is fir Hospi i Latham in Oundle . The st Warden P ndon of was Catherine Smith, and Margaret y one the

first inmates of the almshouse . Catherine Smith was ffi of succeeded in the o ce Warden by Joan Godfrey . The corporation was to possess a common seal bearing the ”

acce i . still u words Quod dedi, p Such a seal is sed by the present Board of Trustees for the sealing of their

of a . documents . For the endowment the Hospit l Mr Latham acquired proper ty at Orton Longfield (now -in- o Longueville) , Pertenhall , Kirton Holland , Moult n

I . of (Lincolnshire) , slip , and other places In the case certain leaseholds it was stipulated that the rent should be paid in the porch of Oundle Parish Church . PARISH PRIES T AND BENEFACTOR

of Between the establishment the Hospital and Mr . ’ ot Latham s death, things were n going very well at Sir ’ William Laxt on s School . The master there was a ’ Reverend Mr . Spencer, who did not obtain priest s orders

1613. until September, The governors of the school had had occasion to find fault with him, and Mr . Spencer had obtained admission to the priesthood in hope of obtaining a b enefice. Happily he was not successful and he was persuaded to resign with a solatium in September,

16 13. . a Mr Lath m was intending to found a school , but of l apparently for the sons the workers , who cou d, perhaps , ’ a on Laxton s if duly qu lified, go to Sir William School , and ultimately go t o Cambridge with exhibitions founded — by Mr . Latham . Thus the educational ladder or ” ’ ’ son son broadway, for cobbler s and peer s went side by side— existed in Oundle very early in the seventeenth century . The Latham School and Almshouse, with house or f the Master, were side by side in North Street , the upper schoolroom, now recently used as an Art School , being of for the Writing Master . In the days Bridges the words Glory to God were cut in the stone over the entrance door of the School and were truly typical of the whole ’ f tenor of Mr . Latham s li e . In framing the Orders and Statutes for the government

of . the Hospital and School , Mr Latham consulted Mr .

. B . A . Daniel Dave, junior, and Mr William Dugard, , Usher ’ of Laxt on s f Sir William School , and finally approved o

on 27 1620 . them March , Amongst the first bailiffs were

Edward Cuthbert and Thomas Cawthorne . The former was probably the son of the Churchwarden at the time of ’ the visit of the Wardens of the Grocers Company to take of over the Laxton property . The name this Mr . Cuthbert br ass t o is preserved to us in the , thememoryof his daughter, of of in the pavement the North aisle the Parish Church, which reads as follows

Here lyes Katherine Dayrell the wife of Peter Dayrell 70 OUNDLE’ S STORY

of Second Son to Sir Thomas Dayrell , Lillington Dayrell , in k the county of Buck, night and the eldest Daughter of dl . w Edward Cuthbert of Oun e, Drapier She as buried the "h 17 of September Ano Domini

The Cuthberts were a large family, whose members were sometimes described as Generosi and sometimes ” Richar d as Fabri . A Cuthbert was one of the Latham

l 726 . 1678 . one bai iffs more than fifty years later, in But, in was sense, the government of the Hospital to be demo cratic . Mr . Latham had appointed the first Warden , but he provided that when vacancies arose the residue of the corporation was to assemble in the Hall of the Hospital and to elect some one poor woman of the Company to be their Warden . If they could not agree the bailiffs were ’

. ki to appoint, but in either case any of Mr Latham s n so was to have the preference should they desire . One poor person was to be a resident of Ashton , the rest to be chosen from the town of Oundle ; they must be over fifty years of age , and must have been resident in Oundle seven years before their election . They must be able to help themselves without the aid of others . They were to be elected by the Minister of the Parish of Oundle , the Church f of wardens , and bailif s the Hospital , and in case of an even vote for each of two applicants they were to cast lots which of them two shall have the place . If there be c no applicant for a va ancy, the Warden and residue of the corporation were given full power to choose a sui table ” r l r person from Oundle o Poo b ook hundred . A vacancy in the office of bailiff was to be filled by the Warden and and surviving bailiff, who should choose one other ” suffi cient man in Oundle , but who must first enter in Bond of one hundred pounds with a Sufficient sur etie to k make a true accompt of his B ailwi c . The bailiffs were not to go unrewarded for their pains , in keeping the of accounts and managing the property the corporation , o n they were to be allowed to spend themselves , their neighbours that heard the accounts , and the poor in the PARISH PRIEST AND BENEFACTOR 71

house and the schoolmaster, to make merry at a dinner ” of Fifty Shillings . of It was natural , perhaps , that the neighbours the bailiffs should be an expanding circle, and this a century later came to the knowledge of the Visitor (the then Duke 24 1740 of Buccleuch) , who, on February , , laid it down that whereas many resort to that dinner that are not invited neither are concerned to see accompts of the said Hospital Taken to the great Charges and Expenee of the said Hospital I do by Virtue of the power to me Commited Order and appoint that the Bailiffs provide for Themselves and those whom they think fit to invite to take the accounts 85 do not exceed in their Expences the said sum of fifty Shillings and if any persons not invited by the Bailiffs shall come to the said Dinner they shall be required to pay their Ordinary for their Dinner as the Bailiffs pay for those who ” are Invited by them . A sum of £50 was to be carried forward each year as a

Repair Fund, and if this should prove at any time insufficient the bailiffs were empowered to reduce the weekly pensions of the alms persons by twopence or three so pence a week , and to avoid filling up vacancies long as six not more than rooms should be vacant at any time .

Mr . Latham had found that some of the inmates in his Hospital at Barnwell did not care of themselves how or sluttishly they lodge go apparelled . He therefore laid down for the Oundle Hospital that if such should arise the bailiffs were to buy what was necessary and deduct the cost from the weekly pensions . He regretted that there was not sufficient space on his North Street site on to build the house entirely the ground floor, and desired that in order to avoid the difficulty of the stairs regard should be paid to the age and weakness of the alms

of . persons . The tender heart Mr Latham is laid bare in his order to avoid bribery. Having determined that any who obtained place by bribery shall ip sa f acta be ” displaced for ever, he adds 72 OUNDLE ’ S STORY but this order shall not extend to any that will give ln or after they be placed the House, any money goods m their Lifetimes or at their departure to the good of the ” or b enefitt of House, further them that dwell therein . - Every sabbath and week day the alms persons shall come to the church if the bell do ring or tole to prayers and there attentively and diligently use themselves during the time of prayer or preaching upon pain to for feit for every “ default 1 except they be out of town or at their dayly labour in some place or sickness or some other lawful] excuse and every day once or twice at the appointed time of the Warden and Bailiffs they shall at the ringing of their bell kneel down in the Hall and make their prayers together .

For this purpose Mr . Latham provided the prayer ” h i s penned by imself, which painted upon a board and fi was is fixed over the replace m the hall , which formerly on the ground floor, until the restoration of the house a few years ago

Mer cifull O God and loving Father in Jesus Christ, we heartily thank Thee for Thy manifold Blessings bestowed upon us both on our souls and Bodies and namely that Thou not as dost despise such poor creatures we are , but hath given thy dear son to suffer death for our redemption and hast ordained us to live in these days that by preaching and hearing thy Holy Gospel we may in some measure behold the same and also of thy ab undent favour and love in our tender age Thou didst cause our parents carefully to Look unto us when we were not able to help ourselves and in our middle age didst give health and strength of body to labour in our callin gs to get our living and now in our old age tho u wouldst not leave us nor forsake us but hast of thy mercy stirred up others to have compassion upon us and to help our infi r mities for these and all other thy bountiful] Blessings bestowed upon us we b owthe knee of our hearts and give thee thanks in Jesus Christ, and we pray thee good Father for his sake to bless every member of his our church , King and country, the town where we dwell our fr iends that Labour for our relief and so Bless them Lord that they as sowers and we as Reapers may rejoice together

74 OUNDLE ’ S STORY

o of p or person the Hospital or Bailiff depart this life, he is to cause his scholars in their Livery coats to attend the ” corpse to the Burial .

We hope that in the early days , the scholars were as

l . di igent and attentive as Mr Latham would have wished . o The detailed comments of the scho lmaster in his register , most beautifully kept some 60 years ago ( 185 3-18 6 5 ) show - the boys of to day to be of a higher standard of ability of and character . The stipend the schoolmaster is to 10 3 be 6 pounds a year ; to be paid . on the first

13s 4 d. sabbath in every month, and . a year towards his s 12 livery . A writing ma ter to teach poor children 6 8 d £3 3 . . £15 to write is to receive yearly . a year set is to be , aside to buy the scholars coats of blue h 15 cloth against W itsunday, and if the said pounds a year will be any overplus then each scholar to have a cap ” or hatt also . If the Warden and her bailiffs can get a minister to preach on the account day she shall allow ”

is . 38 4d. h him 1 . for pains

’ on The Latham Sermon is now preached St . Thomas of r Day, and the writer this sto y has duly received the said fee . The requirements of modern Education Acts necessi tat ed the merging of the Latham School in the Oundle

Church of England School . A salary of £40 a year was 18 82 s paid direct to a schoolmaster in , when it cea ed . From that year it was paid to the Correspondent of the r h 1903 Oundle Chu c School until , but a payment of £8 a year to the schoolmaster for a separate Sunday Bible

190 7 . Class continued until April , The provision of 190 clothing for the boys was discontinued in 5 . The 19 0 Anniversary Dinner was held for the last time in 0 . The Charity is now managed under a scheme sealed by the

on 1 19 10 . Charity Commissioners July , The last Warden s was 11 was Mr . Susannah Freer, who appointed on June , PARISH PRIEST AND BENEFACTOR 75

1885 d 97 19 12 , and die , at the age of , in September, , thus or holding the office f 27 years . She exerted the influence of a striking personality over the members of the Hospital .

To listen to Mrs . Freer, who retained her faculties until of was hi three days her death , to learn local story with old ease and with great interest . She could make the days old- live , and possessed a natural world courtesy which made all feel a deference towards her which her years f otherwise rightly claimed . The last bailif s of the hospital were Mr . R . S . Gurney Coombs and Mr . John Hume

Smith . Just before his death the yearly revenue of the property which had been set aside by Mr . Latham for his Oundle

8 . Hospital and School amounted to £131 163 . d The we expenses , which give in detail as revealing comparative a of v lues money and labour, were estimated by Mr . Latham as follows

To sixteen women dweller s ln th e Hospital Two wo men in th e town to look t o th e sick Eighteen gowns will cost one year with n a o th er . ' F ewell an dwashin g for sixteenln th e house The pr eaching an d dinn er s on th e accompt a3 37 To th e oo in r on Oundle and e p r Ki t , Pol br oo k Th e sc oo as er £6 1 s 4d. and er if h lm t 3 . a wr it ( ma e 3 y b ) £ 6 8 . 8d. ’ Thir ty scholar s Liver ies T wen oor e e in O n for o t ty p p opl un dle a d 58 . ’ scholars bread

Th e sum total 123 14 4

This left to repair the houses and other things , as

. £8 23 . 4d. candle and salt, etc ,

Remember that on the accompt day the two women that look to the sick may dine with the residue of the of women in the Hospital, when the stock fifty pounds is OUNDLE ’ S STORY full then let the schoolmaster have a chauldron of coals — to warm his scholars in winter let a poor cousin of mine dwelling in fleet in holland (they call her Lady stone Jane) 20/ a year during her life and Joan a poor woman in ” Brigstock 2d. a week during life .

6 1620 By his will dated April , , Mr . Latham con firmed and ratified the various gifts and benefactions t which we have referred . He died four months afterwards 4 16 20 of 72 August , , at the age , having inherited n worldly estate from his parents other than the house a Brigstock in which he was born and which he gave for a o school there . All these acts f charity arose solely fro of th the Rectory Barnwell St . Andrew, being about r fecte yearly value of £160 . All these works he saw pe and completed in his lifetime and left a personal estate 0

£120 . Truly he lived in accordance with his motto , ” e Quod dedi acc pi . CHAPTER VI

— THE COMMONWEALTH B EFORE A ND AFTER

of T is highly likely that Queen Elizabeth, the last the of Tudors , and the first two the Stuart kings passed

through Oundle or sawthe town in the distance . In 1573 Elizabeth visited Fotheringhay and ordered monu ments to be erected in the church in memory of those her royal ancestors whose bodies had been interred in the

I . churchyard, and James , when journeying from Edin one of burgh to London , made Apethorpe Hall his halting Hinchi n br ooke places . Thence he proceeded to g and , see in devotion to his mother, would Fotheringhay and

Perio Mill en route .

