Aldermen of the City of London: Bishopsgate ward

BISHOPSGATE WARD.

It is clear that at the beginning of 1469 the Aldermen of the Wards in question were:—

The Journals record the following elections and discharges from that date:—

June 7, 1469 (Journal vii., fo. 194), R. Lee, Walbrook.

July 29, 1469 (Journal vii., fo. 198), R. Fabyan, lately elected for Bishopsgate, discharged

November 28, 1469 (Journal vii., fo. 207). W. Haryot, Castle Baynard, vice Waver.

March 23, 1470 (Journal vii., fo. 213), J. Croke, Castle Baynard, vice Waver.

May 14, 1470 (Journal vii., fo. 215 b), R. Lee, Lime Street.

November 8, 1470 (Journal viii., fo. 1 b), J. Croke exonerated (Ward not stated).

December 14, 1470 (Journal viii., fo. 2), J. Stokton, Lime Street, vice Croke.

April 21st, 1472 (Journal viii, fo. 19 b), Sir B. James, Walbrook, vice Lee, deceased.

The Husting Rolls show that the following Aldermen were acting for the undermentioned wards at the dates here given:—

December 1, 1468 [H.R. 198 (22)], Sir H. Waver, Castle Baynard.

June 1, 1470, and July 4, 1470 [H.R. 200 (11), (15)], W. Haryot, Castle Baynard.

November 5, 1470 [H.R. 190, (9)] W. Haryot, Broad Street.

February 8, 1472 [H.R. 201 (16)], Sir W. Stokker, Castle Baynard.

In a list of Aldermen with their Wards recorded in Journal viii., fo. 282 in connection with an assessment of sums to be levied in the various wards by authority of Act of Parliament 12 Edward IV., the next preceding date in the Journal being May 8, 1472, the names stand thus:—

Waver attended the Court of Aldermen with great regularity after November 28, 1469 (the date of the election of Haryot to succeed him in Castle Baynard), having been present on December 1, 6, 12 and January 10, 15, 19, 24 (Journal vii, ff. 207, 207 b, 209, 210), his attendances ceasing after the last-mentioned date. Haryot was present with Waver on January 10, 15 and 24, as well as on December 16, when Waver was absent. There can therefore be no doubt that Waver represented some other ward than Castle Baynard in November and December 1469 and January 1470. Croke's first attendance was on March 28, 1470 (Journal vii., fo. 213), and he was present on 29 occasions between that date and October 13.

It seems, then, beyond question, that Crosby removed from Broad Street to Bishopsgate between 1469 and 1472, that Haryot (Heriot) followed Waver as Alderman of Castle Baynard in 1469, and that Haryot had succeeded Crosby in Broad Street before November, 1470 at the latest and most probably before July 17, 1470, on which day (Journal vii., fo. 219), Stokker, his successor in Castle Baynard, is first recorded to have been present at a Court of Aldermen. It is also evident that Lee did not remove from Walbrook to Lime Street but that he remained Alderman of the former ward till his death. Waver's seat for Castle Baynard is recorded as being filled up twice, viz.: by Haryot, in November, 1469, and by Croke in March, 1470, but Castle Baynard in the later entry is almost certainly a slip of the pen for some other Ward.

The most probable solution of the difficulties presented by the various records and omissions in the Journals and Husting Rolls seems to be the following:—

Autumn of 1469, Waver removed to Bishopsgate and was succeeded in Castle Baynard by Haryot.

March, 1470, Croke was elected for Bishopsgate (not Castle Baynard) on the death or discharge of Waver.

May, 1470, Lee was elected for Lime Street in place of Hulyn, who probably died about that time (he being then Alderman and his last recorded attendance on February 17, 1470 [Journal vii., fo. 211 b]), but he (Lee), apparently declined to remove from his Ward of Walbrook, and Lime Street was then taken by Croke, who had been one of the four candidates nominated at Lee's election, thus vacating Bishopsgate, to which Crosby removed from Broad Street, whereupon Haryot removed from Castle Baynard to Broad Street about July, 1470, and was succeeded in Castle Baynard by W. Stokker.

I think that this solution, though not entirely free from difficulties, is of all that can be suggested, the least inconsistent with the names and dates as recorded in the Journals and Husting Rolls.

Note A.—I have inserted John de Norhamton here with considerable confidence but without certainty, as there is no official record connecting him with Bishopsgate Ward. His presence at a Court of Aldermen is recorded under dates December 10, 1298, March 31, 1299, and July 30, 1299, in Letter Books C, ff. 25 b, 28 b, B. fo. 39 b (xcix.), he being described at the first of these references as "John de Norhamton, son of John de Nott'" (i.e. Nottingham). He is almost certainly identical with the John de Norhamton, junior, the executors of whose will are named, under date November 24, 1299, in Letter Book C, fo. 40 b (xcviii.). His tenure of a seat in the Court of Aldermen thus coincides with the interval between H. le Bole and S. de Paris, Aldermen of Bishopsgate.

Note B.—I am unable to find any record of the name of the Alderman of Billingsgate between 1415 and 1417, or anything which would aid me in suggesting a possible name which might be inserted. A very obvious solution would be that the date (1415), given by Stow and others as that of Barentyn's death was an error of pen or type for 1417, but in addition to the fact that his last recorded attendance is on October 13, 1415 (Letter Book I, fo. 159), there is positive evidence from H. R. 143 (35), where the executors of his will are named, that he was dead before July, 1416. Nor can the date of Whytingham's election be antedated from 1417 to 1415, for although the exact day is not given, the entries immediately before and after are dated 5 Hen. V., and on the same page are found Thursday, December 23, and Tuesday, January 11, the days of the week and month being those for December, 1417 and January, 1418. The names of Aldermen present at meetings of the Court on October 13, 1416, January 10, 1417, February 11, 1417, October 13, 1417, are preserved, there being as many as 24 out of a possible 25 on the last of these occasions, but each of them can be definitely assigned to another ward than Bishopsgate. It is possible that the Ward was without an Alderman for two years, but it is difficult to conceive the reason, if such was the case.

Note C.—The changes in the Aldermanic representation of certain wards in the years 1469 and 1470 as recorded in the Journals present difficulties which are almost inexplicable. The following are the data and the conclusion at which, after a very careful consideration of all the evidence, I have arrived. Five wards being necessarily affected by the course of the changes indicated, of which Bishopsgate is the first in alphabetical order, I have here set out in one comprehensive Note the nature of the problem to be solved and the grounds on which my solution has been adopted.