1 UNIV ONLINE CATALOGUES UC:E12 Property at Pontefract and elsewhere in Yorkshire from the Freeston Benefaction, 1323–1944 John Freeston (c. 1512–95) of Altofts, Yorkshire, is not known to have been educated at either Oxford or Cambridge, but he was admitted to Grays Inn in 1544. He came to make a lucrative living from property deals, purchasing several lands which came on the market following the dissolution of the monasteries and chantries. He also leased several estates from the Crown, as well as the rights to collect certain taxes and dues. In addition, he evidently lent money. Freeston, however, was possessed of a litigious disposition, and the papers bear witness to some of the disputes he which engendered during this lifetime. Although Freeston himself had no direct links with University College, he had an indirect one through his cousin John Browne, who was a Fellow there from 1575–1612. Browne, who had already persuaded his uncle Thomas Browne to make a benefaction his College in 1586 (see UC:E9 ), then turned his attentions to his cousin, and successfully persuaded Freeston to remember the College in his will. As laid out in his last will, drawn up in 1594 shortly before his death, Freeston left various properties in and around Pontefract to University College, but with very precise conditions attached. The College would indeed benefit from the will: Freeston specified that income from his estate should endow a Fellowship and two Scholarships at University College, and he also left money to buy out the lease on the property immediately to the west of the College. However, he also stipulated that the College should use other income from the estate to support various charitable causes in Yorkshire, including building an almshouse in Kirkthorpe and a school in Normanton, and then paying for the support of the almsmen of the former and the Master and Usher of the latter. He also left money to endow a Fellowship and two Scholarships at Emmanuel College Cambridge, although in this case the endowment eventually went to Sidney Sussex College instead. Unfortunately, but perhaps inevitably, on Freeston’s death early in 1595, John Browne found himself engaged in a major dispute with Freeston’s family, especially William Freeston, John’s brother, in order to win ownership of the property bequeathed to the College. The matter was complicated by the fact that, shortly before his death, Freeston had married one of his servants. Not long after being widowed, Margery Freeston promptly remarried, but her husband, Brian Stapleton, was rumoured to be something of a wastrel, and there were anxieties that he would effectively blow his wife’s share of the inheritance. For a while, therefore, there was a three-cornered dispute, with Browne, Margery Stapleton, and the Freeston family, allying with each other at different times in different ways. Even without such distractions, Freeston’s affairs were left in a complicated state. As well as trying to retain his cousin’s freehold estates, Browne found himself having to spend time and money renewing some of Freeston’s leasehold estates, to help finance his legal costs. Worn out by his efforts, John Browne died in 1613, apparently much in debt (T. D. Whitaker (ed.), The Life and Original Correspondence of Sir George Radcliffe (London, 1810), p. 61, and also UC:E12/1/D8/50 ), but not long after his death, the College eventually achieved a Archivist: Dr Robin Darwall-Smith E: [email protected] T: +44 (0)1865 276 952 2 UNIV ONLINE CATALOGUES UC:E12 Property at Pontefract and elsewhere in Yorkshire from the Freeston Benefaction, 1323–1944 settlement was reached with Freeston’s family, and could begin to administer the land in accordance with their benefactor’s wishes. As matters finally settled, the College was given property in Pontefract itself, but also in the neighbouring towns and villages of Kirk Fenton (later Church Fenton), South Milford, Ferrybridge, Carcroft and Owston, Ackton in Featherstone, Water Fryston, and Darrington. As far as University College was concerned, there was one substantial modification in Freeston’s will: the income from his estate was not large enough to support a Fellow and two Scholars, so that instead it was used to support three Scholars, of whom one, who received a larger stipend, was the Freeston Major Scholar and the others the Freeston Minor Scholars. In accordance with Freeston’s wishes, the Freeston Scholars were to be selected from the free schools at Normanton and Wakefield, or, failing that, from the free schools at Pontefract or Swillington. University College continued to manage the estate over the next three centuries. In the 1870s and 1880s it engaged in a major project of rebuilding some of the urban properties in