It was in the fifth year of James I . that the Crown f dispossessed itself of the Rectorial Manor o Oundle . By 17 160 8 letters patent dated May , , the King, acting through of his Cousin and Councillor Louis Duke Lenox , gave and granted, subject to the contingent liabilities attaching thereto, to Sir Thomas Monson and William Darwyn in return for their fait hful services the Rectory of Oundle in our County of Northampton formerly part of the lands and possessions of the late Monastery of Peterborough surrendered and afterwards being parcel of the dower of the Lady Katharine heretofore Queen of England as fully freely and entirely and m or as ample manner and form as any Abbot Prior, Abbess or Prioress of any late Monastery or Priory monasteries or priories or any other or others the aforesaid Rectories 77 78 OUNDLE ’ S STORY Tithes and other the premises by these presents before granted or any part thereof ever heretofore having possess ing or being seized thereof ever had held used or enjoyed or ought to have held used or enjoyed in the premi ses above by these presents before granted or in any part thereof by reason or pretext of any charter of gift grant or confirmation heretofore had made or granted or con firmed by us or by either of our progenitors or ancestors late Kings or Queens of England or by reason or pretext of any Act or Acts of Parliament reserving to our

selves all advowsons and patronage .

The year 1626 is at the present time brought befor e

the eye in Oundle in two places not many yards apart . On the gable of the first house on the north side of West 626 Street is the legend W. W. 1 and the sign outside

the Talbot Hotel bears the same date . The former inscription no doubt marks the year when the block of

property, extending in West Street and also in New Street, i h including the Talbot , was bu lt by William W itwell

but the Talbot sign is misleading in two directions . It may give the impression that there was no inn on the site 1626 before , which we have seen to be incorrect, and also

that it was named The Talbot in that year . This u did not happen until further on in the cent ry, of which we i 1626 ma w ll speak later, but no doubt the year y be taken as the date of erection of the main portion of the

present building . Whether portions of Fotheringhay i we not Castle were incorporated in the bu lding do know, but a careful inspection of the staircase and the wall in which it rests does not lead to a corroboration of the tradition that the staircase was that up and down which the - ill fated Queen of Scots walked at Fotheringhay . f Such is the present fashi on o spelling Fotheringhay. It will have been noticed that the letter h was not i included in earlier days , wh ch is in accordance with ’ o is mis Professor Skeat s explanation f the name . It ” h spelt , says the Professor, with probably by popular THE COMMONWEALTH 79

ha etymology by confusion with y, which represents ‘ ’ he e n g , a hedge . The g belongs to the g, not ’ a n n to y. The A . S . g was pronounced as gg ’ ’ n . and is so still in the words li ger, finger, etc Fother - ’ her in a fe . a ul . Fot ingay wo d represent in A S . g g It me ns isle of the Fother ings feg was used of any bit of land

ar tiall . p y isolated and F . is beside the river ’ . B ier sle . Mr y, the Vicar, Mr Latham s friend , had died in 16 10 and was succeeded at the Vicarage by Mr . George of Coldwell and Mr. John Townshend, whose terms office lasted together only seven years . Then came Mr . Arthur

Smith, who remained until his death, his burial being entered in the Parish Church register Mr . Arthur " Smith minister bur 12 of Ffebr uar y ( 16 41 It was ’ in Mr . Smith s time that Walter Kirkham of Fineshade 15 1636 £10 left by will (dated December , ) a year to the a m Vicar of Oundle for reading service daily at 7 . . and

5 . i p m. except on Sundays and Holy Days and for preach ng a sermon in the Parish Church on the anniversary of his burial . He charged his property at Elmington with the of sum now payment this , which cannot be traced, possibly due, alas to the fact that daily prayers were not main

tained. It was this Walter Kirkham who erected the tomb in memor y of his mother on the north side of the sanctuary of the Parish Church , and which is inscribed as follows

CONSTANS CONTRARIA S P ERNIT MEM O RIE SACRUM IN HA G D OM O VIVENTI U M OER TA SPE R ES U R R E OTI ONI S PLACIDE OB D ORMIT IN XP O MARTH A KIRKHAM QUONDAM UX O R LI ELM GU I KIRKHAM D E FI NS H EA D IN COMIT.

NO R T T R . O D HAMP . A MIG P STEA VI UA DEFU NCTA CUJUS R E LI QU AS H O O TUMULO ( TANQUAM TH ES A U R U M IN GA Z OP H YLA OI O ) R ECONDI ET R EP ONI CU RA VIT GU A LTE RU S KIRKHAM UTRIUSQUE CHA R I S S IMI PARENTIS S I ILE M FILIU U N OU S D CTI S S I U S . OBIT D IE JU LI I 27 ANN O S A LU TIS 16 16 ZETA TIS 5 6 8 0 OUNDLE ’ S STORY

Kir khams 1 46 The purchased Fineshade Abbey in 5 . was a s The family home previously at the Ch ntry Hou e, - u Cotterstock, on the north east side of the ch rchyard , now of s which became the home the eldest on . In 1636 a dispute arose between the Earl of Bedford and Sir Edward Montagu of Barnwell as to the right to hold a Court leet in Oundle . The latter claimed the right of of of as Lord the Hundred Polebrook, and the Earl of Bedford as Lord the Manor of Oundle . The matter w l was referred to arbitration ith the usual resu t, that a compromise was effected . ’ of In the closing year the Rev . Arthur Smith s life ,

King Charles paid his second visit to Little Gidding . on 13 He had been there nearly ten years before , May , 1633 , when he was met in solemn procession by the family of Ferrar and their singing boys and conducted to 1634 the Church . The next year, , he stayed like his father at Apethorpe , and may have seen the builders at work in l rebuilding our church spire . It seems quite proba e i the that Nicholas Ferrar of Gidd ng, Churchman of t neighbourhood at that time , may have been instrumental 1642 in effecting thi s restoration . When in Charles arrived at Little Gidding, he came accompanied by the of Duke Lennox and others , having left London in the of on his hands the Parliamentarians , and was way to

Stamford by the Great North Road . The Long Parlia

ment had been sitting for nearly two years when Mr . six h s on Arthur Smith died , and mont s afterward , August

18 1642 . a Resbur as , , they nominated Mr Rich rd y had Lecturer of Oundle . There been lecturers l is in Ound e before th date , but they had received no formal l or legal status . In addition to the names a ready men tioned was 1570 , John Osmic licensed curate in , and ushers : 15 58 at the school duly recognised were , Willys Read and

Per i d e 159 1 . . 15 88 . wi . Mr Catlin ; , Mr g ; , Mr Dodd and Mr

Walker, usher to Mr . Spencer . A Mr . Eusebius Paget w s t a . ho a a i and Mr Strickland Negus , w usher Sir W lli m

8 2 OUNDLE ’ S STORY

. l s facetious He certain y made his mark, and hi fame spread far beyond the parish in which he ministered . In of one the volumes of Domestic State Papers, under date 16 16 53 July , , is an entry

. Resbur Captain Falconbridge to pay to Mr y ,

Minister of Oundle , Northamptonshire , the arrears of £5 0 a year granted by the late Committee for Plundered out Ministers of the tenths and first fruits , notwithstanding ” the late order of restraint .

es ur u As Mr . R b y had not paid first fr its until he was 165 2 compelled in January , , the above entry looks of like a return to him , perhaps with interest, the amount he had paid . We know that Oliver Cromwell visited Oundle and s slept at New Hou e , which may have been the temporary

m . 11 1642 quarters of Co et Samuel Squire On April , , Cromwell writes from Ely to the Committee of Associa tion at Stilton

R R DEA F IENDS , ’ “ The Lord has hardened his [the King s] heart has to or more and more he refused hear reason , to

care for our Cause or Religion or Peace . Let our friends ll have notice of the sad news . I wi be with you sa at Oundle , if possible , early next week y Monday,

as I return nowto London this day . . He writes L d n 3r d Ma 1642 on o , y , .

To Mr . Samuel Squire . R RI D DEA F EN ,

I heard from our good friend W. how zealous

in the good Cause you were . We are all alive here , and sweating hard to be at those Papists may the to Lord send to us His holy aid over come them , and l the Devils who used to do evil . I shal come to wa as Oundle, on my y down , this time, I learn you

live there a great time now. THE COMMONWEALTH 8 3

. his d. To Mr Samuel Squire, at Quarters at Stangroun

29th e e 1642. Nov mb r, R R DEA F IEND , ’ not Tell W . I will have his men out folk s

grass without proper compensation . If you pass

mine, say to my Dame I have gone into Essex my house is open to you : make no scruple : do as at ” your house at Oundle, or I shall be cross .

To Cornet Squire .

15 th a c 1642. M r h , R R D DEA F IEN , I have no good mind to take Montague ’ s word

about that Farm . I learn behind the oven is the so place they hide them, watch well , and take what the man leaves and hang the fellow out of hand and For - I am your warrant . he shot a boy at Pilton bee ’ son by the Spinney, the Widow s , her only support, ” so ni God and man must rejoice at his pu shment .

1643 In December, , Squire has his headquarters at

Fotheringhay . Cromwell is intending to destroy the

nunnery at Loughborough, and hearing that Squire has hi m a cousin there writes urging to persuade her to leave . Squire succeeded in getting his cousin away and took her ” to our house at Thr apstone . The Squires were really one of i a Thrapston family, and them bu lt the house now

known as Thrapston House , which is occupied by the

present Rector . s of one of hi s Perhaps Cromwell , on the occa ion visits

sat . Resbur to Oundle, under Mr y and desired to

bring him to London . He offered him the Mastership of the Temple , as appears by the following letter.

S cob ell . W . Boteler to Henry , Esq (Clerk to the House ’ of Commons) , requiring an answer (in the Protector s name) to several particulars touchi ng the Mastership of hi s the Temple, which place Highness is minded to bestow Resb r on . u of . 14 . 1658 Mr y Oundle Dated Aug , . 84 OUNDLE ’ S STORY

1 hi s h i . From ghness I was commanded to speake with you for resolution satisfaction in t heise following particulars

I . Whether the master of the Temple be to be of putt in by him by way presentation , or how

II . Whether he be bound to attend preach among them in terme times out of terme out s III . Or, if, of terme, an a sistant must be

provided ; then , whether at the charge of the master, or how otherwise

IV . Whether publique prayer in the chapell be allwayes performable by the master hi mselfe in terme times And whether, of in time vacation , it be constantly himselfe or s expected from , his a sistant of V . What the certain revenue the master i s , and how it arises 2 n . Sir, the gentleman his highness inte ds to b ie of s . R es ur make ma ter is Mr Oundle, a most

worthy learned man , pastor of the church there, l whereof I my se fe am an unworthy member . 3 l i . The church would be wi ling (for publ que w good) to spare him in terme times , but ill not part

with him altogether . And in some of the particulars

aforementioned . Mr . R . is very desirous to be ’ satisfy d his highness chiefly in the first . 4 ou . Hearing y were to go abroad (least I should - not meet e with you to day) I begg of you to leave br eife a a answer to the said particul rs , I shall

call on your servant for it .

Sir, ul f Your tr y af ectionate humble servant,

. T LE R W BO E .

XIV Aug . MDCLVIII .

S cobell . theise For the honourable Henry , esq .

