| 1 |
I am conscious that I use the terms 'Old Style' and 'New Style' in this connexion somewhat loosely. Strictly speaking, the difference is between the old Legal
or Civil Year and the Historical Year, which began respectively on March 25th and
January 1st, whereas the terms 'Old Style' and 'New Style' refer to the Julian and
Gregorian Calendars. But as the computation of dates by the old Legal or Civil Year
was abolished in England by a section of the Act which substituted the Gregorian for
the Julian Calendar (24 George III., c 23), it is practically correct, though technically
what an eminent politician might call 'a terminological inexactitude,' to refer dating
by the Legal or Civil Year in this country to the Old Style reckoning of which it was a
concomitant. |
| 2 |
Aldermen marked thus are named (with their Companies), in what is in effect, though not professedly,
a complete list of those acting on March 1, 1433 (Letter Book K, fo. 127). To these should be added
T. Knolles (Vol. I., p. 402). |
| 3 |
. Framlyngham may possibly have been Alderman of Broad Street again for a few
months in 1407 (see Vol. I., p. 79). If so, he filled the place of Brampton, and was
followed by Halton. |
| 4 |
. See Vol. I., p. 234, for a note on Merlawe's Company. |
| 5 |
. I have stated (Vol. I., pp. 217, 395), that Heende was Alderman of Walbrook
Ward, without intermission, from 1394 to 1409, and as Dr. Sharpe has noted in his
Calendar of Letter Book I. (p. 36), there is no direct record of his having ceased to
represent that Ward. But the entry in that Letter Book (fo. 36), which Dr. Sharpe
transcribes, wherein his election to his second Mayoralty is recorded (October 13, 1404),
describes him as Co' arius, i.e. Commoner, which, if correct, shows a very remarkable
departure from custom which was never again repeated. His name, however, is found
repeatedly amongst those of Aldermen present at Courts up to October 13, 1402 (fo. 19 b),
and again, after his Mayoralty, from June 18, 1406, till December 17, 1407. Moreover, he
appears on the Husting Rolls definitely as Alderman of Walbrook Ward as late as
November 26, 1401 [130 (53)] and again on June 21, 1405, during his Mayoralty [133 (92)]
and on May 22, 1409 [136 (81)]. It is clear, therefore, either that there is an error in the
entry in Letter Book I., describing him as a Commoner, in October, 1404, or that he must
have ceased to hold office as Alderman about 1403, and resumed it early in his Mayoralty
(1404-5). |
| 6 |
. See Note 1, p. 2. |
| 7 |
. This name appears also in the forms Harewdon, Haryndone. |
| 8 |
. He is named as Alderman of Cripplegate under date Sept. 11, 1416 [H.R. 144
(36)] although his successor Aleyn had been acting as such as early as Dec. 23, 1415
[H.R. 143 (53)]. |
| 9 |
. The knighthood and the title Lord Mayor attributed to Sevenok in the D.N.B. are
mythical. His original Ward is not given. The suggested date of his death is wrong; so
also is that of his election for Tower, although the reference in the Letter Book is correctly
quoted, and that of his commission 'to inquire into cases of treason and felony within
the city' is misleading, being given in old style. |
| 10 |
. For Michell's company see Article (by the present writer) in Notes and Queries,
10th Series, xii., 361 (Nov. 6, 1909). |
| 11 |
. The name is erroneously given as Ashton in Vol. I., pp. 56, 97, 228‡. |
| 12 |
. Walderne, Everard's predecessor, who removed to Bassishaw in 1415, is found
acting as Alderman of Bread Street on October 23, 1417 [Hust. Roll 145 (46)]. |
| 13 |
. See Notes A, Vol. I., p. 97, C ib., p. 135; also Note 5* above. |
| 14 |
. It is difficult to trace with certainty the succession during the period 1415-17.
