After a little bit of a hiatus due to life, The Writ and Record is back. This time is covering a lease from 1629/30. This is outside the offical boundary for SCA period, but is in what, for heraldry purposes, is called the grey period. This means late period names can be documentented for registration in the period 1600-1650. The reasoning behind this is that a lot of people mentioned will actually have been born in period, and hence part of the period naming pool, and for the rest, that names do not generally appear out of nowhere, and would have had some earlier precedent. That assumption that wouldn’t be applicable today. The same assumption in England can be applied to most aspects of life in England until we hit the big disconnect caused by Charles I’s increasing absolutism and the resulting Civil War.
A lease can appear to be, and in many cases are, quite dry documents, but they still provide a useful insight to explore the time and place in which they are written. They can illustrate some of the norms of the time, and period documents can connect you to the people of the time more intimately than the necessarily aggregate impressions that books on the period give.
Having said that, the contemporary scribe apparently subscribed to the dryness of the document. As it goes on, you can see areas where the handwriting visibly deteriorates before recovering. This used to happen to me when I got bored and started rushing. You can see why after the umpteenth repetition of the Executors Admisintrators and Assignes. Unfortunately, in one spot it goes so wonky, I can’t make out exactly why a hedge was to be removed.
Dates
So let’s start with the dating of the document: “made the Nyne & Twentith Daye of January in the ffithe yeare of the Raigne of our Sou[er]aigne Lord Charles by the grace of god king of England Scotland ffrannce & Ireland defender of the faith &c”
The first thing to note is there is no standardized date: nowhere does the document state the date in terms of Anno Domini. Whilst thos practice does exist, and is something we are completely used to, for most of period, in most places, the date will be described as the regnal year of the sovereign. The AD sustem was first used in the 7th century and received limited ecclesiastical use in the centuries following. It started become more popular and spreading into secular documents from about the 13th century. Whilst it is often described as the dominant system by the period of this document, it is certainlty not uncommon to find it omitted entirely, even in official state mandated records such as the parish registers. I suspect today very few of us could, without thinking, give our current date in terms of the regnal year of Charles III, and it isn’t really a system that would work within the SCA given that most reigns last less than a year.
But we can convert the year, and this would give us a date of 29th Jamiary 1629/30 in modern terms, and the year 1629 in period terms. So what gives? Something that it is easy to overlook, and often gets standardized into the background in books, is that New Year’s day at this time was Lady Day, 25th March.
This practice endured until 1752, although you can see increasing recognition of the 1st January in records, even to them using the double year. When reading records of the time, it is important to remember that January, Febuary, and all but the runp if March actually occur after December in a given year. Oddly though, Lady Day was not a long standing tradition, only coming into use during the 12th century.
Thus for the people in these final centuries of our period, Christmas did not herald the coming of the new year. It also leads to an interesting tangent about the end of the Tudor dynasty, as for her subjects, Elizabeth I died on 24th March 1602, New Year’s Eve, something that would be far more portentious than we might think.
Another name for Lady Day is the Feast of the Annunciation, and this feast is referred to in the lease as one of the two days that the rent is due. So one lot of rent wasn’t just due on an important feast day, it was due on New Year’s Day, the start of the year.
The second date mentioned for the rent is that of St. Michael the Archangel, more commonly known as Michaelmas. This is the 29th September, and falls all but 6 months after Lady Day.
Names
The first names in the document are not particularly notable. We have Charles, John, George, Johane, Thomas, Robert, and David.
The surnames provide a little more interest, being Malet, Beare alias Brembl{e}combe, Melhinshe, Badon, Wilkyns, Davyes, Farll, and Avery.
The Malets were a very prominent family in Somerset, and other counties, with the original Norman landholder, William, being part of the Norman Conquest. They were so influential that their name survives today in village names such as Curry Mallet and Shepton Mallet, and in earlier times Enmore Malet, modernly and in the documents, just Enmore (spelt Enmere here).
