The Rawson Family
Alice (Rawson) Darold
Richard Rawson
Isabell
Crafford
Godfrey Darold
This marriage had not occurred by September 1497 when Alice is single in the
will of her mother, Isabel, but had occurred by 14 July 1499 when Alice's
marriage portion being held by Richard Rawson's executors was discharged by
Godfrey Darrald, presumably shortly after his marriage to Alice. No children
are mentioned in Alice's will, dated 9 September 1514.
Calendar of Letter-Books of the City of London: L,
Edward IV-Henry VII pp242-247 (1912)
Folio 239.
Custodia pueror' Ric'i Rawson
Aldermanni.
18 Jan., 3 Henry VII. [A.D. 1487-8], came Henry Brian, Thomas Quadryng,
mercers, Thomas Eyre, John Payntour, grocers, and entered into bond in the
sum of £400 for payment into the Chamber by the said Henry of a like sum
to the use of Elizabeth and Alice, daughters of Richard Rawson, late
mercer and Alderman, when they come of age or marry8.
8 Margin. 11 July, 14 Henry VII. [A.D. 1499], came John Fox,
mercer, who married the above Elizabeth, and Godfrey Darrald, merchant of
the staple of Calais, who married the above Alice, and acknowledged
satisfaction for their wives' patrimony.
Godfrey was of Langtoft, Lincolnshire and Boston, Lincolnshire. He was a
merchant of the staple at Calais, collector of the customs at Kingston upon
Hull, and receiver of the King's lands there. He was evidently murdered
(before 16 May 1511, when Thomas Compton is appointed collector of customs
in Hull "vice Godfrey Darrold,
deceased" (Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, Henry VIII vol
1 pp408-425)) - on 15 May 1514, nine mariners from Hull were pardoned
for his murder.
Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, Henry VIII vol
1 pp815-833 (1920)
32. Alice
Darold. Pardon and release to Alice Darolde, executrix of Godfrey (or
Geoffrey) Darolde, of Langtofte, Linc., alias
of Boston, merchant, collector of customs at Kingston upon Hull, and
receiver of the King's lands there and in Miton, co. town of Kingston upon
Hull; also release for his sureties, Richard Rawson, archdeacon of Essex,
and Sir Richard Cholmeley. Greenwich, 8 April 4 Hen. VIII. Del.
Westm., 13 April. P.S. Pat. 4 Hen. VIII. p. 1, m.
8. [3889.]
Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, Henry VIII vol
1 pp1266-85 (1920)
35.
Thomas Trace, John Ball, Ric. Hewitson, Rob. Stabler, Wm. Browne, John
Waterson or Watson, John
Meterson, Ric. Heyburn and Alan Armstrong, of Hull, mariners. Pardon for
the murder of Godfrey Darold. Del.
Westm., 15 May 6 Hen. VIII. S.B. Pat.
6 Hen. VIII. p. 1, m.
17. [5077.]
Alice received a legacy of £200 in the will of his father, dated 8 October
1483.
Testamenta Eboracensia vol 4 pp130n-1
(1869)
Oct. 8, 1483. Richard Rawson, mercer, citizen and
alderman of London. ... Wife Isabell. Son Averey cc li. Sons Chr., John,
and Richard, and daughters Eliz. and Alice, each cc li.
Alice, still unmarried, is left £20 in the will of her mother
Isabell, dated 1 September 1497.
Essex Institute Historical Collections vol 41
pp279-80 (1905)
ISABELL RAWSON
of London, widow, 1 Septemper 1497, proved 11 October, the same year.
... To Alice, my daughter, a dozen of spoons of silver knobs gilt, a cup
of silver gilt and in money twenty pounds.
September-October 1514
Alice requested to be buried "in the
Church porch afore our Lady of the Monastery of St. Peter of Westminster",
now known as Westminster Abbey, London.
The will of Alice Darold, widow of
Westminster, Middlesex, dated 9 September 1514 and proved on 25 October
1514, is held at The
National Archives PROB 11/17/590.
An extract of Alice's will can be found at
Essex Institute Historical Collections vol 41
pp282 (1905)
ENGLISH NOTES ABOUT EARLY SETTLERS IN NEW ENGLAND
Communicated by Lothrop Withington
...
ALICE
DAROLD, widow of Westminster, 9 September 1514, proved 25
October 1514. My body to be buried in the Church porch afore our Lady of
the Monastery of St. Peter of Westminster. To my brother Sir John
Rawson, Lord prior of Kylmayland in Ireland my Cross of gold with three
pearls. To my brother Master Richard Rawson Doctor and Archdeacon of
Essex, my cup of silver and gift that my mother gave me. To my brother
John Fox a pair of beads of vexilla gauded with five wounds silver and
gilt. To my sister Fox a pair of the best sheets that I have and all my
flax and flaxen yarn. To my sister Frost a silver spoon. To my brother
Alverey a silver spoon. To my brother Christopher a silver spoon. To my
brother Nicholas a silver spoon. To my niece Warham my other corall
beads gauded with silver and gilt. To my sister Fox’s children. I will
that a priest sing for my soul, my husband’s soul, John Smythe’s soul
and all Christen souls by the space of two years. The residue to Master
Richard Rawson Clerk and Master John Fox my brethren, the which Richard
and John I ordain, constitute and make my true and lawfull executors.
