37. THE HOSPITAL OF EWELME
In 1437 licence was given to William de la
Pole, earl of Suffolk, and Alice his wife, to
establish an almshouse at Ewelme and to endow
it with land to the value of 100 marks yearly. (fn. 1)
By 1442 the foundation was complete, the
endowments being the manors of Conock,
Ramridge, and Marsh Gibbon, worth £59 a
year; (fn. 2) but the statutes drawn up by the founder
date from 1448-50. (fn. 3) From them we learn
that the inmates were to be two priests and
thirteen poor men. Each of the former was to
receive £10 a year, each of the latter 14d. a
week. One of the priests was to be the master;
the other was to be a teacher of grammar to
instruct, free of charge, the boys of Ewelme and
of the three other manors from which the house
derived its income. The master was to be, if
possible, of the university of Oxford, and was to
be chosen by the lord of the manor of Ewelme,
who also was to fill up all the other posts.
The thirteen poor men were to be such as had
no means of livelihood, aged or infirm, and in
selecting them preference was to be shown to
men of Ewelme, Conock, Ramridge and Marsh
Gibbon. They were not bound to a rule
of absolute poverty; one who came into property worth £4 a year must leave the house, but
if the sum were less he might remain an inmate,
and was allowed to receive half the sum which
he had inherited, the house taking the other
half. Whatever property they had at the time
of death was to come to the house. All members
were to be present daily at mattins, mass, evensong, and the hours, to be said in the adjoining
parish church, where there was a stall for each
inmate. The visitor was to be the lord of the
manor, and as a rule he was to make a visitation
every year. The brethren were to have cloaks
with a red cross on the breast, and none with
leprosy or an 'intolerable disease' were to be
admitted.
In 1526 the income of the almshouse was
£64; but in the Valor of 1535 it is not assessed.
This favour, and its escape at the dissolution, are
no doubt to be put down to the fact that Ewelme
was a favourite royal manor and the king was
the immediate patron of the almshouse. At the
beginning of the nineteenth century the lordship
of the manor of Ewelme, put up for sale by the
Crown, was bought by the Earl of Macclesfield,
and his heir is now the patron of the almshouse,
and has the right of nominating the inmates;
but the post of master was granted by King
James I in 1617 to augment the stipend of the
Regius Professor of Medicine, and since 1628
has been attached to that professorship. (fn. 4)
Masters of the Hospital of Ewelme
John Seyngsbery, (fn. 5) appointed 1442, (fn. 6) died
1454 (fn. 7)
William Marton, appointed 1 February,
1455, (fn. 8) died 1494 (fn. 6)
William Branwhaite, died 1498 (fn. 7)
John Spence, appointed 1498 or 1499, (fn. 6) died
1517 (fn. 7)
William Umpton, occurs 1526 (fn. 9)
William Marshall, occurs 1535. (fn. 10)
The fifteenth-century seal is a pointed oval:
in two carved niches with elaborate canopies
and tabernacle work at the sides, on the left
St. John Baptist, standing, with nimbus, holding
the Agnus Dei in the right hand and pointing
to it with the left hand; on the right a female
saint with nimbus, holding in the right hand a
sword. In base, under a flat-headed arch, a
shield of arms—per pale, dex., a fesse between
three leopards' heads, William de la Pole,
duke of Suffolk; sin., a lion rampant queue
fourchée, Alice Chaucer, his wife, founders,
A.D. 1437. (fn. 11)
SIGILLŪ COMUNE DOMUS ELEMOSINE: DE:
EWELME