We also see the use of the term alias, something that is uncommon but still surprisingly frequent at the time. I’ve seen it quite a bit in Somerset, but that may be an artifact of the fact I’ve looked at Somerset a lot, rather than being something peculiarly common there. When used it can help make people more identifiable, which is useful when they have a common first name, but it also means they can appear in the records by either name alone. In this case the scribe initially got the alternative surname wrong, probably disacovering the mistake when the document was signed, and has inconsistently gone back and annotated some instances for correction.
Four parishes are mentioned, Charlnich (Charlinch), Spaxton, Enmere (Enmore), which create a little crescent of connected parishes, and Pitmister (Pitminster) a dozen miles south of Enmore. All are in Somerset. According to Google Maps, you can walk between Charlinch and Enmore, with the quickest route being via Spaxton, in an hour and a quarter. This makes this lease a very local affair, the Malets themselves being based at Enmore.
The property being leased isn’t given a name, being described as a “newe erected Cottage w[i]th a garden & orchard therunto belonging neare adioyning unto Currypole p[ar]k ... w[i]thin the p[ar]ishe of Charlnich”. So it seems likely the cottage itself. would not actually have existed within the SCA period.
Tangent on Population
The population was growing steadily at this point, being estimated to be in the region of 5 to 5.5 million in England. It’ worth bearing in mind that this is in the middle of the, admittedly rather wide estimates, of the population in 1348, immediately prior to the Black Death of between 4 to 6 million. This means it has taken nearly three centuries for England to recover from that devastating cull.
It’s also worth considering this against our own modern experience, with England’s population being about 55.5 million as of the 2021 census, pretty much exactly on order of magnitude larger. Even our smallest settlements are larger, and our cities are massive. London now holds nearly double the 1630 national population, and the three urban centres next in line each hold about half the 1630 population. London’s population in 1630 was about 350,000, and was geographically much, much smaller.
The majority of what we now consider London, would have just been surrounding rural villages, and so a completely different experience than we have today. My mother was born and grew up in Eltham, in a street built in 1837 called Colepits Wood Road. At the time the end of the street opened into fields and farms, essentially the bery edge of the rapidly expanding metropolis. By the time I knew the place, 40 years later, the city had completely swallowed Eltham and continued outwards. If you ook at maps from the close of the 19th century, Eltham is still just a rural town, albeit one that contained Eltham Palace. The difference is even starker 250 years before that.
The netropolitans area of London in 1630 (including Wetsminster etc., distinctions which were more important then) was about 6 square miles: today it covers about 600 square miles, ahundred times more.
However, what these numbers show, perhaps counter-intuitively, is that what there was of London was far more densely populated in 1630, with about 60,000 people per sqwaure mile. Today, London averages about 15,000 per square mile, with the most densely populated area of Tower Hamlets only reaching about 41,000, even with all the high rises. Given the lack of vertical space in 1630, for most of the population the city would have been cramped and unsanitary. It is not hard to see why fire and pestilence would both spread rapidly in such conditions.
People in the Lease
The lease is a standard one for 99 years, or for the lifetimes of three named people. It is unusual in my experience in that the person taking the lease, George Beare alias Brembl(e)combe is not one of those three people. Nor is it immediately apparent that there is any familial relationship between the three that are named.
My initial thought was perhaps we are seeing relationships through daughters or siblings. I took a quick look through the Ancestry records, but with the patchiness of surviving registers (Enmore’s, for example, only start in 1653), damage to to some of the registers, and the utter direness of Ancestry’s indexing, I couldn’t establish much, but there doesn’t appear to be an obvious familial connection, and at first glance they seem quite scattered.
In the parish records for Spaxton, there is “George Beere of Charlinch” who was buried there on 8th January 1640/1. This seems a solid match.