John Rawson mercer one of the witnesses.
Fetiplace,
29
- Alice is mentioned as
"my daughter" in the wills of both her father Richard Rawson, dated 8
October 1483, held at The
National Archives PROB 11/7/230, and her mother Isabell Rawson,
dated 1 September 1497, held at The
National Archives PROB 11/11/70
- Calendar of Letter-Books of the City of London: L,
Edward IV-Henry VII pp242-247 (1912); Godfrey occupation
from Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, Henry
VIII vol 1 pp815-833 (1920); Godfrey murder from Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, Henry
VIII vol 1 pp1266-85 (1920)
- Between date of will and
date of will's proving from Alice's will held at The
National Archives PROB 11/17/590 and extracted at Essex Institute Historical Collections vol
41 pp282 (1905)
- As requested in Alice's
will held at The
National Archives PROB 11/17/590 and extracted at Essex Institute Historical Collections vol
41 pp282 (1905)
- The
National Archives PROB 11/17/590; extracted at Essex Institute Historical Collections vol
41 pp282 (1905)
- Alice Rawson
Anne (Rawson, Cely) Frost
Richard Rawson
Isabell
Crafford
Richard Cely in 1482
Marriage,
Sex, and Civic Culture in Late Medieval London pp98-100
(Shannon McSheffrey, 2013)
Young London
and Calais Staple merchants Richard Cely the Younger and his brother
George Cely similarly availed themselves of older male “friends” who
were on the lookout for nubile women. In 1482, Richard was a hot marital
prospect: he was probably in his mid to late twenties, and with their
father's death in January 1482, Richard and George had become full
proprietors of the family business. Two months after their father died,
Richard wrote to George that lately he had “been spoken to for a wife in
two places.” Richard’s search for a wife in the months that followed,
vividly described in his letters to his brother, illustrates the
importance of friends in spreading the word that he was available and
interested, in identifying suitable matches for him, and in effecting
introductions to the families of marriageable women.
... Soon after, Richard wrote his brother again, saying that another
friend, fellow merchant Harry Bryan, “labors me sore to go and see
Rawson’s daughter.” Richard Rawson was a wealthy mercer from Yorkshire
who became alderman and sheriff of London, and Harry Bryan was a close
friend of the Rawson family. Bryan had also conducted business with the
Cely brothers over the previous year. In acting as an intermediary
between young business acquaintances and the daughters of friends, Bryan
performed a valuable service to both parties. As Richard wrote to
George, “I am beholden to him for his labor, for I know well that he
would I do well.” And Bryan’s urging to Richard “to go and see Rawson’s
daughter” was successful, for Richard married Anne Rawson not long
after.
Sheep in the Cotswolds p190 (Derek Hurst,
2005)
Richard ...
later married Anne Rawson, the daughter of a wealthy Yorkshire mercer
who became sheriff of London, and benefited from her dowry to the sum
of 500 marks (£323 6s 8d), and enormous sum for the day.
Richard was the son of Richard Cely and Agnes Andrew. He was a merchant of
the staple at Calais. A number of letters and other documents from Richard
as well as his father and brother George, covering both the family wool
export business as well as personal details, have survived - preserved
by a court after Richard, and later his widow Anne, sued George's widow
around debts from the business. The letters have been published in The Cely Papers (Henry Elliot Malden,
1900), and further research is published in The Celys and Their World (Alison Hanham,
2002).
The Celys and Their World pp317-8 (Alison
Hanham, 2002)
three doors up
from George's house, Richard and Anne Cely had the house, originally
belonging to Robert Arnold, which Richard Cely senior had almost
certainly acquired from his brother-in-law Richard Andrew, heir of
Isabel Arnold. In 1424 an enfeoffment by Robert and Isabel Arnold
described this property as a tenement with house, shops, manses,
cellars, solars, etc., between the tenement formerly of Eustace Glaston
and now of Henry Whitebrede on the south, the tenement of William
Eynsham on the north, and the tenement and garden of the abbot and
convent of [St John's] Colchester on the west. Richard Cely seems in
fact to have rented his garden from the abbot, and a further portion of
the ground ran down beside the next house to the south. Both Cely
properties adjoined the road to the east.
... The advowson of St Olave's had passed from Isabel Arnold, widow of
Robert Arnold, to Richard Cely senior and then to Richard junior. Until
the church was bombed in 1940 there were ceiling bosses in the nave
which bore the Celys' merchant mark. ... Richard's house was typical of
a fifteenth-century merchant's in having shops and cellars, used for
storing wine and other domestic supplies, and perhaps also for wool and
fell which was awaiting shipment. The miscellany of goods for which
Richard Stoke made a bill of sale in 1475 were 'lying in his
dwelling-place in the parish of All Hallows Barking'. A hall, 'parlours'
and chamber are mentioned in Richard Cely's accounts, and Richard, like
George, set about modernizing his properties by installing new glazed
windows. There would have been stables attached to the houses, and both
Richard and George had gardens and yards in Mark Lane.