8 6 OUNDLE ’ S STORY

’ ’ of l for one Ound e , curing victim s bad leg and another s bad eye , they inoculated divers townsfolk, paid a poor ’ man s rent, and fitted out girls for general service . A page of benefactors in the Yarwell Church register includes ’

of . a further instance Mr Bellamy s generosity . Clement r Bellamy Esq gave the sum of £21 to the poor of Yarwell to ” ’ for remain a stock for ever the relief of them . Bellamy s Charity is now managed under a scheme put forth by of the Charity Commissioners , consisting at present nine of persons , two appointed by the Urban Council Oundle , two by each of the Parish Meetings of the other thr ee of parishes concerned , and the writer this story so long as he holds his present offi ce . ’ R esb ur s Mr . y second son , Nathaniel , went up to

Emmanuel College , Cambridge , and took his degree while his father was still Minister of the Parish Church ; he was ordained a clergyman of the Church of England and became o ul a p p ar London preacher, being ultimately appointed a chaplain to King William and Mary . It is said of hi m one that when preaching on occasion at the Chapel Royal , he took for his text the words , I am fearfully and wonder fully made . and in the course of his sermon unconsciously blackened his face with dye from a new black gown . He of married Mary Cordell , a widow, a daughter Robert e - it s Cuthbert , citiz n and goldsmith of London is rea on of able for us to think, a member the family of the Oundle

Cuthberts . Resbur or Mr . y either retired was ejected shortly ’ 1662. before St . Bartholomew s Day , He adjourned to a house in West Street , where he practised medicine, until he was stricken with paralysis . He was buried in the

on 29 1674 . church or churchyard October , At the extreme west end of the South aisle of the Parish Church will be found a stone in memory of Nathanael Resb ur y Hewit who 4 1731 , died on October , , who may have been or of either a relative namesake, but from the proximity - of the stone to others of well known names , a member THE COMMONWEALTH 8 7

the body of Independents then formed in Oundle . During ’ R esbur s . d Mr . y retirement Dr Robert Wild was inducte of on 22 to the Rectory Aynho in this county, July , “ 16 46 of , on the presentation John Cartwright, and by ’ of of order the House Lords . Baker s note (in his County History) is “ intruded by the Parliamentary

1662 . dl . Visitor . Ejected in , Dr Wild came to Oun e ’ of of He was a native St . Ives , and a graduate St . John s z College, Cambridge ; he was preacher of the Assi e x d 16 5 5 Sermon at O for in , which he published separately with a dedication to Mr . John Cartwright . He had a

so so . reputation for facetiousness , much that Mr Baxter, Kidder minist er d when travelling from to Lon on , deter mined to break his journey at Aynho with a view to rebuking Dr . Wild . Mr . Baxter arrived during service time and adjourned to the church , with the result that after service he confessed his intention to the Doctor and asked for forgiveness for entertaining such thoughts was ul 30 16 9 Mr . . 7 towards him Dr Wild buried on J y , , . ” Ter r ewest , the register, entering the burial thus Robt d Dlr u 30 1679 . Wil e , in Nonconformity Divinity, B rd July , f son o Tan . Mr . Edward Cawthorne and Mr Shepherd of Tillbr ook each ministered to the body of Independents until a permanent chapel was built on the present site in

West Street , soon after the passing of the Toleration Act , by Mr . Joseph Hewson , a draper in the town . A stone in memory of members of the Hewson family will be found in s the North aisle of the Parish Church . The fir t Vicar of was Oundle after the Restoration , Benjamin Dillingham,

6 3 . who was appointed by Charles II . in 1 6 He was the m of and il of me ber a large rather remarkable fam y, whom some sixteen came to school in Oundle . One of was of of his uncles one the translators the Bible, another ’

f . o . Dunstan s Rector St , London ’ Benjamin s brother William and his nephew Thomas were Rectors of Barnwell All Saints in succession, where was a mural tablet is placed, in what the original chancel 8 8 OUNDLE ’ S STORY

of the church, to their memory. The nephew Thomas of Sir married Elizabeth Pickering, granddaughter Gilbert ’ of Ti ar s Pickering chm h . Benjamin s eldest brother l William went to Emmanuel Col ege, where he shared rooms S ancr oft of with , afterwards Archbishop Canterbury. William Dillingham became Fellow and Master of Em D - D . . of manuel , , and Vice Chancellor the University . He refused , however, to conform , objecting to the statement voluntar il that an oath taken y was void and illegal . He was ejected from the Mastership and came to live with hi s brother at Oundle Vicarage . He ultimately married a second time and retired to the living of Odell in Bedford

on 9 1672. shire , but was buried at Oundle May , Mr . Benjamin Dillingham had the sorrow of burying his own son Benjamin just two years afterwards ; he was himself i on 15 1679 . laid to rest March , Just about th s time, several well-known figures in the parish were removed by — i Damwell - death R chard , writing master at the Latham Dar nwell School , and his daughter, Doctor Long, Joseph , ” Ter r ewest the sexton , and Will , Litle Bookseller, who kept the parish registers . 29 31 Between April and October , in the year 666 223 1 , there were no fewer than burials in the church of 200 u yard , and these died of the Plag e , which had been 23 borne from the city of London . In addition persons also died of the Plague who wer e not buried in the 223 10 5 churchyard . Of the buried in the churchyard were males and 118 females . It is interesting to notice ’ of 200 that, apart from the Butchers Row, not one the came from houses situate in the main High Street . They of were mainly from the North End the town , where the and property was of a poor description , or in near the was of l Pest House, which situate at the bottom Mi l Lane , - near to the south east corner of the garden of New

House . It may be that Mr . Boniface Pickering and his ll- n Tichmar sh s son , members of the we know family, who e t ew andwho of home was then a N House , died the Plague,

90 OUNDLE ’ S STORY

now solicitor, to settle in the house known as the Berry stead, and which was afterwards sold to Mr . Hunt . It was the advent of Mr . Whitwell and his marriage which determined the naming of his hostelry in New Street as ” ’ of The Talbot , which was the crest his wife s family Gr iffins the Griffins . The date back to Ralph Griffin of of Gumley, in the county Leicester, who married , about 1184 and son , Alice, sister of Richard de Weston , had a , son Sir Ralph Griffin , Knight , whose Sir John married of Elizabeth , daughter of John Favell Weston Favell , son near Northampton . Their eldest married a daughter of Lord Latimer, who had vast possessions in many places , including Braybrooke , near Market Harborough . It was of i as a descendant th s Lord Latimer, on the female side , that Field-Marshal John Griffin Whitwell claimed and 1784 obtained the Barony of Howard de Walden in , and

on 5 178 8 . was created Lord Braybrooke September ,

697 . In 1 , Mr Whitwell presented to the Parish Church b r e ol er adh d . a silver cover paten , chalice , flagon , and of fla on On the front the g is engraved Ex Dono Will . of on Whitwell , Gent Below the foot the paten , the of fla on o n of front the cup and g , and the upper surface the bread holder is the crest A talbot passant . There are - tokens , amongst several others , extant to day bearing the f crest of the talbot and stamped 1669 . Oundle hal peny ” of for the use the poor, and another, with the talbot crest ” changed by the feoffees . Other tokens , issued by trades of men to obviate the lack small change, extant are , W .

. . 16 64 R . Chandler L H (Lawrence Hanton) , Pashler Richard Henson , chandler, John , h Jo n Audley, tobacconist , Henry Coldwell ” ” ” ul Haberdasher, William H l , John Eaton .

Mr . Whitwell and Mr . Walcot signed their names side of of by side at the foot the minutes Vestry meetings . m of in [Judging from the inutes the period Oundle , the recent custom of requiring all at Committee meetings to

sign their names is but a revival of these former days . ] THE COMMONWEALTH 91

A mural tablet in memory of members of the Whitwell family will be found on the external East wall of the

Parish Church . The names of Creed and Walcot are closely connected s by intermarriage . It is said that John Creed wa a of of native Oundle , but I can find no actual evidence of the fact . The first occurrence the name in the parish

. u 30th 69 registers is Mrs Ann Creed b ried June 1 1. Readers of Pepys ’ Diary will be familiar with Creed ’ s ” Mr s. e name , who with his wife, Betty Pick ring, settled ’ Cobthor ne . at , Oundle It is clear that Creed s origin was of a somewhat lowly character . He appears to have begun life as a retainer in the family of Sir Edward

Montagu , of Barnwell , who became the Earl of Sandwich .

In consequence of his connection with Lord Sandwich ,

Creed became Secretary to the Tangier Commission .

Pepys , who was a member of the Commission, had done good service to Creed and expected some substantial was 18 recognition , but disappointed, for he says (July , 16 64 ) Thence home, and Creed with me, and there he own took occasion to his obligations to me , and did lay of down twenty pieces gold upon my shelf in my closet , which I did not refuse, but wish and expected should have ” been more . Some ten weeks later Pepys discusses with Lady Sandwich the question of a wife for Creed and

proposed Mrs . Wright for him . She desired I would take a good time and manner of proposing it , and I said

I would , though I believed he would love nothing but ” money . It must have come therefore as a shock to both Lady Sandwich and Pepys when Creed broke his e desire to b a servant to Mrs . Betty Pickering [niece of

Lord Sandwich] , and placed it upon encouragement of which he had from some discourse her ladyship, com mending of her virtues to him , which, poor lady, she meant most innocently . She did give him a cold answer, but not so severe as it ought to have been and it seems , s a the lady since to my Lady confessed, he had wrote a 92 OUNDLE ’ S STORY

she l letter to her, which answered s ightly, and was resolved his to contemn any motion of therein . But the attrae tions of Creed ultimately found response in the heart of

Miss Elizabeth Pickering, and they were married early in

1668 . October, Miss Elizabeth Pickering was the daughter of Sir T r . of ichma sh Gilbert Pickering, Bart , , and second cousin of the poet Dryden . She was the wife of John Creed for - was thirty three years , and a force in society both in the

in . i country and London They had eleven ch ldren , five of whom died in infancy ; one , Anne, lived to be a gracious of old two child nine years , and four only, sons and two

. r daughters , lived to full estate The child en will come into line with our story as we tell it in the next chapter . hi s ar s Mrs . Creed describes her husband on tomb in Tichm h

Church as a wise , learned , pious man , good in every relation ; he served his Majesty King Charles ye II . in divers honorable employments at home and abroad , lived AD with honour and dyed lamented .

‘ the Par ish on of There are in Church , either side the of chancel step , memorials two men who were neighbours in Oundle for some years and died within six months of

. and each other They were John Lewis , apothecary,

Filbr i e . William gg , Gent The name of the latter is well known to collectors of tokens , who delight in copying the ’

. . Filbr i e s i inscription on his memorial brass Mr gg w ll , 8 8 f 16 6 o n . which bears date March , , is i terest After declaring that he is to be buried in Oundle Church at the

discretion of his executrix, he says

I did formerly surrender my two copyholders lands belonging to the manors of Spaldwick and Easton in the

county of Hunts . All the right I had in a certain estate in Easton late my brother John Filbr iggs of Easton to of as deceased be disposed my last will shall declare . I bequeath all the interest that I have in the aforesaid in Easton to my sister Jane Filbr igge and her so n John Filbr igge and the assigns of the said John according

94 OUNDLE ’ S STORY capacity my executrix shall have power to stop the payment of it . Whereas I have ordered my body to be buried in Oundle Church I will my executrix do provide a gravestone on purpose to lay thereon with a piece of of brass thereon engraven . My two closes pasture of in the parish Oundle , Wakerley closes and that close ’ of pasture called Bing s Corner in Oundle also all that messuage commonly called the Coffee House to my nephew John Filb r igge of Easton and hi s heirs my wife to enjoy the rooms and privileges granted to her for life . Whereas I have been very liberal and beneficial herein to my nephew John Filbr igge the better to enable him to keep the estate at Easton which on his father I can nothing conclude but that God was pleased to brace me up to be a support both to the estate name and family h c which hath been falling a long time , yet it hat ontinued of Filbr i e s or in the name gg foure five hundred years , my w w ill is that it still be kept in the same , I ill if my nephew die leaving an heir female my will is whoever marries her shall change hi s name to F11br 1gge for the upholding and maintaining the said name . The brass bears the following inscription

HERE LYETH BURIE D THE B O DY O F W ILLIAM FI LB R I GG E GENT S O N O F TH OMAS FILB R I G G E T O F EASTON IN COM . H UNT GEN W H O D EPARTE D THIS LIFE IN THE 5 4th YEA R E O F HIS A GE th ° ° MARCH THE 29 A N D OM 168 7 .