The only likely looking marriage for Johane is that of “Will[ia]m Baddan” and “Johane Frual” on 18th October 1624 in Stogursey, a village 5 miles, about 2 hours on foot, to the north of Charlinch. Frual looks like the result of a non-local scribe doing their best to transcribe the local accent. It does make me think though, that there is probably a relationship with the David Frall who witnessed the lease. However, I haven’t found a burial for William (there certainly isn’t one in Stogursey) to confirm her status as a widow by the time of the lease.
George Davyes is most likely the “George son of George Davies”, baptized at Road on 10th August 1622, a village 5 miles to the west of Spaxton. I haven’t been able to identify his mother yet.
I couldn’t find anything definitive on the Wilkyns. Geograhically they are the most distant, Pitminster being a dozen miles south of Enmore, and 14.5 from Charlinch. That would still only be ablout 5.5 hours on foot though, so less than a day.
John Malet is far easier, being an MP for Bath from 1624 until his death in 1644, despite residing primarily at Enmore.
Terms of the Lease
The rent was two shillings per year, paid every six months, with an up front payment of £5, the equivalent of 50 years worth of rent. That rent is fixed for the 99 years. Given that the three people whose lives were specified as completing the term of the lease were already living, it is highly unlikely that the full 99 years would pass before the premises would revert back to John Malet. (I have seen instances where the third person is the yet unborn child of one of the other two.) This makes the up front payment something of a bet, in favour of John Malet if the term ends sooner, and in favour of the tenants if they eke out long lives.
The tenants were also able to sublet the property, but only on a year by year basis, unlike the long term nature of this lease. The only specified way the tenant could be evicted is for non payment of the rent, and even then there’s a caveat in the event of “sufficient distres in or uppon the p[re]misses”. However, the last clause hints that there are other legal means.
The tenant of the property was expected to attend the Court Baron of Currypole Manor twice a year and swear homage, and presumably be involved with other business held there.
The tenant is the one who must maintain the property. Permission is also granted for the removal of a hedge as long as it is replaced by a wall built from earth or stone. I would assume that earth would mean brick in practice. The reason given is for the enlargement of something, unfortunately illegible, but presumably related to the garden or orchard. This would suggest that the hedge was probably of substantial width, and perhaps not well maintained. Given the cottage is new, it is certainly possible it was built adjacent to a previously unkempt boundary.
This Indenture made the Nyne & Twentith Daye of
January in the ffithe yeare of the Raigne of our Sou[er]aigne Lord Charles by
the grace of
god king of England Scotland ffrannce &
Ireland defender of the faith &c Betwene John Malet of Enmere in the
Countie of Som[er]set Esquier of thone
p[ar]te and George Beare al[ia]s Bremble^combe
of Spaxton in the Countie aforesaid husbandman of thother p[ar]te witnesseth that the said John Malet as well
for & in consideracon of the release
& surrender of the estate of one Charles Melhinshe of & in the the
p[re]misses hearafter menconed, As alsoe for the
some of ffive poundes of lawfull englishe money
unto the said John Malet by the said George before thensealing & deliu[er]y
hearof well & trulie
paide With
demised grannted & to farme letten & by theis p[re]sents doth demise
grannte & to farme lett unto the said George Beare al[ia]s Bremble and his
Assignes All that newe erected Cottage
w[i]th a garden & orchard therunto belonging neare adioyning unto Currypole
p[ar]ke late in the tenure
of the said Charles Melhinshe scituat lying
& being w[i]thin the p[ar]ishe of Charlnich & nowe in the tenure or
occupacon of the said
George his Assigne or Assignes. To have and to hold the cottage & p[re]misses aforesaid
w[i]th thapp[ur]tenncs unto the said George Beare
al[ia}s Bremble his Executors Administrators
& Assignes Imediatlie from & after the day of the date hearof unto