Richard, his brother George and a William Maryon were partners in the
ownership of a training vessel named the Margaret
Cely after George's wife. There are some hints that in addition,
Richard owned a second vessel named the Anne
Cely, presumably for his own wife.
The Celys and Their World p388 (Alison
Hanham, 2002)
In addition, on
the same 10 September [1488] George paid on Richard's behalf 'for the
custom of the Anne's salt' a
total of 48s on 66 weys, 58 wey
of Richard's and eight wey of the mariners. An account of the Chancery
auditors names the Anne in
full as the Anne Cely. These
are the only indications in the papers themselves that Richard had an
interest in a second vessel, but one reference in the Acts of Court of
the Mercers' Company to a ship named the Anne
Cely, paid 'conduct money' of £11 13s
4d in February 1490, suggests
that he was owner of or partner in this other ship, named perhaps for
his wife. She almost certainly appears again in the guise of the Anne of London carrying fells of
Richard Cely in the London wool-fleet of August 1488, with as master
Robert Smythe, the man who had captained the Margaret Cely in 1487-8.
Richard died in July 1493 - his will was dated 3 July 1493 and proved on 30
July 1493. It is held at the
National Archives PROB 11/9/373. Richard requests to "be buried in the
chapell of Seint Stephyn in the pish of Seint Olave in hertstrete where I am
a pissheñ that is to sey in the tomb there as Richard Cely and Agnes his
wyfe my fader and moder lyen buried" (The Annals of the Parishes of St. Olave Hart Street
and Allhallows Staining p22 (Alfred Povah, 1894)).
The Celys and Their World pp413-4 (Alison
Hanham, 2002)
Richard's
comments are in his own will of 3 July 1493.
Item, whereas there belongeth to me of right, by the bequest of my
brother George Cely, a jewel with a balas and five pearls hanging
thereby, and also as much plate as should amount unto the sum of £180
sterling, toward the payment of such debts as we were jointly bound for,
and I by survivorship stand yet charged for - of the which jewel and
plate, nor also of the sum of £1,000 or thereabouts, which as God
knoweth the said George my brother truly owed unto me, I could never
sith the death of the said George have recovery of the same or of any
part thereof - I give and bequeath the said jewel and plate to mine
executors... to th’intent that they with the same plate and jewel
content and pay such debts as I and the said George stood jointly
charged in to any manner person or persons, as far as the said jewel and
plate will extend to.
In fact, the enrolled copy of George's will makes no mention of any
plate. The jewel 'had of King Richard' in 1484 was valued at £100.
Richard was himself deeply in debt to his wife's family by the
time of his death. Avery and Isabel Rawson, Richard's mother-in-law, had
already been lending money during George's lifetime, but the two
recorded loans (a total of £100 from Avery and £60 from Isabel) were
repaid at due date. But about 18 months before his death, in February
1492, Richard had enfeoffed all his lands and tenements in Mark Lane and
in Aveley, Upminster, Rainham and elsewhere in Essex to a group
including Christopher Rawson and John Rawson, 'to the use of Isabel
Rawson, widow, and Avery Rawson, mercer of London' and their executors
until they had received satisfaction from the issues for all Richard's
debts to them, including bonds made by them to William Midwinter of
Northleach. Richard's executors - Anne Cely, her mother and her brothers
Avery and Christopher Rawson - were also instructed in his will to sell
his lands and tenements in the counties of Oxford and Northampton to
meet his debts and the various bequests for funeral expenses and tithes.
Isabel Rawson died in 1497. Avery, as her executor, accounted
with Anne Cely on 4 June 1498 and it was established that she still owed
him £432 6s 1d
on his own account and £270 5s
1d which had been due to their
mother. A certificate was then issued to Richard Cely's former tenants
and farmers in Essex that they should now become tenants to Avery or his
executors until the total debt of £702 11s
2d had had been paid. The final
amount was eventually discharged in 1509.
- Isabell Cely
- Margaret Cely
- Barbary Cely
- Anne Cely
- Bridget Cely
Walter Frost
Anne's first husband, Richard Cely, died in 1493, and Anne and Walter's
daughter, Margaret, was born in 1503, providing the boundaries of the date
of this marriage.
Walter was the son of Thomas Frost and Elizabeth (probably Amyas). He was
appointed receiver for the Forest of Macclesfield in 1495, and receiver for
the Lordship of Macclesfield in 1502. Walter died on 20 March 1528(9) and
was buried alongside Anne in the church at West Ham, Essex, England.