Filbr i e on 14 168 9 . Mr s. gg , the widow, was buried August , The stone of John Lewis bears the following inscr ip tion Jacet sub h o c lapide Jo hannes Lewis II uj us Oppidi Ph ar macopola N ecnon B enefacto r Vir explor ata integr itate P r ob itate mor um S incer itate A micitiaa Ob e dientia E cclae Angl i li t e R eg q . Fide ta THE COMMONWEALTH 9 5

A nnumer andus Patr ib us Char us amicis omni bus utilis S ae culi P er taesus Caelo maturus Fr agilitat em vitae Cum Immor talitat e commutativ it 3110 di e Decemb r i s Anno Dni 1687 ' H é fi Por ter G é fi Execut Unus Gr atitudinis ergo .

his i In w ll, proved only nineteen days after his death,

Mr . Lewis says I give to the Church of Oundle £5 0 to buy a sixth bell which I desire that it may be well done and may be of Gillb our ne 1n cast at London by the care Mr . choosing the workman and to be done for twith least like other guifts of this sorte it miscarry . To Mrs . Katharine

Porter, wife of Mr. Henry Porter, my diamond ring, with

. Ho a Turkey stone, also my watch To the Right n Lord Rockingham my ring with a large Turkey stone A r eece of without diamonds . To Mr. p Washingley my ’

. Le lli mourning (sic) with a diamond To Mr . we n s son David my godson my silver teapot being a gift of his good father to me . All my printed books except what

I give to my servant Thomas Wells I give to Dr. Bentham

Far war . Dr . Mr Phillips of Elton and to my nephew

Mr . Edward Haddon . To Thomas Wells my servant all the pieces I have of Dr . Willis works also Monsieur ’ Charras Phar macoepea and Mr . Wiseman s Chirurgery in folio . I desire my executors to take the advice hil of my trusty friend Mr. Thomas P lips Curate of Elton my will is to be buried by the B ur iall of the common pr aer without a sermon and without any expenses whatever ” bisket of ribbons gloves wine or .

t o The request of Mr . Lewis as the quick provision of l the church bell was du y carried into effect , for the third bell in our tower bears the following inscription

EX D ONO JOHA NNIS LEWIS D E OUNDLE A P OTH ECA R I I HENRIOUS BAGLEY ME 6 FECIT 1 88 . 9 6 OUNDLE ’ S STORY

Filb r i e Both Mr . gg and Mr . Lewis were buried by the Reverend Thomas Oley, whose name will be mentioned in a list with others in the next chapter . Mr . Oley was 1688 succeeded in October, , by the Reverend Edward of dl Caldwell , who was to be Vicar Oun e for more than thirty years and was well known in the neighbourhood . a of He played many parts , being, in addition to Vic r the of parish , Rector Pilton and , on recommendation of the

of l . not local Trustees , Headmaster Ound e School It is surprising that during his mastershi p the school fell to a own son low ebb , only four boys , including his , proceeding was of to the University . He a man desirous increasing his income by various channels . He makes an entry in the parish register thus Wid : Harrison in ye o Church Lane to be payd for by Mr . Tho Adl m of Dean — ” buried . i a We speak of Mr . Caldwell at th s point bec use of his - - in . relationship to his brother law Mr Edward Bedell , whose tombstone j ust west of the sanctuary in the Parish Church records that he gave by his last will to Augment “ rm this poor Vicar idge 120 p . a for ever which Great ” Charity ought to be Gratefully remembered. It is to “ be feared that this record is a little previous , as the bequest cannot now be traced . of Mr . Bedell was the nephew of Sir Capell Bedell

of . Hamerton , Hunts , and son Mr John Bedell , whose

o l . Mr s widow came from Molesworth t settle in Ound e .

Bedell had eight sons , of whom five were educated in

Oundle School , including our Edward , who was born in

1627 and entered the school in 1635 . He married Miss ’

al . Susan C dwell , the Vicar s sister Two of their sons , Edward (born 166 1) and Henry (born also attended l of two Ound e School . When the elder these boys entered the School , the parents were living in London , but soon l after they came to Ound e , as the younger boy Henry is entered in 1674 on the School Register as second son ” “ aedibus of Edward generosi of Oundle , born in

OUNDLE ’ S STORY

8 5 5 n a E w c 3 8 o h a 5 fi d 5 o ; o 3 a wo CHAPTER VII

SO CIAL LIFE I N THE EIGHTEENTH CENTU RY

HE eighteenth centur y began in circumstances of gloom for the little band of the Independent : on 1 170 0 congregation in Oundle for, January , , C wthor nes Hewsons the a , the , and their friends stood

of Mr s. Resbur round the open grave Hannah y, widow of Resbur was Mr . Richard y, whose body laid to rest that day and the service taken by Mr . Caldwell , the Vicar .

But let us recall , for the purpose of our story, the name ’ — — as of Mr . Caldwell s predecessor Thomas Oley who w one of f the Feof ees of the Oundle Town Charities , whose ill of origin, as we have seen from the w Thomas Franklyn ,

15 44 . , dates certainly from a century earlier On 22 168 2 February , , a commission, under the Great Seal of u 160 1 England , grounded pon a statute passed in to redress the misemployment of lands given to charitable to uses , was awarded and issued the then Lord Bishop of n or an Peterborough and others , authorisi g them y four of them to hold certain inquiries . They held such on 14 1683 an inquiry in Oundle January , , and found t 11 165 4 of hat on July , , the Feoffees that time, Edward

Bing, Oliver Hind , John Bing, and Philip Clement , con v e ed Ev er ell l y to Richard Cuthbert , Edward , Wi liam

Billing the Younger, William Jackson , John Andrew, r Matthew Hunt , John Bonner, Hen y Cawthorne, Francis Str ickson all of Hodge , John and Daniel James , Oundle , the lands of the Feoffees to hold as Feoffees for the benefit 9 9 10 0 OUNDLE ’ S STORY of the inhabitants and poor of Oundle . But at the time of of of the inquiry five these had died and, the remaining six, some were very old and others had left the town . The Commission therefore ordered the surviving Feoffees to appoint as their successors Bernard Walcot, Thomas

Manning, Thomas Oley (the Vicar) , William Cuthbert , Ev er ell Ri a n Richard , ch rd Gage, Samuel Hu t, William Ev er ell Selby, John Lewis , Thomas Allen , George , and

Mawle . of six Daniel y As a matter fact, all the old died without appointing any successors at all , and the inherit ’ ance of Oundle s Town Estates descended to William Kilmar sh -at - of Hodge of , as heir law Francis Hodge, who was the last survivor of the old Feoffees . Complaint was then made on behalf of the inhabitants n of of the tow , and the Lord Keeper the Great Seal revived the Commission , and William Hodge was ordered to appoint as Feoffees such of those already mentioned by — o n 25 1700— 1 the Commission as were then June , a ive of and resident in the town . Only four them were living , and they were duly appointed , together with John ll Creed , Wi iam Walcot , Edward Caldwell (the Vicar) , John Desbr ow Ri a the Younger, chard Bell , Thom s Lee , Robert S car r old March, John James , Joseph Clarke , Edward , and John Palmer . From time to time since that date successive appoint ments have been made , and at the present time the Feoffees consist of a body of men meeting as business ’ requires and making up their accounts each St . Stephen s

Day . Let us try to visualise Oundle at the beginning of the of eighteenth century . Some the names just recorded help us to do this in part . Mr . William Walcot was at h l the Rectory, Mr . Jo n Creed at the house now ca led ”

Cobthor ne . . . , Mr Caldwell at the Vicarage Mr Stephen

B r amston was B r amston . , a lawyer, at House, and Mr

Whitwell also practised as a solicitor . In a few years he — — t was to sell his house the present B er r yst ead o Mr .

SOCIAL LIFE IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 101

Hunt . Mr . William Cuthbert , spoken of as Squire

Cuthbert, and Mr . Aubrey Davies were also prominent r inhabitants . M . Jeremiah Ashton , whose memorial slab is in the west crossing of the Church, a very good Overseer,

. Pashler . Dar nwell was a grocer, as also Mr John John

10 d. was sexton , and received the sum of for digging the grave and ringing the bell at each funeral . As is well known , the law required in those days that all bodies hi should be buried in woollen . T s was done in order to help the woollen trade , and the cost of the burial of a poor person who had depended upon parochial relief was

6d. about 93 . The items were as follows

for Laying out of Goody B an ds for B r ead B eer at th e B uri all for Flannil for Goody Ran ds n t o Wm R ose for A v idav ie for G . Ra ds

’ for a Coffin for H aslock s wife woole bread 82: beer bell 85 gr ave 0 0 0 9 6 A comparison of these two entries will bring before ’ av id us the picture of a poor person s funeral . The av ie f ’ took the place o the present Registrar s certificate . It sad 14 170 7 is to find a resolution dated April , , over the

of . signature Ed . Caldwell (the Vicar) , Wm Whitwell ,

Wm . Walcot, and others to this effect It is this day agreed that no more coffi ns shall be allowed for Poor ” people for the future , but it is pleasing to know that public feeling in the town made it impossible for this resolution to be put into actual practice . The item for bread and beer at funerals appears in the accounts of the Latham Trustees until comparatively recent times . Dar nwell who o John , was sext n until his death in 1740 i October, , acted often w th Joseph Bing and William

Rose in summoning the townsmen for necessary meetings . These thr ee were the messengers of the town and made themselves useful generally . Pd Rose 85 B ar nwell for toleing th e B ell when th e Towns men met for B ur i alls 00 0 1 0 02 OUNDLE ’ S STORY

Presumably this was on occasions of the deaths of - well known inhabitants . Joseph Bing summoned Vestry and other meetings .

3 . d. To Jo“ Bing to Cr y eing for th e Townsmen to meet Sp en t at th emakeing of th e tax

When we come to inquire how this 93 . was made up

e. . we get rather interesting revelations , g

To pip es and tob : at y° Vestr y 00 00 7

But the townsmen were fond of meeting at various houses for the transaction of business

’ E xp en ded at Wm Wor lidge s w“ y e Townsm en settling y e Rates ’ Expended w“ y e Townsmen at Mr Whitwell s n E z S e ens at 2 ee n s a u th e Sp e t at li . t v m ti g bo t B ur i alls 00 02 6

’ not The townsmen did meet at Mr . Whitwell s private - of house , but at his well known house welcome , the present

Talbot Hotel .

n Expended w th e Levy was made 85 at th e D elivery of th e s Book at y e Talbot .

An interesting find helps me to throw a little further o m light upon the life f Oundle at this very ti e . There has come into my hands what was originally the note

of . son of book the Hon Henry Fane , the Earl of West of was 1700 morland , Apethorpe, who articled (in ) to f . o as Mr Morriss Spring Gardens , London , a medical

. had few student . But after Mr Fane made a notes he discarded the book , which fell into the hands of John of of Arney, keeper the deer . Here are a few his notes

l . R 4 17 0 . . Bills to pay . Mr y y Mr Cuthbert

l f r 0 10 0 . 0 3 4 . . o l 120 . 1 Mr Whitwel malt . Mr Nichols ,

R l was l . Mr . y y the draper in Ound e and Mr Nichols the shoemaker .

10 4 OUNDLE ’ S STORY

lived at Cotterstock . The family of Steward came from Pattishall in this county (Northampton) and inter of married with the Elmes Warmington and Lilford .

