37. THE COLLEGE OF ST. LAURENCE POUNTNEY
John Poultney, mayor of London, added to
the church of St. Lawrence, 'Candelwyk Street,' (fn. 1)
a beautiful chapel in honour of Corpus Christi
and St. John Baptist, and in it established a
chantry of a master and six other secular priests, (fn. 2)
apparently in augmentation of an earlier foundation of two chaplains (fn. 3) by Thomas Cole. This
must have occurred at the beginning of the reign
of Edward III, since from the terms of the king's
petition to the pope on Poultney's behalf in July,
1332, it is evident that the chantry was then in
existence. (fn. 4) As endowment Poultney gave the
rectory of St. Laurence, the advowson of which
he obtained from Westminster Abbey in 1334; (fn. 5)
a messuage in that parish in 1336; (fn. 6) messuages
and rents in the parishes of St. Martin Orgar,
St. Bride, St. Margaret Bridge Street, and in
seven other London parishes, (fn. 7) and the manor of
Catford (fn. 8) in Kent in 1338; the advowsons of
the churches of West Tilbury, co. Essex, Speldhurst, co. Kent, Cheveley, co. Cambridge, Shenley, co. Herts, and Napton, co. Warwick, in
1345; (fn. 9) and the manor of Speldhurst in 1346. (fn. 10)
Poultney's care for his foundation was unremitting: he used the king's interest with the pope
on more than one occasion, (fn. 11) and the result may
be seen in the many papal concessions he received, among them being a relaxation of penance
granted in 1337 (fn. 12) and 1345 (fn. 13) to those who
assisted the chapel with their alms. The scheme
appears to have been of gradual development, for
the college did not take its final form until 1344,
when the number of chaplains was increased from
seven to thirteen, (fn. 14) and the statutes were not
drawn up before 1347. (fn. 15) These provided (fn. 16) that
on the death of the first master the chaplains
should choose another from among themselves
and present him to the bishop of London; a
sub-master, (fn. 17) appointed and removable by the
master, was to have the custody of the books and
ornaments and oversight of divine service, and
also administration of the college during a
vacancy; he was to receive 53s. 4d. a year, the
other chaplains 40s. each, and out of these salaries
they were to find their clothes, which were to be
of the same kind; the chaplains and the four
choristers were to reside in the house provided
for this purpose near the church, to have their
meals in the common refectory, and to sleep
in the dormitory; the chaplains were to be
always resident; they were never to enter a
tavern, they were not to go out without leave of
the master nor to walk about the City without a
companion assigned by him, and they were to be
within the gates before nightfall. As regards
services, they were to observe the use of Sarum; (fn. 18)
each priest was to have cure of souls among
members of the college and parishioners for a
week in turn; all the priests were required
to be present at mattins, vespers, and compline
and to remain in the choir until the service
was ended.
A few rules were made concerning the college
property: a tripartite inventory of goods was to
be made every year, the three parts being kept by
the master, the sub-master, and the chaplains, and
shown to the bishop of London at least once a
year; the master was to apply any surplus income to the benefit of the college, and he was
forbidden, even with the consent of the chaplains, to grant a corrody or pension out of the
revenues; there was never to be a common seal.
The endowment of the college at that time may
be presumed to have been ample, and to this
must be added the property bequeathed to it for
the maintenance of chantries in the church during
the next half-century; (fn. 19) yet for some unex
plained reason its income seems to have dwindled
until in 1420 it is said to have been only £12.
Poverty, therefore, may have been one of the
causes of the neglect of obligations which was
the subject of complaints against the master
in Parliament on two occasions, though it must
be admitted that no excuse of this kind was offered
on his behalf. John Carpenter, in 1430, petitioned the king in Parliament (fn. 20) to ordain that the
master should carry out the terms of Poultney's
will and distribute every year 4 marks to the
prisoners of Newgate, as he had done before the
gaol had been taken down and rebuilt. In 1439
the dean and chapter of St. Paul's stated that the
sums for Poultney's obit and for the maintenance
of three chantry priests in the cathedral had not
been paid for two years, and they requested that
they might have power to distrain on the possessions of the college in such circumstances. (fn. 21) The
college would probably have rejoiced as much as
the king if the investigations of Henry Sharp, the
master, in 1457 for the discovery of the philosopher's stone (fn. 22) had been successful.
According to a patent of 1525 the patronage of
the college had been granted to the duke of
Buckingham by Henry VII, (fn. 23) though there is no
evidence as to how it had come into the king's
hands. On the duke's attainder Henry VIII
gave it to the marquis of Exeter, but as the
patent to the marquis was void on some technical ground, (fn. 24) and appears not to have been
renewed, the king henceforth nominated the
masters.
No opposition was raised to the dissolution of
the college under the Act of 1547. (fn. 25) The master,
William Latimer, had adopted the new doctrines, and with them the ways of his party, and
was merely interested in securing for himself a
share of the plunder. (fn. 26) Pensions were assigned
to Latimer and the three other chaplains of the
college and to four 'conducts.' (fn. 27)
The clear income of the college at the time
of its surrender was estimated at £79 17s. 10d. (fn. 28)
Its possessions included rents of assize and ferms
in London amounting to £25 16s. 8d.; the
manors of Catford and Speldhurst, (fn. 29) in Kent;
the rectory of St. Laurence Pountney; the rectory of Allhallows the Less, the gift of Adam,
bishop of Winchester, in 1336; (fn. 30) a pension of
£2 from the church of St. Mary Abchurch,
which with the advowson had been obtained by
an exchange made with the marquis of Suffolk in
1447; (fn. 31) the advowson of Eastling (fn. 32) in Kent,
given to Poultney for that of Napton, co. Warwick, by the archbishop of Canterbury in 1348; (fn. 33)
the rectory of Napton, received in exchange for
'Pulteney's Inn' from the earl of Arundel in
1385. (fn. 34) The college had held the rectory of
Speldhurst from 1347 to 1448, but had then
given up all but its patronage of the church. (fn. 35)
Masters of the College of St. Laurence Pountney
William de Chetwode, occurs 1338, (fn. 36) 1346, (fn. 37)
and 1348 (fn. 38)
Robert Witherdeley or Wytley, presented
1363, (fn. 39) occurs 1368, (fn. 40) and 1391 (fn. 41)
Nicholas Mocking, presented 1399, (fn. 42) occurs
1409 (fn. 43) and 1411 (fn. 44)
William Thorp, occurs 1426, resigned 1433 (fn. 45)
John Pye, instituted 1433 (fn. 46)
John Thurston, occurs 1447 (fn. 47) and 1448 (fn. 48)
Henry Sharp, LL.D., occurs 1457, (fn. 49) resigned
1481 (fn. 50)
Richard Hethcott, instituted 1481, (fn. 51) resigned
1488 (fn. 52)
Richard Ruston or Smith, instituted 1488, (fn. 53)
resigned 1525 (fn. 54)
John Stevyns, M.A., presented 1525, (fn. 55) resigned 1532 (fn. 56)
John Blackden, presented 1532, (fn. 57) died 1536 (fn. 58)
Thomas Starkey, presented 1536, (fn. 59) died
1538 (fn. 60)
William Latimer, presented 1538, (fn. 61) occurs
1539, (fn. 62) and was master at the surrender
1547 (fn. 63)
A seal in the British Museum (fn. 64) shows three
niches with trefoiled arches, canopied, and in
them an altar with a chalice and paten thereon,
and two female saints. In the base to the left a
priest is kneeling in prayer under a carved roundheaded arch. The legend is uncertain.