Frost
Family in England and America p34 (Thomas Gold Frost, Edward
Lysander Frost, 1909)
WALTER FROST of
Westham, Co. Essex, where was buried. Held Manors of Newland, Walton and
Featherstone; also lands in Aikton, Hekk, Beverly, etc., jointly with
his brother, William Frost. Appointed in 1495 Receiver for the Forest of
Macclesfield, and in 1502 Receiver for the Lordship of Macclesfield.
(See Records in Town Hall, Chester.) Died 20th March, 1528-9. Postmortem
inquisition 21 Henry VIII.
Walter's extensive land holdings are detailed in the inquisition post mortem
of his son-in-law, Joscelyn Percy, in 1531.
The Yorkshire Archaeological and Topographical Journal
vol 1 pp142-3 (1870)
ON TWO HERALDIC BENCH-ENDS IN GREAT
SANDAL CHURCH,
By JAMES
FOWLER, F.S.A.
... it was
found that long before the death of the same Margaret one Walter Frost
Esquire father of the said Margaret was seised in his demesne as of fee
of the Manors of Newland Walton Fetherston Heke and Hensall with their
appurtenances in the county aforesaid of one messuage cc acres of arable
land ccc acres of pasture xx acres of meadow and x acres of wood with
their appurtenances in Federston aforesaid and of iv messuages ccc acres
of wood and xl acres of meadow with their appurtenances in Arkton
(Ackton) and of three messuages 8 bovates of arable land and of three
pound rents with the appurtenances in Heke and Hensall and of one
messuage 43 acres of arable land with their appurtenances in Arkesey and
of one messuage two bovates of land with their appurtenances in
Pollington and of two messuages and seven bovates of land with their
appurtenances in Yerthorpp and of ten messuages and four gardens with
their appurtenances in Beverley and of one cottage and four acres of
meadow with their appurtenances in Eske in the County aforesaid
And so thus seised the same Walter Frost Esquire took and married a
certain Anna Ranson and had issue the aforesaid Margaret in the said
first writ de diem clausit extremum
named And afterwards it was covenanted and agreed between the Most
Noble Henry Percy Knight late Earl of Northumberland of the one part and
the aforesaid Walter Esquire of the other part that the aforesaid
Josselin Percy Esquire brother of the same late Earl should take and
marry the aforesaid Margaret the only daughter and then heiress apparent
of the same Walter by virtue of which Covenant and Agreement the same
Josselin Percy Esquire took and married the aforesaid Margaret and they
had issue Edward Percy Esquire and afterwards the same Walter Frost
Esquire died seised of the aforesaid manors lands tenements and other
premises in his demise as of fee After whose (death) the aforesaid
manors lands tenements and other premises with their appurtenances
descended to the aforesaid Josselin and Margaret as in right of same
Margaret as of right they ought to descend by reason whereof the same
Josselin and Margaret entered and were seised of and in the aforesaid
manors and tenements and other premises with their appurtenances and the
issues revenues and profits thereof received and had
Antient Funeral Monuments p359 (John
Weever, 1767)
Of your cherite prey for the sowl of WALTER
FROSTE of West Ham, esquyr, and sewar to kyng HARRY
the eyght, and of ANNE his wyff, doughter of . . . . .
and widow of RICHARD CALY merchant of the
staple of Calis. Which ANNE died the xxiii of October
1527.
For the word sewar, saith MINSHEW, I have heard of
an old French book containing the officers of the king of England's
court, as it was antiently governed, that he whom in court we now call
sewar, was called Asseour, which cometh from the French Asseoir, to set,
settle, or place, wherein his office in setting down the meat is well
expressed.
Or sewar, saith he, is derived perhaps from the French word
esquire, id est, a squire, because he goeth before the meat as a squire
or gentleman usher. The fees allowed to this officer in the reign of
queen ELIZABETH (as I have it out of a general collection
of all the offices of England in her days) was thirty and three pounds
thirteen shillings and four pence.
Walter's will was dated 6 March 1528(9) and proved on 5 April 1529. It is
held at the
National Archives PROB 11/23/66.
Publications of the Surtees Society vol 116
pp124-6 (1908)
LXXXIX. THE WILL OF WALTER FROST, OF FEATHERSTONE, ETC.*
[Jankyn, 4.]
6 Mar., 1528-9. Walter Froste, esquier, of Westham in the dioces
of London. To be buried in the churche of Westham besides my wife. Unto
the highe awter there, iiij s. Unto our lady of Alhalowes there, iij s .
iiij d. Unto our lady of Pitie there, iij s. iiij d. Unto every light
contynually founde and kept in the said churche, xvj d. Unto two hundred
pour men and women of the parishe, eche of them, xij d. Unto the mariage
of twenty pour maidens, eche of them, vj s . viij d. To be gevyn unto
xviij my pour bedmen every weke, ix d. I will that myn executours every
Lent by the space of fyve yeres geve in pease potage at the monastery
gate of Stratford to pour people to the value of v s. Unto the fynding
of an able preest to synge in the churche of Westham by the space of
fyve yeres every yere fyve marces, to make an able lyving for an honest
preest, with the fyve marces of the gifte of William Heyward of the same
parishe, and if the said William dye within the space of fyve yeres that
than I will that the said preest doo singe in trentalles for my soule
and John Rookes soule and all Christian soules till the said fyve yeres
be full complete. I will that Sir Walter Froste, my kynsman, doo singe
and occupie as is afore rehersed in maner and some for the said fyve
marces. Unto my sonne Percy my blak velved gown furred with foynes, and
also a cote of tawny velvet with a plackerd. Unto my sonne Percy and to
my doughter Margaret, his wife, in plate to the value of twenty poundes.