The Elmes probably gave their name to Elmington . The apprentice was to dwell with the employer and faithfully to serve in all lawful businesses accordi ng to his power and ability ; and honestly, orderly, and obediently in all things demean and behave hi mself toward his Master and all his . The Master covenants to teach and instruct the apprentice in the occupation he now useth and pro ” fesseth r , and to p ovide and allow him competent and f n su ficient Meat , Drink, Apparel , Lodgi g, Washing and all other things necessary and fi t for an apprentice and , at the end of the term , with double apparel of all sorts a good suit for the Holy days and another for ” the Working Days . There is no mention of money wages . law of The domicile, with respect to poor persons , was h l at t is time careful y guarded , and the certificates from other parishes to secure the town against their maint en f ance were entrusted to the keeping o Mr . Stephen

B r amston . , the solicitor Most of these poor people living 170 1 in the town were from neighbouring parishes , but in one two fresh arrivals from a distance were recorded , from - r B ol hs Melton Mobu y and the other from St . yt p x in Midd . The indentures for binding the apprentices were duly

e. drawn up by a solicitor, as g To Mr . Whitwell for 4 of ur - writing pairs indent es , To day we speak ” not of pairs but of indentures in duplicate . There seems also to have been a real care and guardianship for on exercised with reference to the apprentices , the 1703 al 26th April , at the Vestry there was a gener con ° m sent of y Townsmen that W Gimb er should be released d ” of his apprentice Edw Lee he being very infirm . Ye Townsmen s eem to have been moved and directed in a those days by an inner cabinet, for on another occasion SOCIAL LIFE IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 10 5 resolution was passed whereby It is hereby agreed that there shall no person bring any bill or doc any business ° upon y townes acct without the order of the overseers ” or Some of the Chief Townsmen . The overseers were more moderate when doing their business for the town than the Vestry, if we may judge from the following

3 . d. Myself and hor se to Nor thampton 0 0 0 5 0 0 Exp “ at Nor thampton for my selfe and hor se 0 0 02 00 Night char ge at Wellin gb or o E xp “ at Thr apston 0 0 0 4 10 Pd fo r an o r der of S essions 0 0 0 4 0 0 ° Pd y Attor ney att Law “ 0 0 0 3 0 6 Pd y° Cr yer of ye Cour t 0 0 00 04

One or two other items of conveyance are interesting

’ To John Gr ayy for a hor se to car r y hogg s Daughter to B enn efi eld My hor se to Clopton 85 Expenses for car r ying a cr ipple t o Glapth or n e h M r r e en to car r er to L n . To Goo dy e d y o don . ’ ni fo r o e n Mr r o n Pd James K ght g i g to . T y s spent at B r idewell to p ut A nn Thr ift ther e 00 02 0 f o Mr . We have already spoken Ryley, who was the 0 ’ chi ef draper in the town in 17 0 . The tailor s name was of Bodger . The clothing the town apprentices averaged

2 £3 . from £ 15 3 . to

R e for cloath and dr immi n for Pd Mr . yl y g ’ S outhwell s b oy Pd for 3 shir ts Cr av atts P (1 for 2 p r of sh oo s .

h . Pd for a pai r of Le ather Br eeches 85 at ” Pd for a di llywilly Wascott 85 p r of Sto ckings Pd for makin g h is Clo ath s P d money With him 85 Indentur es Tailors ’ wages were not extravagant in those days

’ for making Th o Raynor s suit of cloths 00 0 4 6 To Goo dman Abbo t for making 2 Gown s 00 0 6 0 — To Wm R ead one pair of Shoes 00 02 0

or D et Food prices were different, the y very light

’ To Char ter for Alice Clifton s Dyet 4 Days 00 0 1 4 H 06 OUNDLE’ S STORY

Neither the National Health Insurance Act , nor the 170 0 panel doctor, was any trouble in Oundle in . They arranged these matters in a more practical way

' “h Sp ent i n bar gaini ng w y ° Docter es for y° Cure ’ of Goo dy Flower s D aughter and Fr eese £0 1 0

There appears also to have been a birth bounty, as very often we find entries as To Tobias Str ickson for ”

h 2d. the Birth of a C ild , The right-hand side of the road leading from the end of North Street to the Railway Station is often spoken of ” as Rotten Row . I do not know what may have been the origin of its London cognomen . The explanation for the name in Oundle is interesting . At the beginning of the eighteenth century the town ’ s poor lived in fifteen a different houses in various p rts of the town , and their rents were paid by the overseers . They amounted for

6 . the year 170 0 to a total of £16 0 3 . d But it was decided on to build , in addition , some Towne houses the site ” of now called Rotten Row, and a perusal the items of their cost will show how truly they deserved the name which still lives on . Perhaps the low stone wall - forming the boundary fence of the field to day is a relic of them

3 . d. ‘ ‘ ° Th e acc of w y Towne houses lay ln building To Jno Car dinal for wood 85 wor k n f all h in To Jno W oodma or t e tar e g work . To Jn° Car di nal] for y° Sto ne wall to for 3 days wor ke in Clear ing y° gr oun d To S wanscome for 9 days wor ke digging mor ter 85 n . to fo r 2 days mor e to fo r to for 5 Load of ’ e s man to Mr . B ll to for car i dge of y ° H ey to for 26 B undl es of Reed to S wans come fo r clear ing y e to 17 days 85 th aching to pd for ser ving of thac her

108 OUNDLE’ S STORY

S ir Matthew was Commissioner of the Customs and of of Sheriff the County, and Member Parliament . He 1668 hi s entered school at Oundle in , and brotherWilliam in

1675 . of His sister married Sir John Robinson Cranford . Sir Matthew tried to increase business in Oundle and of tamies introduced the trade making serges , , and ” shaloons. He brought Flemish weavers into the town , and their chief man was commonly spoken of as Philip ” Flanders . Comings and goings between Clopton and l hi Ound e in connection with t s work are very frequent . Joseph Bing received several pennies for calling the

spinners to meet Sir Matthew, who was backed up by the chief townsmen . Phillip Flanders received for — 5 ticular s £3 2. 2 wheels as by p , and from time to time Philip was busy mending wheels or reels at

i . one sh lling a time Apparently, with the death of Sir l Matthew Dudley the weaving industry in Ound e died also . Receipts came sometimes for the benefit of the poor l k l a . . B ac b ock otherwise than by rates , g Mrs was fined

d. £2 10 3 . 0 for her husband being buryd in Linnen . Thomas Course was also fined thi rteen shillings for

of . fishing in the water Mr Cuthbert , who had the fishi ng rights from Stoke dam to Ashton . In each case the

. money paid was . spent in the interest of the poor Having obtained a general view of society in Oundle at the beginning of the eighteenth century, we can turn to view more closely the doings of individuals . Mr . John 170 1 son Creed died in , and his , Colonel John Creed ,

Cobthor ne . succeeded him at The widow, who had also her town house , took up her abode at Barnwell . The house is no longer standing but the site and terraces can be seen quite plainly in the field immediately to the South as of the chancel of Barnwell All Saints . She w a lady of n artistic and literary tastes . Two specime s of her work may be seen at Ashton, one in the altar piece , now covered by curtains , in the chapel ; the other, a painting of her daughter Jemima, in the schoolroom adjoining . SOCIAL LIFE IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 10 9

son Her , Major Richard Creed, who entered Oundle 1679 was of School in , killed at the battle Blenheim in

170 4 . his A monument to his memory, as also to father and other members of the family, will be found in the T r ichma s . Mr s South aisle of h Church But . Creed also caused one to be placed in Westminster Abbey, upon which the inscription is as follows

To the Memory of the Honoured Major Richard Creed who attended His late Majesty King William y° ’ Third in all his Wars during his reign ev r ywher e signal izing Himself and nevermore Himself than when he looked batt ell of an enemy in the Face . At the glorious Blenheim D 4 f A . 170 o . He commanded one those squadrons that ° began y attack . In two several charges he remained e unhurt . But in y third after Many Wounds received, stil valiantly fighting, He was shot through ye Head . His dead body was brought off by his Brother at the o 85 u Hazard of his wn life b ried There . To His Memory his Sorrowful Mother Here Erects thi s Monument placing it near another which her S on when living used to look upon with pleasure for the worthy mention it makes of that great man Edward Earl of ° Sandwich to Whom he had y honour to be related 85 as whose Heroic virtues he was ambitious to imitate . He w ° y eldest Son of John Creed of Oundle Esq. 85 Elizabeth his Wife only Daughter of Sir Gilbert Pickering Baronet ” i r of T chma sh in Northamptonshire . 4 1702 Major Richard Creed made his will on April , , and left to hi s sister Jemima The Laws Holme or Twenty acres of meadow lying by or near Aston bridge in North ” r of amptonshi e . But whereas his brother John Oundle -at - on 27 170 5 was his heir law, John April , , with a view to avoiding all controversies touching the construction of the said will at the request of his mother and in consideration of the settlement of Cobthor ne in Oundle upon him by his mother, conveyed the meadow to his sister

Jemima . 23 170 5 Miss Jemima Creed died on February , , having 110 OUNDLE ’ S STORY

sh e made her will , wherein is described as of the parish of St . Martin in the ffields in the city and liberties of

Westminster . Having humbly and thankfully resigned ‘ her soul into the hands of Almighty God as to a most gracious ffather and Merciful] Redeemer she bequeathed Law ’ s Holme to her mother and her heirs upon trust to of for settle the same, upon the advice Counsel , such she charitable uses and purposes as should think fit, but more especially, if her mother should approve, for bringing up and instructing the poor children of Aston (sic) to read and write and for a schoolmaster to read prayers and some good books to the said poor children when the badness of the weather would not permit them to go to Oundle Church . After bequests to her brother -in-l r aw M s. and her brother , Elmes Stewart and Stewart ,

. Ri and her sister Dorothy and Mrs chards , a cousin,

Jemima leaves the rest of her estate to her mother . A record of the virtues of Jemima Creed will be found under her picture in the Ashton Schoolroom , where it is stated that her memory will be always sweet to the Lovers of Religion and Vertue Being a rare example of early and constant m Piety, Modesty, Humility and Charity . Ad ired for the singular Beauty of her Body and the great endewments of her mind being Prudent, Discreet , Ingenious , adorned with vertue, excellent in every good thing . To be o i good and to do good was the business f her l fe . And fited being by the Grace of God always for a better life, He was pleased in the flower of her age to take her out of s of dl thi . She was the Daughter of John Creed Oun e l of Esq . by Elizabeth his wife on y daughter Sir Gilbert h 23 of Pickering Bart . She departed t is Life the Feb . D 170 5 inter ed Tichmar sh Anno om. and lies at amongst ” her pious ancestors .

Inscriptions within the chapel record the bequest , but state also that it was always the intention of John ’

se . Creed, n , to devote Law s Holme to some charitable

112 OUNDLE’ S STORY

she di d 4 1724 whereby on January , , nominate appoint " and constitute Mr . Rich Jones of Oundle to be master of the said school at Ashton to supervise and direct the same and either by himself or his sufficient deputy to teach the s scholars , It is quite clear that Mr . Jone , who ’ m of Laxton s l was Head aster Sir Wm . School in Ound e , not out could carry this work personally, but it would

. if please Mrs Creed greatly to know that he was master, ’ of only nominally, her little school at Ashton . Creed s ” Charity, as nowadays it is commonly called, is managed under a scheme put forth in recent years by the Charity

Commissioners . Now we may relate the story of another interesting — r educational bequest . The Vicar of Oundle M . Caldwell of must , I feel , be credited with a certain amount credit e in this matter, as it seems probable the bequ st may have been due to a certain amount of persuasion on his part .

. was Mr Caldwell , who also Headmaster of the School and

1717 . Rector of Pilton , died in The entry in Pilton Register is as follows

Edwd 1717. Mr . Caldwell , Rector of this Parish , ffi Buried January A davit was made and brought me .

Will Sanderson . An account of ye Money collected for briefs in ye of 13 1717— Parish Pilton since October , there being no ‘ or or Brief Book provided n acc kept by Mr . Caldwell his ‘ — curate as ye Act of Par liam for Briefs directs Ch Law rence Rector

r of M s. Elizabeth Taylor Hargrave had two sons at

of . school in Oundle . The Rector Hargrave was Mr

to . William Bedell , whom Mr Caldwell was distantly

1697 Mr s. related by marriage . By her will in Taylor

of . gave t o Mr . Henry Lee , Rector Tidmarsh , Mr Edward s of mm Caldwell , Ma ter the free Gra ar School of Sir

dl . William Laxton in Oun e , and to Mr William Bedell, u a clerk of Hargrave aforesaid , in tr st for a poor boy le rned SOCIAL LIFE IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 113

and bred in the said free school of Sir Wm . Laxton in

i . e. one Oundle , towards the educating and maintaining poor boy and to buy him books until such boy shall be

fit to be put to the University, and till such time as he shall be fit and capacitated to take hi s degree of Bachelor or or of Arts , after such person shall leave forbear to be learned in the said school not being preferred to the of University and no further three acres meadow, of i she tythe free, in the meadows Warmington wh ch had n Ir thlin lately purchased of Mr . Joh Worthington of g or of borough . Upon the death removal every school master and the settling in of another the said trustees or the survivor were to convey the land to themselves , and such other trustees as they should think meet , the school master always to be one to continue the said charitable

18 1719 . use for ever . On May , , the Rev John Jones , who so succeeded Mr . Caldwell as Headmaster, was appointed , a 20 1722 and on Febru ry , , a similar conveyance was made , including the new schoolmaster the Rev . Richard Jones . Again in 176 2 and in 1783 Samuel Mur thwait e and John

Evanson , schoolmasters , were appointed . In the latter Mur t hwait e n year Mr . had resig ed and is described as ”

of . Clerk, Desborough A few years ago the members of the Warmington u Parish Council , in per sing their parish award , came across the following sentence

Unto and for William Walcot and Edward Hunt Mur thwaite u Esquires and Samuel clerk, feoffees in tr st for a scholar educated in the free Grammar School of Oundle aforesaid the piece or parcel of freehold land of ground containing two acres and thirty three perches ”

&c. lying and being in the upper meadow aforesaid,

They came to the very natural conclusion that this as hi of m w intended for a paris oner War ington , and f approached the Headmaster o Oundle accordingly .