Pontefract itself, which had fallen into severe decay. After the First World War, the College decided to sell most of its historical estates, including the Freeston lands. By 1921, therefore, the College owned no more land in this part of Yorkshire (although they did retain some coal mining rights for some years). The Freeston Trust, however, still continues to this day, albeit in a modified form. All these papers were found in the archives during the stocktaking of 1993, with the exception of UC:E12/2/N1/1–2 (part of Accession No. 275; transferred in 2001), and UC:E12/2/M3/8 (part of Accession No. 378, transferred in 2002). In the early 18 th century, William Smith (Fellow of University College 1675–1705) catalogued all the archives then existing. In some cases the documents he listed are now either damaged or else completely missing, so his transcripts and summaries provide the best or even only evidence for their contents. The papers relating to the Freeston estate are divided into the following ections: UC:E12/1 : Documents about the Freeston properties before and during their transfer to University College UC:E12/1/D1 - Medieval Deeds about Pontefract, 1389–1416 UC:E12/1/D2 - Deeds about the Trinities, also known as Knowles Almshouses, 1576–90 UC:E12/1/D3 - Deeds about the George at Ferrybridge, 1520–82 UC:E12/1/D4 - Deeds about a property at Fryston, 1582 UC:E12/1/D5 - Deeds about lands at Carcroft and Ouston, 1343–1583 Archivist: Dr Robin Darwall-Smith E: [email protected] T: +44 (0)1865 276 952 3 UNIV ONLINE CATALOGUES UC:E12 Property at Pontefract and elsewhere in Yorkshire from the Freeston Benefaction, 1323–1944 UC:E12/1/D6 - Papers on land held by the Freestons in Suffolk, 1541–94 UC:E12/1/D7 - Papers on property in Uttoxeter and Derbyshire, 1576–1613 UC:E12/1/D8 - Papers, mainly on the Manor of Lound and property in Lancashire, 1575–1615 UC:E12/1/D9 : Deeds on miscellaneous properties and rights leased to John Freeston, which did not come to University College 1573–90 UC:E12/1/L1 - John Freeston’s Litigations about the Trinities, 1570s–1580s UC:E12/1/L2 - The Earl of Shrewsbury’s Bonds, 1578–1608 UC:E12/1/L3 - Papers on a dispute over money supposedly owed by Freeston to Richard Ryther and Richard Tempest, 1582–1607 UC:E12/1/L4 : Papers on Freeston’s Activities as Farmer of the Green Wax of the Duchy of Lancaster, 1571–1606 UC:E12/1/W1 - Documents concerning Freeston’s Will and the Creation of his Trust 1590–4 UC:E12/1/D10 - Deeds creating Trustees on the Freeston Estate to help convey it to University College, 1595–1612 UC:E12/1/L5 - Papers concerning University College’s Disputes with Freeston’s Widow and his Family, 1595–1617 UC:E12/1/D11 - Deeds concerning University College’s dealings with Margery Freeston and Brian Stapleton, 1600–1 UC:E12/1/L6 - Papers in Chancery concerning John Browne’s Disputes with Freeston’s Family, 1611–13 UC:E12/1/L7 - Papers on a Dispute with William Freston for recovering the Trinities, 1617–22 UC:E12/1/L8 - Bill in Royal Exchequer concerning the Trinities, with copies of earlier documents, 1630 UC:E12/1/MS1 - Miscellaneous notes and papers, 1602–5 UC:E12/1/F1 - John Browne’s miscellaneous accounts, 1595–1610 UC:E12/2 : Documents about the Freeston properties as managed by University College UC:E12/2/D1 - Houses in the Trinities, Pontefract, 1606–1802 UC:E12/2/D2 - A property in Neet or Naute Market (now Beastfair), 1631–1771 UC:E12/2/D3 - House in New Market Street, 1652–1837 UC:E12/2/D4 - A House in Northgate Street, Pontefract, 1627–1757 UC:E12/2/D5 - House in Micklegate Street, 1659–1739 UC:E12/2/D6 - House by Bonegate, Pontefract, 1631–1739 UC:E12/2/D7 - House in Micklegate, Pontefract, 1632–1771 UC:E12/2/D8 - House on south of Northgate Street, Pontefract, 1631–1756 UC:E12/2/D9 - House on north of Northgate Street, Pontefract, 1631–52 UC:E12/2/D10 - House in Micklegate Street, Pontefract, 1660–1756 UC:E12/2/D11 - House in Northgate Street, Pontefract, 1631–1770 UC:E12/2/D12 - House in Northgate Street, Pontefract, 1674–1704 UC:E12/2/D13 - House in Shoemarket Street, Pontefract, 1660–1896 Archivist: Dr Robin Darwall-Smith E: [email protected] T: +44 (0)1865 276 952 4 UNIV ONLINE CATALOGUES UC:E12 Property at Pontefract and elsewhere in Yorkshire from the Freeston Benefaction, 1323–1944 UC:E12/2/D14 - House in the Leather Market, Pontefract, 1609 UC:E12/2/D15 - House in Baxtergate, Pontefract, 1663–1921 UC:E12/2/D16 - House in Bitchill, Pontefract, 1674–1704 UC:E12/2/D17 - Two cottages in Northgate Street, Pontefract, 1674 UC:E12/2/D18 - House in Neet Market or Naute Market, Pontefract, 1631–1801 UC:E12/2/D19 - House in Naut Market, 1704–1776 UC:E12/2/D20 - Land at Northgate Croft, 1739 UC:E12/2/D21 - A House and land in and around Pontefract,