Unto my said doughter Margaret my cloke of scarlet, brodered with blak
velwet, my tawny gowne of velwet lyned with blak branched damask. Unto
Edward Percy, my sonnes sonne, my jakett of tynsyn satyn, and it to be
kept to his use till he be able to occupye it, and if he dye I will it
remayne to my doughter Margaret, his mother. Also I will of twenty
poundes that William Heyward of Westham nowe doth owe unto me of the
whiche I clerely forgive the said William. I geve unto Richard Freyston,
esquier, my kynnesman, a cupp to the valure of vj li. or better. Unto
maister Archdeacon of Essex, my brother, twenty poundes in plate, be it
more or lesse, whiche he hath in his handes, in recompence of and for
dwelling in his house belonging to his office, upon this condicion, that
myn executours may have the ordering of all such goodes now being within
his said house according to suche promys as he did make at the buriall
of my wife, his suster, before his frendes and myn. Unto the said
maister archdeacon a cupp of silver and gilt in valure of vj li. or
there aboutes. Unto my cosyn, Sir Walter Froste, in redy money fyve
poundes. And where as my brother, maister John Froste, bequethed unto
our lady aulter in the churche of Fetherston in the shire of Yorke
twenty poundes, I geve the same twenty poundes which come to my handes
to be paid to the same use there to the churchwardens. Unto maistres
Anne Wheatley, my suster, fyve marces over and besides whiche must have
and hath during hir naturall lyfe, xxvj s. viij d. of annuytie. Unto the
churchwardeyns for the tyme being of Kirkethorpe in Yorkshire, vj li.
xiij s. iiij d., to contynue the obite for my mother there. Unto my lord
abbot of the monastery of Stratford my ryng with a stone called a
saphir, which I promysed and gave unto him at Cristmas before my death.
Unto my said cosyn, Sir Walter Froste, my chalys, two crewettes of
silver and gilt, and a bell of silver, with a vestment and all that
therto belongith. Unto maister Robert Panter, vicar of Westham, a coffer
wherin myn evidence doth lye. Unto Sir Roger Woode, parishe preest of
Westham, foure brode yardes of blak clothe for a gowne. The residue of
all my goodes I geve unto my said son Percy, Margaret his wife, and Sir
Walter Froste, preest, my kynnesman, whom I make myn executors, and my
said lord abbot of Stratford to be supervisour. These witnesses, thabbot
of Stratford, William Hayward, Thomas Parker, John Byglond, Robert
Snowe, Sir Roger Wood, Peter Waye, with many other.
[Proved 5 April,
1529.]
* Son of Thomas Frost, of Beverley, whose will (with his
father's) is printed in Test. Ebor.,
vol. iii, 237, by Elizabeth (probably) Amyas. His daughter Margaret
married Josceline Percy, youngest son of Henry, fourth Earl of
Northumberland. Their arms are on a bench end in Sandal Church, near
Wakefield, about which the late James Fowler, F.S.A ., gave an
interesting account in the Yorkshire
Archæological Journal, vol. i, 132. The testator had much
property at Featherstone and Beverley. He had several brothers, John,
archdeacon of Essex, Robert, rector of Thornhill, and William of Ackton,
whose will is printed in Test . Ebor.,
vol. vi, p. 64.
- Margaret Frost (1502/3 - 1530)
Anne and Richard Cely were left the contents of the Cely family home by
Richard's mother, Agnes, in January 1482(3).
The Celys and Their World p269 (Alison
Hanham, 2002)
On her
deathbed, near the end of January 1483, Agnes Cely gave Richard and Anne
his wife all the contents of the house in Mark Lane,
according to her promise made to Richard Rawson...and to Isabel his
wife, before and at the time of marriage of the said Richard Cely and
Anne. Which household foresaid, as appeareth by a quire thereof made, is
to the value of £45 4s. 8½d.
Anne is not mentioned in the will of her father, dated 8 October 1483 (Testamenta Eboracensia vol 4 pp130n-1),
likely because she was already married, with a substantial dowry given.
Anne, described as "Anne Salle, widow, my daughter" is forgiven a debt of
£100 in the will of her mother Isabell, dated 1 September 1497, and Anne's
five daughters are named.
Essex Institute Historical Collections vol 41
pp279-80 (1905)
ISABELL RAWSON
of London, widow, 1 Septemper 1497, proved 11 October, the same year.