The latter, in the absence of information, acceded to their 114 OUNDLE ’ S STORY

. Mr s . representations It seems clear to me, however, that sum Taylor endowed , though with a small , an Open exhibition ; and that it is simply a coincidence that the income is derived from a field in the parish of Warmington . The ticket of allotment from the Enclosure Commissioners was 4 177 . handed to the Trustees in November, At that time the scholar holding the exhibition was an Oundle who boy, Thomas , son of John and Anna Naylor, was o 28 175 7 baptised in the Parish Church n September , , and he was succeeded by another Oundle boy , William , son of John and Martha Campion , also baptised here , on ’

r 4 176 6 . Februa y , William Campion s father was a surgeon in the town . The press gang were busy in Oundle in the first quarter of the eighteenth century , and often we find that money was allowed to a poor woman when her husband was ” pressed . Soldiers were stationed in the town and sad consequences often followed their unrestrained conduct . The gravestone of a Trooper is in the narrow alley f leading into the South chapel o the church . At this time they were under the command of a Major Fairchild , and entries in the parish register reveal lack of affection and unhappiness in his home

— — i . 18 Elizabeth w fe of Major Fairchild buried Oct ,

. Major Fairchild and Mary Gr oocock both of this 28 parish (were married) by licence Dec . ,

ir hild . 26 170 5 Mary wife of Major Fa c buried Sep , .

of 1713 . At the end October, , Mr Edward Hunt, who B er r st ead had been living but a short time at the present y , died . It was perhaps in memory of her husband that his widow gave some sixteen years afterwards ( 1729 ) two large silver almsdishes and t wo collecting plates used our to- regularly in services day . They are inscribed with of Mr s the words The Gift . Alice Hunt, Widow, to the

116 OUNDLE’ S STORY the other half should be given to such old men in the Laxton Hospital as the Feoffees should thi nk most in f need o it . If there should be no blind person then the o whole should be s distributed . In 1724 the Trust Deed of the Independents in dl Oun e was executed and they became , as recorded in the

Parish Church registers from time to time, a separated

. r congregation with Mr Daniel Good ich as their pastor . He was a man of great piety and well known in Noncon for mist circles in this county and beyond . From time to time we get entries in our registers which testify to hi s f a is o . zeal , g. It certified under the hand D Goodrich (Teacher of a separate congregation in this Town) that

Joseph and Benjamin sons of Mr . John Hodgkin were by 9 him baptised August , Mr . Goodrich was buried on 1 1765 March , , and his memorial stone is in the South

of . aisle our church, quite near to the West crossing In the autumn of 1741 there had been quite an epidemic i of military marr ages . Perhaps the soldiers were on the

‘ the town move . John Genner, a Soldier, quartered in and Elizabeth Smith of Ashton in this parish were married

23 1741. by Banns , Aug . , Saunders Hews a Soldier ” 27 and Anne Arbour, Sept , John Parry,

Lieut . and Mrs . Mary Shute of this parish married by

. 29 1741. lic . Sept , Richard Randall of the second Regiment of Foot Guards and Susannah Ri ddell ‘l “ mar r h 2 e . 7 of Cotterstock y by Oct , Two years after thi s ( 1743) there was an occasion for much excitement concerning military movements in the town . The Black Watch had been moved from Edin burgh to London , where Jacobite opponents of the Government persuaded them they were to be sent over seas . A good number of them started for Scotland again hi and succeeded in reac ng as far as Oundle, in the neigh

b ur oo . o h d of Oundle Wood, before they were overtaken They were marched back to Lo ndon again and thr ee of

them shot as a warning to the rest . SOCIAL LIFE IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 117

of of We spoke at the opening this chapter Mr . Stephen B r amston , a solicitor, whose name is perpetuated by the of house, now a part Oundle School , called after him . In this same year ( 1743) of the military incident just referred ’ B r amston to , Mr . gave to Latham s Hospital a warehouse adjoining the North Bridge, the rent of which was to go to of of the increase the salary the writing master, upon condition that such master should instruct gratis such ’ B r mston s of . a Mr children and kindred , not being above B r mst n a o . two at a time, whose surname should be One of these latter, with other members of the family, is com memor at ed on a mural tablet in the North transept of the B r amst on church . The Rev . James Yorke , who erected was that tablet, born in Oundle and educated at The

. was School , and went to Trinity College, Cambridge He received into the Roman Catholic Church, and went to

Portugal . He worked among the English garrison in

Lisbon , especially during the plague . He became Vicar

Apostolic of the Roman diocese of London . ’ - - B r amst on s in . Mr . brother law, Mr Edward Yorke, sad the Vicar, makes a special note of a fatality

4 1 50 Loakes 1 May 7 , William Woods James and John Talbot three young Jour neymen Jersey combers in this Town bathing in the Ri ver near the Town at a place called Basset Stanch were all drownd together and

b r ed one . were u y in Grave by E Yorke, Vicar May

A fewyears before this (1746 ) there passed from Oundle we to society a man feel we should like have known , though he may have been a thorn in the side of the on f professional men . His tablet the North wall o the chancel records

’ int er d of Near this place lies the body William Raper,

of . Gent , a man truth He studied physick all his life ,

not for profit but for the pleasure of doing good . He died 4 6 24 June 17 , aged 118 OUNDLE’ S STORY

Mur t i It will be remembered that Mr . hwa te came to be

Headmaster in 1762. He appears to have been energetic but not to have met with great success . In the first three years he secured only four new boys ; in 1765 six local ’ . Walcot s o boys entered the school including Dr s n . Mur thwait e of Mr . , as many his predecessors and successors , acted as assistant curate to the Vicar . It is commonly of thought that assistant clergy are modern days only . was s We have already shown that in Oundle this not o . of on So towards the close the eighteenth century, June

4 1780 . . , , Rev J Loddington came as curate, and left on

27 178 5 . . June , he was succeeded by Rev J Farrer, and he

a St onhewer . again by Rev . Thom s Bright . Mr Loddington 96 returned as Vicar in 17 . We conclude our review of the eighteenth century with two notes which we shall recall towards the end of our story .

Wall 22 178 1. B od ener to Feb . g appointed Clerk this

Parish . “ 7 1793. son of May , George , Thomas and Mary ” Jinks, baptised by J . Sharpe a Papist Priest . [In addition to the tombstones mentioned in the of r course the story , there are th ee in the churchyard : which are of interest John Sugars , near the East gate ;

Richard Mason , opposite the Chancel (East) window ; - of and the May tomb , at the South west corner the

Tower . ]

120 OUNDLE ’ S STORY

’

. 73 . of a century A plasterer s wages were a week . A

1 or 1 . 6 d. 3. 3 6 . load of stone cost , a load of gravel d , a load of straw the contract for sinking a well £6 . Bricks dl were 243 . a thousand . Oun e wharf was busy in those days , as we find many consignments arrived by water ” as contrasted with others which were land carried . At this period there comes into o ur story a name — that of Simcoe whi ch lives on in the form of an annual gift to some ninety or hundred parishioners . In the tower of Cotterstock Church there is a tablet to the memory of ’ . of John Simcoe , Esq late Commander His Majesty s Ship P embr oke who died in The Royal Service upon that a import nt expedition against Quebec in N . America in the year 175 9 . He spent the greater part of hi s life ” of in the service his King and country, etc . There are buried in Cotterstock Church his two sons , Pawlett William and John . But his most distinguished son was Lieutenant P M. . l v . Genera John Gra es Simcoe , for S Mawes , first e i Governor of Upp r Canada, Governor of San Dom ngo, as Commander of the Western District . He w appointed - - Commander in Chief of the Forces in India as successor to on Lord Lake, but died returning from a secret mission to the Court at Lisbon in conjunction with the Earl of Rosslyn before he could take up his command . A monument was erected by the county of Devon to his memory in Exeter

Cathedral . General Simcoe had retired to Wolford Lodge ,

Honiton . He married Elizabeth Posthuma Gwillim , of - Lt . . Whitechurch, Herefordshire , daughter of Col Thomas S inckes Guillim and his cousin Elizabeth p , of Aldwincle, S inckes of whose father, Elmes p , was Lord the Manor of

Warmington . Elizabeth Posthuma Simcoe was a cousin one of Mr . Walcot . General Simcoe had seven daughters , 13 1842 of whom , by her will dated December , , left the money from whi ch the Simcoe Tickets are distributed a in Oundle each Christm s by the Vicar and Churchwardens . War was in the air at the close of the eighteenth and the beginning of the nineteenth century . In a letter to WHAT WE HAVE HEARD WITH OUR EARS 121

Mr . 23 803 i Walcot (junior) , dated March , 1 , General S mcoe says : Should the war begin I shall go to the West . I God s pray there may be no war, Corsican or Civil . Dunda a is on the Staff as General . Lord Ch tham , it is now said , — is to remain at the Ordnance nor will Lord St . Vincent ” be removed .

Old Dr . Walcot, father of Mr . Walcot just mentioned, now - was eighty four years of age . He had been a very An active and useful man in parish affairs in Oundle . - interesting incident shows that he was a business like man . of r A townsman Oundle had appointed D . Walcot to act with two others as executor of his will . He left a widow two and children , who were minors , and by his will he - of bequeathed one third his estate to his wife , to be con v e ed one- y to her immediately after his death, and third to of his two- each children, the latter thirds to be invested and the interest to be used for the advancement of the children during their minority . Dr . Walcot found that - the widow and his co executors had been investing money without consultation with him. Very naturally he o hi required to be released from his execut rs p, and he n mea t it to be thorough ; for, the document runs

we do each and every one of us remise release, etc . from any claim challenge or demand for upon or by reason of hi s being appointed executor and trustee in the said wi ll or for upon or by reason of any matter cause or thi ng what sov er fr omthe beginning of the Wor ldto the day of the date of ” n these p r ese ts.