thende & terme & for & during the
whole terme of ffower score & nynteene
years from hence fourth next ensuing fully to be complete & ended yf Johane
Badon widdowe Thoms Wilkyns
son of Robert Wilkyns of Pitmister &
George Davyes son of George Davyes of Spaxton or any one of them shall fortune
soe longe to lyve Yeldyng
and paying
therefore yearlie unto the said John Malet
his heires & Assignes the yearlie Rente of Two shillings of lawfull
englishe money at two of the
moste usual feasts or dayes of payment in
the yeare (That is to saye) at the feasts of Thannunciacon of our Blessed Lady
Mary the virgin
& St Michaell Tharchangell by
even & equall porcons during the terme aforesaid, And shall
& will doe sure & service unto the Courts
of the said John Malet his heires &
Assignes from tyme to tyme to be holden & kepte att & for his or their
mannor of Currypole twise in
the yeare uppon reasonable som[m]ons or
warning & theare shalbe sworne & present w[i]th other the ten[a]nts
& homagers of the said mannor and
shall likewise be theare ordered ruled &
instifyed at all tymes by the Steward & ten[a]mts of the said mannpr for
the tyme being in all things
inquireable & determinable in a Court
Baron for or in respect of the p[re]misses And shall
& will well & sufficientlie repaire sustayne mayntayne
upholde & kepe the p[re]misses in all
needfull & necessary repacons whatsoeu[er] when & as often as need
shall require during the said tenure
provided all ways & yt is neu[er]theles agreed by & betwen the said
p[ar]ties That the said George Beare al[ia]s Bremble^combe his Executors
Administrators or Assignes shall not Alyen
sett demise grannt or to farme let the p[re]misses or any p[ar]te therof to any
p[er]son or p[er]sons for any longer
terme then from yeare to yeare at any one
tyme or in any other manner other then & excepte as the estate interest
& terme of yeares of
the said George of & in the p[re]misses
unto the said Johane Badon Thom[a]s Wilkyns & George Davyes
or either of them w[i]thout the speaciall lycence
of the said John Malet his heires or Assignes first had & obteyned. And yf yt shall
happen the said yearlie Rente of two
shillings to be behinde & unpaide in p[ar]te or in all by the space of
Twentie dayes next after any of the
feasts aforesaid in the w[hi]ch it is in
& by theis p[rese]nts lymitted to be paid being lawfully demanded & noe
sufficient distres in or uppon the
p[re]misses in the meane tyme can or maye be
fonde for the levying therof, That then & from thence fourth yt shall &
may be lawfull to &
for the said John Malet his heires &
Assignes in to the p[re]misses to reenter & the same to have agayne
reposseede & enioye as in his or their
former estate This Indenture or any thing
hearin contayned to the contrary noyw[i]thstanding, And the said John Malet doth Covenant
promise grannt & agree for himselfe his
heires & Assignes to & w[i]th the said George Beare al[ia]s
Bremble^combe his Executors Administrators and
Assignes & to & w[i]th eu[er]y &
either of them by theis p[re]sents That he the said George his Executors
Administrators & Assignes shall have & take
the benefit of taking downe a hedge in the
north side of the demised p[re]misses belonging unto Currypole p[ar]ke for the
inlargeing of the ?
soe as the said George his Executors or
Assignes shall erecte and set up a sufficient wall of earth or stone in steede
& place of the said hedge And
that he the said George his Executors
Administrators & Assignes shall or maye by & under the Rents Covenants
clauses Condicons & agreements in theis
p[re]sents speacifyed & conteyned for
& during the terme aforesaid quietlie & peceablie have holde occupie
possesse & enioye all & singular the
demised p[re]misses w[i]th thapp[ur]tenncs
w[i]thout the lawfull lett sute trouble eviccon expulsion or denyall of him the
said John Malet his heires or
Assignes or any other p[er]son or p[er]sons
whatsoeu[er] lawfully clayming in from by or under him or any or either of them
In witnes wherof
the p[ar]ties aforesaid to theis p[re]semt
Indentures interchangeablie have sett their handes & seales geven the daye
& yeare first above written / - -
the mark of +
George Beare al[ia]s
Bremblcombe
Signed sealed and delivered
in the ‘resents of
David T [mark] Farll
John & [mark] Auery
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