... To Anne Salle, widow, my daughter, one hundred pounds “of suche
duete she oweth unto me,” and also a standing cup of silver gilt. ... To
Isabell Cely, daughter of my daughter Anne Salle. Reference to a debt
that her father, Richard Cely, whose soul God pardon, owed to me. To the
other four daughters of my said daughter Salle, viz. Margaret Cely,
Barbary Cely, Anne Cely and Bridget Salle. Richard Cely spoken of as the
late husband of the said Anne Salle.
Anne is remembered in the will of her sister Alice (Rawson) Darold, dated 9
September 1514.
Essex Institute Historical Collections vol 41
pp282 (1905)
To my sister Frost a silver spoon.
The will of Anne's brother, Christopher, dated 30 September 1518 mentions
"my brother Frost and my sister his wife".
Essex Institute Historical Collections vol 41
pp282-3 (1905)
CHRISTOPHER RAWSON,
citizen and mercer of London, 30 September 1518, proved 18 January 1518.
... My brother Dr. Rawson, my brother Sir John Rawson, my brother Frost
and my sister his wife, my brother Fox and my sister his wife.
23 October 1527
in the church at West Ham, Essex,
England
Antient Funeral Monuments p359 (John
Weever, 1767)
Of your cherite prey for the sowl of WALTER
FROSTE of West Ham, esquyr, and sewar to kyng HARRY
the eyght, and of ANNE his wyff, doughter of . . . . .
and widow of RICHARD CALY merchant of the
staple of Calis. Which ANNE died the xxiii of October
1527.
- Anne is named as "Anne
Salle, widow, my daughter" in the will of his mother Isabell Rawson,
dated 1 September 1497, held at The
National Archives PROB 11/11/70
- Marriage, Sex, and Civic Culture in Late Medieval
London pp98-100 (Shannon McSheffrey, 2013);
Sheep in the Cotswolds p190 (Derek
Hurst, 2005); date from the fact that Richard was not yet married at his
father's death in January 1481(2) but was married to Anne by the time of
her mother's death in January 1482(3) when they were left the contents
of the Cely family home by Richard's mother, Agnes from The Celys and Their World p269 (Alison
Hanham, 2002); Richard parents from The Celys and Their World p2 (Alison
Hanham, 2002); Richard death from his will, dated 3 July 1493 and proved
on 30 July 1493 held at the
National Archives PROB 11/9/373; Richard will from the
National Archives PROB 11/9/373
- Essex Institute Historical Collections vol
41 pp279-80 (1905)
- Antient Funeral Monuments p359 (John
Weever, 1767); A chancery proceeding
(Lists and Indexes vol 29 p12) was
brought by "Walter Frost and Anne his wife late the wife of Richard Cely
merchant of the Staple Calais". The will of Nicholas's brother,
Christopher, dated 30 September 1518 mentions "my brother Frost and my
sister his wife" (Essex Institute Historical Collections vol
41 pp282-3); Walter parents from Publications of the Surtees Society vol 116
pp124-6 (1908); Walter death
from Frost Family in England and America p34
(Thomas Gold Frost, Edward Lysander Frost, 1909), supported by date of
will and date of will's proving; Walter burial from Antient Funeral Monuments p359 (John
Weever, 1767); Walter will held at the
National Archives PROB 11/23/66 transcribed in Publications of the Surtees Society vol 116
pp124-6 (1908)
- Antient Funeral Monuments p359 (John
Weever, 1767)
- Antient Funeral Monuments p359 (John
Weever, 1767)
- Anne Rawson
Anne (Rawson) Stanhope
Nicholas Rawson
Beatrix
(Cooke, Copley) Rawson
Michael
Stanhope
The Antiquities of Nottinghamshire p148
(Robert Thoroton, 1677)
In Shelford Church,
Here lyeth the body of the Lady Anne Stanhope, wydowe,
daughter to Nicholas Rawson of Aveley in the
County of Essex, Esquire, late wife to Sir Michaell
Stanhope, Knight which Lady Anne deceased the 20. of Febr.
anno 1587. Vivit post funera virtus.
Over above the Tomb on the Wall, is,
The Epitaphe of Sir Michaell Stanhope, Knight, whilest he
lived, Governour of Hull, under the late King of famous
memory H.8. and Chief Gentleman of the Privy Chamber to the late
Noble and good King E.6. By Sir Michaell she had these
children, Sir Thomas Stanhope of Shelford in the
County of Nott. Knight; Elenor married to Thomas
Cooper of Thurgarton in Com. Nott.
Esquire; Edward Stanhope, Esquire, one of her Majesties Councell
in the North parts of England; Julian married to
John Hotham of Scoreborough in Com. Eborum,
Esquire; John Stanhope, Esquire, one of the Gentlemen of the
Privy Chamber to our most deare Soveraigne Lady Q. Elizabeth; Jane
married Sir Roger Towneshend of Eyam in Com Norf.