’ al hi s . Dr . W cot s will reveals generous nature Not for only, amongst various legacies , did he provide annuities s and bequeath legacies to hi three most personal servants, but he added that if the annuities should not be sufficient son to provide for their wants, then his , who was residuary ul legatee , sho d show respect to his father and mother by rewarding these old servants for their long and faithful ”

se n . s rvice a d obliging behaviour His empstress , black 122 OUNDLE ’ S STORY

m ail r b his a d e s ith, t or, his th ee la ourers , b rber, an ven the his a we all widow of late t ilor, re remembered. He adds And I do appropriate Fifty Pounds to be laid out and expended for a monument which I desire my said son will erect for me and my said late wife on the pier between the windows in the Chancel of Oundle Church similar to the one I caused to be set up for the late Colonel Creed and a ” f mily in Titchmarsh Church .

is 25 1803 and h The will dated March , , one of the t ree

l B od ener . witnesses was Wil iam g , the parish clerk Amongst other legacies were : To Mary and Susanna Jones daughters of my late schoolmaster twenty pounds

a ei e . Ri p c . Mr chard Jones does not appear to have u l was a i been a very successf l schoo master, and it k ndly thought for one of hi s old pupils to assist in this small a al way the daughters to whom it may have been re help . f n a n The tombstone of Mr . Jones will be ou d st ndi g against o the Rect ory wall on . the ext reme North side f the church yard . c i d a s ft d l Dr. Wal ot d e three ye r a er the ate of his wil , and visitors to the church will find that his son duly ’ carried out the father s wishes with r egard to the monu ment , which is in the exact position designated by him, and which bears the following inscription

Gulielmo Walcot Patri Plur imum Colendo Hi e Nato et a maj or ibus His Natis oriundo Qui quum apud populares suos Tum Medici Appr ime periti Tum Ir enar chae strenui et pr udenti s laude Diu Flor uisset Oti o Hand in decor o ibidem consenuit item que Maria: Matri Car issimaz

Johannis Creed F. Heredi que familiam istam

124 OUNDLE’ S STORY

1796 . June 2, c e as d Paid by Mr. But h r un er

’ alcot s s r e P 0 11 For Mr . W ha of Booth Corporation Fee for building th e Booth Constables Bill Corporation Offi cer s a l i e All Sa n Mr . S m Wr ght Cl rk of i ts for ascertaini ng th e Paupers 1 11 6 Ser g’ Picker ing for expences r espect“ 27 Militia Men Same on hi s own Account for D° Ser g‘ Cleaver Mili tia Corporal . ’ B r m n f r n Mr . a st o s Serv ant o Jour ey to 3 5 London O 3 1 us c R n er R n e s F Ca er s 85 M i k , i g s , u n r , lag rri Sundries about 480 0 0

Bills for Ribbons 85 Flags o nnk D to I eeper s 85 Publicans £1885 183 . S a about . ’ ur nh am 3 Mr . B illfor Stationary ’ dsal s ° Mr . Bir l D for D ’ s Mr . J . Cooch Bill for a Cheese ’ Printer S Bill n Ag e ts ( v i z . )

. e es G tes 85 . Ha es Mr J y , Mr a Mr y 20 Gs each 6 3 0 0

3006 11 11 ’ . e nte Mr Markham 85 Mr . Butch r Pri r s

ur n e en . B r amston S on 10 6 Jo ym , Mr

Th e confinement of French prisoners at Norman Cr oss in the early days of the great wars with France was a source of benefit to trade in Oundle . The regiment in charge, in addition to the Northampton and other militia was 5th i regiments , the Reg ment of Foot, and between 1800 36 1795 and , barrels of beer (at gallons per barrel) were supplied on contract to the various regiments e from Oundle Brewery . Many y ars ago there was ’ mber s Miscellan . Cha 85 . m publi shed in y (W R Cha bers,

Ltd . ) an account of the escape of a French prisoner from 8 Norman Cross in 1 09 . He says : No ale or beer was WHAT WE HAVE HEARD WITH OUR EARS 125

out served to us , but we were allowed to purchase it ” at the canteen in the prison . Though possessed of a map of the anxious prisoner, instead making towards Peter i n borough, turned a wrong direction

on I kept thus , some short time longer, when I came to a tollgate, situated at the foot of an extraordinarily l of long bridge which led to Ound e, a town considerable hi size . The c mes of the church clock were just playing of the hour three . I continued my journey through dark or long and dirty streets Without stopping seeing any one, ” when I came to another bridge . Entering a hovel near the Barnwell Bridge the fugitive saw pursuers actually enter the hovel, but, undiscovered, he continued his way only to make a circuit and once more enter Oundle . Ultimately, however, he reached ’ sea r King s Lynn , and crossing the ar ived in his native land . Until a few years ago relics of Norman Cross were to be found in New Street in the shape of a pair of large gates ’ hi to the Turk s Head Inn, w ch adjoined the South end of ’ the School House . The Turk s Head was demolished in order to make way for the School House Studies , but links with it remain in the mullions which were incor por ’ old ated in the studies windows . The iron gates fronting the street were brought from a position in the North backway— Milton Road— just beyond the gazebo which on looks over the wall . There is a similar building the wall of the present B er r ystead in the East Road . The word is a humorous future from the imaginary Latin ” az eo so g , I look out . The buildings were placed that the ladies of the family might sit and sew and do was on their tapestry work and see what passed by . It May that John Paine conveyed to Trustees the ’ ” s property, since called Paine Almshouses, to be made f r into five almshouses o Protestant Dissenters or others , as the Trustees should think fit, if there be no Noncon for mist applicant . The proper ty was evidently well 126 OUNDLE ’ S STORY

converted to its present purpose . Tradition has it that the beautiful little doorway which forms the entrance from as r the street w brought f om Kirby Hall . The members of the Roman Catholic Church found a i home for worsh p in the house of Mr . Jinks for some 1807 s forty years from the year . Charles Waller Jink and his brother Thomas lived side by side in West Street h was a s for many years , and the chapel w ich re lly up tairs w s in the house of the latter a entered from Mr . Charles ’ i r e of Jinks house . The fam ly were ca ri rs goods , and in a less degree of passengers , to and from London , and were o also agents for the L ndon and North Western Ry . for the r ot e district . The father of the two b h rs just mentioned was accustomed to announce the approaching depar ture of his coach for London by sounding a comet in various parts of the town . There is still one inhabitant of Oundle who is able to tell of journeys to London in the coach from the Talbot , the horn and other things connected with whi ch are in the possession of the owners . The grave of Charles Waller Jinks will be found near the side of the walk as one enters the churchyard from the North end of

New Street . - s a The word war bonu , which is now still famili r, is but - an echo of a century ago . A note in the minute book of o the Latham Hospital records , To pay to women of h use — £8 10 3. 0 d 26 as r e bonus March, And just construction after the recent Great War was the natural so and right thought in the minds of men, soon after Waterloo the same idea occupied the attention of the townsmen of Oundle . A great step forward towards modern government was

6th . . w . i as made by George IV cap xxxi , which an a Act for lighting, watching, p ving, cleansing, regulating and otherwise improving the Town of Oundle in the f ” County o Northampton . The Act appointed a body n of Commissioners , and arranged for successio , who were o r ed a out m s a t be empowe to c rry i provement gener lly.

128 OUNDLE’ S STORY The Commissioners might take down and remove il bu dings , and special mention was made of the Butchers ” Row hi i , w ch then d sfigured the centre of the Market

ac . Pl e This was soon done and the owners compensated, new a the sh mbles to which we alluded in Chapter III . being then erected . The Commissioners were enabled l to pu l down the Butter Cross , and the Lord of the Manor hi s at proper costs , charges and expenses to erect and build a Market House and a room or rooms over the ” same to be used as a Town Hall . Market Day was by the Act changed from Saturday as to Thursday . The first Thursday market w held on 20 1825 was Thursday November , , and duly proclaimed as follows In the name of our Sovereign Lord George the Fourth ”e of of i n and Jesse Watts Russell Esq Lord th s Ma or, I do proclaim that the market for the Town heretofore held of on Saturday is , by virtue of the Act Parliament lately l a i passed for ighting, watching, paving, cleansing, regul t ng, v and otherwise impro ing the said town , discontinued and is now by an Order of the Commissioner s for carrying the said Act into effect and with the consent of Jesse Watts Russell Esqr e Lord of this Manor of Oundle changed to Thursday and the first market so changed is held this resent seventeenth day of November one thousand eight - e undred and twenty fiv . God save the King and the ” Lord of the Manor .

This was just six months after the Commissioners had t t o go work, for they held their first meeting at the

o 16 1825 . . in Talbot n May , Mr Walcot was the chair,

. . . a and there were present the Rev C E Ish m , Dr . James , s Headmaster, who afterward became Canon Resi dentiar y of Peterborough, and fourteen others . Each

Commissioner as he attended took the qualifying oath . Out of the ninety-two names as Commissioners only six or seven continue in their descendants by name in Oundle WHAT WE HAVE HEARD WITH ‘ OUR EARS 129

31 1826 At the end of their first year (May , ) the Com missioners made the following order

That the ground formerly a pond at the top of the New Street be offered to the parish for the purpose of being added to the churchyard on condition of their inclosing — the same also a part of the Market Hill to the corner of the Hospital in a range with the present churchyard wall ” be offered to the parish on the same condition .

An observer entering the churchyard by the North New 1 Street entrance should stop when he reaches No . 1 o n the wall he will notice a break in the coping . Placing his back against the wall and looking southwards he will on be in line with the churchyard boundary at this date, ar r a his right beyond the then wall was B ow y Pond . The land from a line with the Vicarage East wall to figure 11 was given for an extension of the churchyard by Mr o and of Walc t , was consecrated by Spencer, Lord Bishop

28 1813. Peterborough, on June , The above order explains the further extension . The word Hospital in the f latter part o the order refers to the Laxton Hospital , — whi ch was not removed until 18 52 the piece of land mentioned is the triangle in front of the Laxton School was . we . House At this time, as have seen, Mr Walcot still B r amston at the Rectory, Mr . John Smith at House, and with his brother Thomas , in addition to the Brewery, was — in business as a Banker at Cobthor ne at one time it was ” The Oundle Commercial Bank, at another J . and ” ” T . Smith, and again Smith and Ridsdale . Another hi brother, William, devoted mself to the brewing ; they were known as Goldsmith, Silversmith and Copper smith . Dryden House was then the Dolphin , and belonged to Mr . James Yorke . Mr . C . F . Yorke was at the was of Oundle Bank . The Swan at the corner the of Market Place and New Street . The site the Victoria i was Hall was the bowling green . The H nd Inn then the Unicorn and the Waggon and Horses was the 130 OUNDLE ’ S STORY

s Hind . The Workhou e stood on the site now occupied by r the Victoria Inn , with the same ectangular frontage . The Wesleyan Methodists had their chapel on a spot whi ch is o of Ne now the gateway and west p rtion w House . In 1827 two ministers were appointed and the Oundle t now Circuit established with El on as . They moved to their present chapel in 1842. so hi s For the last two years or of life Mr . Walcot was l stricken with illness and unab e to take part in business.

27 1922 . On July , , a portrait of Mr Walcot by Romney ’ 35 was sold at Christie s for £7 . His property was left to i and the Simcoe fam ly, and the Rectory Rectorial Manor of r Oundle passed by purchase to M . John Smith . Mr .

Smith also purchased at a later date from the Rev . Henry o son of Es Addington Simc e , the General , his Ashton tate .

Up to the end of his life Mr . Walcot exacted the ancient payments recoverable to the Rector under the Small Tith es

1696 as ar . e. . Recovery Act, , such Mortu ies , etc , g the of Mr s o m e i estate . To key, whose grave is i m d ately to the was to a South of the Tower, , I believe , the last be ch rged a of 1529 with a Mortu ry payment, which, by an Act , ” s t 103. e wa limi ed to But Easter Dues , which cam to ” be called in Oundle Apron money, because the trades i men were the ma n contributors , were received by Mr .

son . John Smith and his , Mr John William Smith, whose life was to be most happily linked with him whose name we must next mention . The messengers who went to pay the dues in the latest years were so hospitably treated that t s they were anxious to represent many Rec orial creditor . The legal amount of these dues was originally fixed at

2d. at per head , but somehow in Oundle they stood the 2 d strange figure of 13 . 3 . per house . r The Improvement Commissioners , in spite of thei s i h most creditable efforts , did not concern themselve w t - m as over crowding . The Rev . Charles Hume, who ca e t 1836 e curate to Oundle in Oc ober, , started at onc to make an amateur census of the parish ; it contains many points

132 OUNDLE’ S STORY

r the galleries were an eyesore , but thei removal meant - trouble about seating . Meetings and counter meetings ’ ” Miles s were held . Boy did not appear, but, after the of two manner that period, supporters of the Vicar made merry with anonymous pamphlets of a humorous character over the norm de p lume of A Buttress and Ben Back who - stay. The latter, played the part of a one legged heer d the sailor, concludes , I have middies pitch a yarn old his about an man, son, and a donkey . I think if the ul Swabs would read it, it wo d do them good . A note is added by the printer Ben is quite correct, there is no hi as s such t ng private property in a church, nor doe there exist any power to make it so ; again Ben is correct when he recommends the admirable lesson of the Grecian ul fab ist, yet surely our friend Ben does not for a moment o o supp se, that the opp nents of the scheme will call upon the Committee to carr y the church on their backs ; this v would indeed be hea y responsibility . Happily the

o t e . who opp nents came in o line and help d Mr Nussey,

£4 2 1 1d. succeeded in raising atotal of 9 5 33 . exclusive of ’ wa the organ , the Grocers Company leading the y with a generous gift of £5 00 . The last parish clerk of the old type in Oundle died

. B od ener before the restoration of the church William g , who followed his father (see p . and whose tomb is d exactly opposite the South transept, ied on the leap day

29 185 6 57 . (February ) of , having been clerk for years The book from which he recited the tunes of hymns and metrical psalms is before me . A pitchpipe probably used by him is in the possession of the present organist . Here is the first psalm to the old metrical version

'

1. . Psalm ye St Ann Tune . WHAT WE HAVE HEARD WITH OUR EARS 133

1 Th e man is Blest that hath not Lent ‘ T Wi c ed Men his Ear o k , Nor Led hi s Life as Scor ners do S in S a r Nor ate corners Ch i .

