Essex Wills at Canterbury
By the Revd. G Montagu Benton, M.A.,
F.S.A.
THIS paper is the outcome of
a holiday spent at Canterbury in the summer of 1933. When
visiting
the Library
of the Dean and Chapter I had the pleasure of renewing my acquaintance with the Hon. Librarian, the Rev. C. Eveleigh Woodruff, M.A., who, in the course of conversation, called
my attention to certain Essex wills
preserved there. These
wills are included among
the "Sede Vacante" wills, which are so-called because they were proved before the Commissary of the
Prior
and Chapter of Christ Church, Canterbury, while that body was acting
as guardian of the spiritualities of the See of
Canterbury
during successive vacancies
in the Primacy. At first sight it appears strange that the wills
of persons who died in Essex should
be registered
at Canterbury.
"This is to
be explained by the fact that the jurisdiction of the archbishop in regard to the testament (a jurisdiction which during
a vacancy of the See passed to
the prior and chapter
extended into every
See of the southern province, whenever a testator left estate in more than one diocese;
and even if the
whole were situate in one diocese, the vacancy
of a suffragan See made it necessary for the executors to obtain probate in the archiepiscopal court,
or (if there happened to be a contemporary
vacancy in the primacy) in the court of the prior and chapter."
Thus, during the vacancies which followed the deaths of Archbishop Morton (1500), Archbishop Deane (1503),
and Cardinal Pole (1558), the See of London - Essex was included in the diocese
of London until 1846 - was also vacant, owing to the translations of Bishop Savage and Bishop Warham, and the deprivation of Bishop Bonner;
and "as a matter of course in each
case the Commissary appointed by the Prior and Convent of Canterbury proceeded to carry on the spiritual jurisdiction of the
vacant diocese; just as the Archbishop's official would
have done, if the chair
of Canterbury had been occupied."
The
above
information is
derived
from the introduction to
the Calendar of the Sede Vacante
wills, which Mr. Woodruff compiled
and edited
for the
Kent Archaeological Society.[1] It was with
the help of this useful publication
that I was able to draw up what I hope is a complete list
of Essex wills at Canterbury, full abstracts of which were afterwards obtained.
Various complications
have arisen in the course of
the work, which I was encouraged to undertake in the
belief that these wills were not to be
found elsewhere; nor was I aware that an earlier list of the Sede Vacante wills
had been printed in the
Appendix to the Eighth Report of the
Historical MSS. Commission
(1881), p .332. That Report,
however, states that these documents never came "within the cognizance
of the officials of the Archbishop's Prerogative Court," and that
"it
would be in vain to make a search in the Will Office in London … for information concerning them"; and in fact, this register contains
four hundred wills which, up to the present time, have
been unknown to genealogists."But I subsequently learned that this was far from being correct, for Mr. J. Challenor C. Smith pointed out as far back as 1882[2] that,
of the 481[3]
wills at Canterbury 422 are entered in the Prerogative Court registers
now at Somerset House, and that these have been constantly used by genealogists and others.
Having once discovered that the majority of the wills here given
existed in duplicate - the
reason for this remains obscure - it seemed desirable that they should be collated with the London
series. This tedious work was
generously undertaken
for me with scholarly care by my friend, the Rev. J. F. Williams, F.S.A., and I am deeply indebted to him for sacrificing many hours of his holiday to the task. As one would expect, various and generally unimportant discrepancies
were found, especially in the spelling
of personal- and place-names; and occasionally a
P.C.C. reading has been adopted as being most probably correct. To ensure the greatest possible accuracy, however, and before undertaking the final correction of the proofs, the queries
that had a risen were submitted to Mr. Woodruff, who kindly helped to solve them by again referring to the Canterbury registers.
Of the 37 wills here given
{but published separately on the blog}, 11 are not entered in the P.C.C. registers, but two of them (both dated
1559) are included among
the wills in the Library at Lambeth Palace. There are in addition three administrations (all dated 1559), which are also duplicated at Lambeth.
The following are the wills which are only to
be found at Canterbury: John Brewood (1500), of Great Horkesley; Henry Coldie (1499),
of Walden; William Philippe (1497), of Bosume, co. Essex (probably a scribe's error for Sussex); John de Sandwich (1293), rector of Dengey {Dengie}; Thomas Semar (1499), of Walden; Sir Richard de Southchurch (1293); John Tyall (1500), of Colchester; Matilda
de Veer,
Countess of Oxford (1366); and Richard Wanor (1500), of Barking. The substance
of the de Southchurch will has already been published.
Of the remaining wills, two (with omissions) have previously been printed in these Transactions; and brief items from
four or five others have also appeared in our volumes. But, for the most part, the varied information
here embodied will be
new to the local historian.
The first reference appended to each will refers to the Canterbury registers; when a second occurs, it refers to the registers of the P.C.C.
It is unnecessary to
discuss in detail the various items of interest contained in the wills, as it is hoped
that the footnotes will supply what is required in the way of elucidation. But special attention may perhaps
be called to a few of the more important facts which these documents disclose.
We learn that John Brewood (1500) was the founder
of the chapel of our Lady on H orkesley Causey;
and that the north chapel of Great Horkesley church is dedicated to our Lady. That the correct dedication of Boxted church is to
St. Mary, and not to St. Peter, is proved by the will
of William Lawrense (1500). The
will of John de Sandwich
(1293) shows that there
was a hospital for lepers at
Chelmsford at the close of the
thirteenth century, which is not
included among the religious houses recorded in The Victoria History of Essex. The early
will of Sir Richard de Southchurch (1293)
is supplemented by the contract for the erection of a chapel in the churchyard at Southchurch, to which
he alludes. The wills of Matilda de Veer, Countess of Oxford (1366), and Sir George de Veer (1500), also deserve
mention; the latter gives unusually minute directions for the
performance of his obsequies.
Bequests of cattle, agricultural produce,
wearing apparel, domestic furniture,
plate – that popular drinking vessel,
the mazer, being much in evidence – and utensils often occur, and throw
an intimate light on the social life of our forebears. There are in addition many gifts of ornaments and fittings for the adornment of churches and of money for special work in connection with their fabrics. In some cases the names of clergy, acting as witnesses, fill gaps
in Newcourt's Repertorium. The numerous place-names are
also
of particular value.
Although the spelling
has been modernized to a great
extent, and wills in Latin have been translated, care has been taken to preserve the original spelling of interesting words and sentences. My friends, Mr. S. C. Ratcliff, M.A., and the
Rev.
Ll. C. Watson Bullock, B.A., have allowed me to consult them
about certain obscure words and
expressions, and I have thankfully to acknowledge
their help and advice.
{Wills
will be published separately on this blog and may be searched using ‘EssexWills at Canterbury’. For enquiries use
the contact form.}
[1] Kent Records, vol iii
(1914).
[2] The Geneaologist, vol
vi, p.48
[3] The number apparently
refers to the wills in Register F only: but even so is greatly underestimated,
if administrations are included, as the book contains over 600 items. The total
number of Sede Vacante wills, administrations, etc., at Canterbury, as recorded
by Mr Woodruff, is 928.