Edward Stanhope, Doctor of the Civile Law, one of her Majesties
High Court of Chancery; Michaell Stanhope, Esquire, one of the
Privy Chamber to Queen Elizabeth; besides Margaret, William,
and Edward, who died in their infancy. The said Lady Anne
Stanhope, lived wydowe thirty five years, in which time she
brought up all her younger Children in vertue and learning, whereby they
were preferred to the marriages and callings before recited in her
lifetime. She kept continually a worshipful House, relieved the poor
daily, gave good countenance and comfort to the Preachers of Gods Word;
spent the most of the time of her latter daies, in Prayer, and using the
Church where Gods Word was Preached; she being . . . . old, she died 20th.
day of February, ao. 1587. the thirtieth year of the
Reign aforesaid, in the Faith of Christ, hope of a joyful Resurrection.
The history and antiquities of the county of Essex
vol 1 p78 (Philip Morant, 1763)
ALVELEY.
Alured Rawson, citizen of London; and merchant of the
Staple at Calais, was lord of this maner in 1509.—Nicolas Rawson,
his son, left one daughter and heir, named Anne, who was married to
Sir Michael Stanhope; ancestor of the Lord Chesterfield.
He was involved in the unhappy fate of Edward Duke of Somerset, the
Protector; who had married his sister. Anne, his widow, long survived
him, to the great advantage of the Stanhope family, for she took very
great care of her childrens education and fortune.
Archaeologia vol 38 pp390 (1860)
Sir
Michael left his wife with five sons and three daughters, all of whom
she brought up and settled well. The Nottinghamshire estates of Sir
Michael, (which had been granted to him by King Henry VIII. “in
consideration of his good, true, and faithful service,” by letters
patent in the 29th, 30th, 31st, and 32nd years of that king’s reign,
were granted to Sir Michael and his wife Anne, and the heirs male of Sir
Michael. After her husband’s attainder Lady Stanhope obtained a demise
of those estates, by letters patent of 21 April, 6th Edward VI. for
forty-four years, at the rent of twenty pounds; and in the 1st and 2nd
of Philip and Mary she had a grant of the reversion of the same estates,
and others in Derbyshire and Yorkshire, in exchange for the prebend of
St. Michael in Beverley Minster, and the collegiate chapel of St. James
at Sutton in Yorkshire, which had been settled upon Lady Stanhope for
her life, in augmentation of her jointure, and which ecclesiastical
property she surrendered to the Crown. And by letters patent of the 11th
May, 1 and 2 Philip and Mary, the reversion of the estates in
Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, and Yorkshire was granted to Lady Stanhope
for her life, with remainder to all her sons successively in tail
general; and on her decease they descended to Thomas, her eldest son;
who by Act of Parliament of the 1st of Mary, Sess. ii. c. 6, was
restored in blood and made capable of inheriting.
Lady Stanhope was connected through her mother, Beatrice, sister
of Sir Thomas Cooke, with Sir William Cecil, Lord Burghley, whose wife,
Mildred, was one of the daughters of Sir Thomas Cooke, and therefore a
cousin-german of Lady Stanhope; a connection which no doubt enabled her
to obtain for her sons advantageous positions about the court.
20 February 1587(8), in
Nottinghamshire, England.
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Tomb and effigy of Anne (Rawson) Stanhope
This alabaster tomb is in the eastern end of the south aisle of St
Peter and St Paul, Shelford, Nottinghamshire.
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Tomb and effigy of Anne (Rawson) Stanhope
This illustration shows the arms on the west end.
illustration from Arms, Armour
and Alabaster Round Nottingham (George Fellows, 1907) posted at
Nottinghamshire
History
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Closeup of the defaced effigy of Anne
(Rawson) Stanhope on her tomb in Shelford, Nottinghamshire. The
damage was likely done by soldiers in the army of Oliver Cromwell.
photo taken in 2011 by Frances Hart
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St Peter and St Paul, Shelford,
Nottinghamshire, England
Arrangements for Annes funeral were still being discussed in this letter
dated 6 April 1578.
Archaeologia vol 31 pp213-5 (1845)
Letter of
Sir Thomas Stanhope, of Shelford, co. Notts., to Lord Treasurer
Burghley, respecting the Funeral of his Mother, Anne Lady Stanhope.
Communicated by RICHARD ALMACK, Esq.
F.S.A. in a Letter to ALBERT WAY, Esq.
M.A., Director.
Read 16 May, 1844.
...