In Vol. I. will be found under each Ward the earliest and latest dates at which each
Alderman, whose election or vacation by death or resignation is not definitely recorded, is
named in connexion with that particular Ward. In the present case Lane's successor in
Cheap appears to have been Fauconer, who was followed in Coleman Street (though,
apparently, after a considerable interval) by Gedney, the place of the last named in
Farringdon Without being taken by R. Barton. It is possible, however, that Cauntbrigge,
who is described as Alderman as early as September 21, 1415 (on which day Halton, his
predecessor in Langbourn Ward, is recorded to have been present [Letter Book I.,
fo. 158b]), was originally elected for Coleman Street about the end of 1414. In that case
he took the place of Lane in the Court of Aldermen, and R. Barton was the successor of
Halton. |
| 15 |
. There is no trace of any Alderman of Bishopsgate between the death of Barentyn
in December 1415 and the election of Whytingham two years later. Probably some one
whose name is now irrecoverably lost served for that Ward in the interim. |
| 16 |
. He must not be confounded with John Boteler, Draper, who succeeded
him as Sheriff (for the year 1420-1), but was never Alderman, and died in 1436. |
| 17 |
. For Estfeld's knighthood, see Vol. 1., pp. 256, 420. Dr. W. A. Shaw, the
learned compiler of The Knights of England, is in entire agreement with me in
regarding the statement that he was a Knight of the Bath as altogether erroneous. In
the 15th and 16th centuries Knights of the Bath were only created on special occasions
and in batches; there was no such creation between the years 1429 and 1449, and
Estfeld was certainly not a knight before the date given in the text above. |
| 18 |
. See Vol. I., p. 8, Note B. |
| 19 |
. The attribution of the title "Lord Mayor" to Gregory in D.N.B. is an
anachronism. The article gives neither the name of his Ward nor the date of his election
as Alderman nor that of his Shrievalty. |
| 20 |
. Erroneously described as Brewer in Vol. I., pp. 56, 330. |
| 21 |
. See Notes and Queries, 11th Series ii. 24 (July 9, 1910). |
| 22 |
. See Notes and Queries, 11th Series ii. 6 (July 2, 1910). The mistake in the
original D.N.B. article of ante-dating by a year Cook's return to the Court of Aldermen
is a serious one, as it tends to obscure the fact that his actual reinstatement synchronized
with the temporary re-establishment of Lancastrian ascendency. |
| 23 |
The knighthood ascribed to him in Vol. I. (p. 256) is erroneous. |
| 24 |
. This is the correct date, —not June 15 as erroneously given at Vol. 1., p. 217. |
| 25 |
See Vol. I., p. 44. |
| 26 |
. The 'Sir John Crosby, Alderman of London,' whom the D.N.B. assumes to have been this
Alderman's grandfather, is a purely mythical personage. |
| 27 |
. D.N.B. gives neither date of his first election as Alderman nor name of his
original Ward. The suggested year of his death is inaccurate, and that of his Will is
misleading, being given according to the now obsolete computation of the Civil year.
The title of Lord Mayor is an anachronism. The suggestion that his nephew, Sir J. Shaa,
afterwards Mayor, was knighted on Bosworth Field is without foundation. |
| 28 |
. Many of the dates in the original edition of D.N.B. are wrong; these have been corrected, and
some omissions supplied in the new issue which, however, retains the error of ascribing knighthood to
his successor, T. Kneseworth. |
| 29 |
. The statement (Vol. I., p. 154) that he 'died 1483' is quite erroneous. I can
find no authority for it, and (like Mr. Justice Stareleigh) have no idea how it 'can have
got on my notes' in the absence of such authority. The description of the testator in his
Will clearly identifies him with the ex-Alderman of Coleman Street. It is possible that
the Alderman of Farringdon Without may have been a different person, but it is more
probable that he was the same, and that, having once been discharged, he declined to
resume office. |
| 30 |
With regard to the date of Percy's second election as Prior, see Notes and Queries,
11th Series ii., 85 (July 30, 1910). |
| 31 |
. See Note 21. |
| 32 |
I have erroneously ascribed knighthood to him at Vol. I., p. 24. |
| 33 |
. Some of the errors in the original article (which was singularly inaccurate) are
corrected in the new issue of the D.N.B., but he is still assigned a mythical Knighthood
and an equally mythical Lord Mayoralty, and the fact of his having been M.P. for
London in 1483 is omitted. |
| 34 |
. See Vol. I., p. 54, note A. |
| 35 |
. D.N.B. does not give date of election as Alderman. In the original issue that of his resignation
is incorrect. |
| 36 |
Erroneously described with a knightly prefix in Vol. I., p. 17. |
| 37 |
. The D.N.B. article does not give either the date of his first (or any other)
election as Alderman, or the name of any one of his three Wards. The date of his
death is also erroneously stated. |
| 38 |
The knighthoods ascribed in Vol. I. to Browne (p. 175), Kebyll (pp. 115, 146), and
Kneseworth (p. 35) are mythical. |