. B od ener e l Mr g had quite a selection of fun ra hymns .

’ Here is a verse from one, of which he notes : Sung at ’

Mr s. 31 18 11. Eyre s Funeral , March , (The note corre sponds with the Burial Register . ) Th e gr eedy Worms devour my Skin An d na ast n F es g w my w i g l h , W en G o d s a uild ne h h ll b my Bo s again, H r e clothes them all af esh . Few interments took place in the churchyard after ’ d ener s n . B o o 22 Mr g death, the last being June , 1860 . Interments took place in the new cemetery before the formal consecration of the Church portion . The Master of : the Latham School has a note in his register Monday,

15th 6o. Oct . / The Consecration of the New Cemetery

Burial Ground . The boys attend . The singing a failure . 16 1868 On the morning of Sunday, August , , smoke was seen to issue from the long aper tures of the Church

Belfry . There is still one parishioner who was early on the scene and helped to prevent the spreading of the

flames . Workmen had been engaged on the Saturday afternoon in repairing the clapper of the tenor bell hence the explanation . The clock and bell frame were destroyed and four bells were cracked . Oundle chimes, c 1868 dating from the renewal of the lock, , are, I think, 4- c unusual . Five note phrases are used, ea h occurring

twice .

nl At the quarter a o y ; at the half, b and c ” a at the threequarters , d , e , and at the hour, 6 6 3 ’ 6 6 ‘6 ” 6 6 b . , d , e 134 OUNDLE’ S STORY

was l a dl a o Mr . Nussey the ast Vic r of Oun e pp inted by d 14 the Crown . By an Order in Council date April , 8 9 an was 1 6 , exchange effected whereby the Bishop of

Peterborough (Dr . Magee) gave to the Crown the patronage of Harpenden for the presentation to Oundle . Jesus was . con Church, the gift of the late Mr Watts Russell , r of on 29 sec ated by Bishop Magee , as a chapel ease, July ,

1879 . At this time three houses , and workshops adjacent old thereto, were standing on the site of the chapel of

St . Thomas of Canterbury ; these were removed together with certain corbels, etc . then remaining . A shop front

i . was re nstated in North Street , where it still stands The ’ dr ainstone of the original piscina of St . Thomas s chapel of of is in the possession the writer this story .

. 2 1895 Little remains to be told On January , , our Urban Council held its first meeting and chose for its s first chairman one out ide the Council , Mr . F . W . Sander

n of . so , Headmaster Oundle School The following year, -fiv e a as Canon Hopkins , after twenty ye rs Vicar, resigned, and was followed by the Rev . A . E . Oldroyd, in whose s — time the Spire wa restored Mr . Oldroyd placing the

18 99 . weathercock upon the spire in October, There was 837 w a restoration of the spire in 1 . T ice in living memory the spire has been successfully climbed t o its full height ca of one by Oundle schoolboys , the p climber which was n placed o the weathercock, being now in the proud possession of a townsman . 1876 out s In the Governors brought a new cheme , — a t dividing the School into two parts The L x on School , ’ and the Grocers Company s School in Oundle . Owing to the farseeing and progressive methods of the present Head 9 1 5 40 is master, numbers have risen from to , and it due to him that Oundle is known by hundreds who had never l heard its name befor e . The many beautifu buildings i t of the that have r sen tell the s ory his work, and beautiful School Chapel whose walls are slowly rising will crown the glory of it all .

136 OUNDLE’ S STORY

EPILOGUE

IN the course of our story we have mentioned the names of many who, in their generation, contributed to the l - I Ound e of to day. nscribed in stone, both in Market of Place and Church, are the names the following, who, 1914— 1918 in , gave their lives to preserve it

m . A .B . . s . ma L e . . E G C Sea . E . F. o i ut A oo b n J B ulter.

E . M . A r my .

S i . P . m th Private

. Lace G y .

T . . Le e J v r ett . i R . L lleker . Ma C . ncktelow.

mi t . A . E . S h

a f r d. W . St f o - L . . Cr a th or ne . . Corpl W y

Malsb r . . H . u W . E a y Sh rpe .

H . . a a . . S a e . G M M rkh m C h rp .

e . A . Pag

f d. Private G . E . Af or

R a r e . . B r tt

I e . . B ll

enn e . A . F . B tt

enne . Gunner C . J . B tt

a n . Private T . G . Ch pli

S . . o e . . J T Co p r

H Cul o . F . . l p

ofL . Vear :

T . E s . F . Whis e . tl c P lli r oft . O u ndle F IV. Lan e, P h oto. by .

TH E TO WN WA R ME MO R IA L

Wzt/z Talbot H otel) 1 6 ( p . 3

INDEX

E THELWOLD 4 u en Dr . 119 , B ll , , Alter s in ur c 21 ur or d 22 Ch h, B f , r en ces 103 ur o o n de 9 App ti B g , J h , r on one 130 ur a s in woo en 10 1 Ap m y, B i l , ll , s on 8 26 42 89 112 ur r ee 25 27 89 A ht , , , , , B y St t, , , ’ As on c ar d 13 u c er s Row 28 89 128 ht , Ri h , B t h , , ,

us e o as 24 28 se . ut er a of 85 A t ll, Th m , , q , B l , f mily , 64

onda e 1 ALD WELL Rev . E . 96 99 100 Av l , C , , , , , 112 AI LIF FS of La a Hos a Cawt home o as 69 99 B th m pit l, , Th m , , 69 75 e e er 133 , C m t y, an s in Oundle 129 ance 16 B k , Ch l, B ar r owa ond 129 a e End 26 27 42 89 y P , Ch p l , , , ,

asse 40 ar es I . 80 B tt, Ch l , eau or a es de 1 es 133 B f t, J m , 2 Chim , ede l a of 96 112 Chur chfi eld 8 B l , f mily , , , edes en Lax on 5 3 5 7 116 ur c Lane 27 28 36 89 B m , t , , , , Ch h , , , , 129 ur c ar d 133 Ch hy , edf or d Ear of 24 38 43 54 80 iffe c ar d 28 B , l , , , , , Cl , Ri h , ’ eec in r f r D . 21 on s a 115 B h g, , Cli t Ch ity, ’ e a s ar 85 Cobth or ne 30 109 B ll my Ch ity, , , ells ur c 31 32 95 Colin h am Hu de 10 B , Ch h, , , g , gh , B enefi eld oad 1 12 25 o ar of Esses 5 1 R , , , C ll , er e ohn‘ de la 14 o oner s r s of 64 B , J , C mm , ight , B er r stead th e 34 38 o o der s in 4 5 y , , , C pyh l ( n 24 o er s oc 10 19 Biggi , l , C tt t k, , ac Pot Lane 34 o n a 14 Bl k , C tti gh m, ac a c 116 r eed a of 98 111 115 Bl k W t h, C , f mily , , , B od ener a 118 122 132 r eed o n 9 1 100 103 108 g , Willi m, , , C , J h , , , , ee Mr s 2 1 onner 43 r d . 9 08 B , C , , , oor o n 12 r eed a or c ar d 109 B , J h , C , M j Ri h , r a e o as 12 r eed ss e a 109 B k , Th m , C , Mi J mim , ’ B r amston 31 32 100 104 117 r eed s ar 112 , , , , , C Ch ity, r ewer Ound e 119 124 r o we O er 82 B y, l , , C m ll, liv , B r ickstock 12 r oss K e s th e 42 , C y , , r owne Ro er 23 r o and o er de 10 B , b t, C yl , R b t , ucc euc Du e of 1 u er t Edwar d 69 B l h, k , 7 C thb , , 140 INDEX

DALDE RB Y s o 10 Hod e r anc s 96 , Bi h p, g , F i , Dar nwell o n 10 1 B o e n Henr 15 , J h , l y , y, Di n a a of 87 Hol e o er 12 lli gh m, f mily , m , R g , h es D r ec or t e 8 1 Hu e R ev . ar 130 i t y, , m , Ch l , Dix o as 119 Hun a l of 90 100 113 , Th m , t, f mi y , , . D odmor e 43 se , q. Do esda 7 m y, D owe on Lane 27 34 MP RO VE ME NT A ct 126 ll W g , , I , Dr n n Cu 20 130 i ki g p , Dr u n e the 40 nde enden s Th e 99 mmi g W ll , , I p t , , uc ane 2 D k L , 7, 34 w 1 ME I Dud e Sir a e 07 A S . 77 l y, M tth , J ,

Duns an S t . 4 a es Rev . Dr . 128 t , , J m , ,

as er Mr . B . 111 J p , , E D GAR n 4 er e e H 4 3 , Ki g, J mi ill, E z a e ueen 77 er c o 27 li b th, Q , J i h , E n on 89 103 104 esus ur c 26 36 134 lmi gt , , , J Ch h, , , n s a of 118 126 Ji k , f mily , , FA OU L'r I Es Ecc es as cal 130 o n of Oun dle 9 , l i ti , J h , ,

a r s 43 ones R ev . c ar d 112 F i , J , Ri h , Feofi ees Ound e own 31 65 , l T , , , 99 115 IRKHAM a il of 79 , K , f m y , er r ar a of 80 F , f mily , Filb r i e a 92 LAN GTO N e en 32 gg , Willi m, , St ph , r e in ur c ower 133 Lar Lane 26 27 Fi Ch h T , k , , e s ea er s 108 La a c o as 34 63 Fl mi h W v , th m , Ni h l , , o er n a 22 27 30 4 2 77 La a ar a u es of 67 F th i gh y, , , , , , th m Ch ity, St t t , 78 La a er on 74 th m S m , r an n o as 31 99 Laundimer House 34 F kli , Th m , , , ’ r ee o der s in 4 5 Law s Ho e 4 3 109 110 F h l ( lm , , , ax n r m L o S i W . 35 36 48 se . t , , , , q , AZ EB O 125 112 G , dd n L e 80 Lec er n 22 Gi i g, ittl , t , iffor d o n 10 Le ce s er D ocese of 3 G , J h , i t , i , a or n oad 25 Le and 26 Gl pth R , l , n s o 4 Lew s o n 92 94 Gly , Bi h p, i , J h , ,

oodr c Mr . Dan el 116 L e dd n 80 G i h, i , ittl Gi i g, r ocer s Com an of 49 89 London Chr onicle the 4 1 G , y , , , , f r Lad Lor in e ir 6 1 u d o Ou 32 42 4 8 S Wm. G il y, , , g , , u d al 35 48 53 L nacr e Ro er 5 6 G il h l, , , y , b t,

HAMILTON H OMP SON Mr 19 A RKE T r oss 28 T , . , M C , H a Th e 26 ar e Da 128 , M k t y, H a es of s on 48 ar e Har or ou 1 y A ht , M k t b gh, VI I ar e ace Henr . 32 28 y , M k t Pl , Henr ar e V . 26 s 44 y III , M k t Right Hewson a of 87 99 ild a S ir 5 5 62 , f mily , , M m y, W , Hex a 3 ill Lane 27 31 42 89 h m, M , , , , ' H r ee 27 30 Oundle 8 29 igh St t, , Mill, , , Hi eld 9 43 on Lane 42 llfi , 2 , Milt ,

142 INDEX

Mr ar den of La a Hos a W we . W. 38 W th m pit l, hit ll, , , ’ ar r en s r d e 27 100 ae . 104 W B i g , q , D er s e J. 128 1 r . Ro 87 a s Ru s , , , 34 d, , W tt ll Wil b—t ea er s e s 108 r ed S t . 2 4 W v , Fl mi h, Wilf , , esle an e odi s s 130 or ouse th e 130 W y M th t , W kh , , es r ee 25 30 u s an r c s o 4 W t St t, , W lf t , A hbi h p , es or e and Ear of 102 a Ro er 20 se W tm l , l , Wy tt, b t, q. ounc of 2 Whitby, C il ,

W a Mr . B . 16 Y RKE a of 129 hittingh m, . A , O , f mily ,

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