“Ryght honorable. My humble duty p̃mised, may it please the same
to be adv’tyd I receaved this 5. of Aprill yor Lp
lre of the last of Marche, by whiche I fynd the honorable
care yor honor dothe carye to my late good mouther
& to the children she hathe leafte behynd her. The contentes of yor
Lp pleasure (as I take it) consystethe now in thease too
poyntes, the fyrst that it should not be stand in but that my mouthers
men should have suche lyvery cotes att her funeralls as her exequytor
my brother Mychaell shall geve them, the other for her almes to have it
destributed to the Touneshipes nere unto the paryshe wheare she is
buried. The duty, right honorable, I beare to my mouther, hathe moved me
to desyer her funeralls may be ꝑformed somewhat according to her callyng
& to the wyf of him to whom she was wyddow, and to the state of
substance whiche she leafte. Toching the tyer of her servantes I stand
not muche uppon it, thoughe her will (as I conceave theroff) that thear
lyvery cotes should be blacke of cullor is not repugnant to
it, but neythar gounes nor clokes ar spoken of to be geven them. Other
costes of desency for her buriall & for the relyf of the power* that
shall resort thearto my thinkes her will is playn under these wordes. Also,
I will that the costes for and aboute my buriall, as well for the
power people that shall resorte to the same, as for all other
nesessary dutyes, shalbe well and treuly payd and discharged by my
Exequtor. Now, ryght honorable, forsomuche as my mouther dyed
worth 2000li., as I am credebly informed, and also that her
body is interred att the place whear I dwell, my thinkes, under yor
favor, it tocheth me muche in reputac̃on & credit that
her funerals should be selebrated here otherwayes then appartayneth in
ordinary custome to those of her sort. And the same not being forbydden
by her will, the wourld I know will repute the not doing, ayther to the
myssery† or carelessenes of her children, & to me in espetiall, or
to the want that she leafte not whearwith to bury her self. Agayn, that
the power* wch, shall resort thethar, being the place wheare
I inhabite, & att my one mouthers funeralls, who lykewyse was so
charitable to them all her lyf-tyme, should then depart empty would be a
reproche I would be most lothe to incurre, for that, I thanke God, &
without bost be it spoken, my self doo releve twysse a weeke for the
most part 200 att my gates, besydes comers uppon other dayes, whiche
custome thoughe it beganne chefely in the dere yere yett is it not
leafte, but is the more borne with because of the multytude of the power
that goo abrode, Whearfore what defects of necessary accomplymentes that
shalbe att my mouthers funeralls being selebrated here, wilbe attributed
& the dyscredit thearof only to me, wch I humbly beseche
yor honor to consyder. And to the end I would doo my part
therin as becometh me, I have prepared of my prop charges threscore
blacke cotes for my men to attend on me att her funeralls. To conclude,
ryght honorable, yf the executor refuse to be att suche
convenient charges as appartayne, I will not refuse, iff it be put to
me, to beare them myself, & will aske hym no alowance thearof, or
otherwayes yf he will have the funeralls selebrated att Nottyngham whear
she died, wheare her housse & all ꝑvic̃on of necessaryes to her use
were & arre in my Brother Mychaels posession, and where the
banyshing of the accesse of the power shalbe no reproche to me, I will
come to it having helthe, & that without his charge, & will not
contrary any cours he thear taketh, nor will I willingly have varience
with any my bretherne, for I have found the most of them very loving
unto me. And I know non of them can truly say but that I have ben
naturall & resonably benefytiall unto eche of them for my small
power, having in effecte no more leafte me then to them, nor have
injoyed any wourthe of landes or goodes from my father untell now the
death of my dere mouther. And albeit that by her I ought to have a
portion att the least as the learned doo informe me, because nothing
moveth by desent from her, & that the custome of thease dioses doo
geve it so, Yett I assuer yor honor I meane not to
trouble my brothers comodety for the wourth of what soevar is dieu to me
in this behalf. The maner of using, takynge, or deniing of my right, may
ꝑhappes move me; howbeit, yf any suche thinge happen, yor
honor shalbe adv’tysed & judge therof yf it please you,
and the lyke of all that I posesse, for I have evar found you my
espetiall good Lord, & you arre the man from whom I have hade more
benefitt then from any other that lyveth. Therfore I honor
you from my hart, and doo dayly pray to the Allmyghty that as muche
goodnes as can happen to any may be geven from him to you. And so doo
humbly take my leave. Shelford, this vj. of Aprill, 1588.
Yor honors humble coussin to command ever
more,
THO. STANHOPE.”
“To the right honorable his espetiall good L. The L. Burleyghe, L. hyghe
Tresaror of England, geve thease.”
Sealed on a wafer, with the crest of Stanhope placed between the
initials T. S. viz a tower, issuant therefrom a demi-lyon, crowned, and
holding between the paws a fire-ball.
* poor. † i.e. miserly disposition
Transactions
of the Thoroton Society of Nottinghamshire vol 7 p46 (1904)
On the
right of this slab, stands an alabaster monument to the wife of Sir
Michael Stanhope. A recumbent figure, the face and hands of which are
now much mutilated, lies on the top. Her eight elder children are shewn
in relief on the side, and at one end we have the figures swathed in
grave clothes, of the three youngest who died as infants. At the other
end are the coats of arms as follows:—
On a lozenge Stanhope, quarterly ermine
and gules; a shield bearing quarterly; (1) Stanhope (2) Vert, three greyhounds courant, or,
Mallovel, (3) Sable, a bend between
six crosses crosslet, argent, Longvillers, (4) argent,
three saltires engrailed sable, impaling gules,
a four-square castle in perspective with as many towers and cupolas,
viz., one at each angle, argent, standing in water, Rawson; and
a lozenge bearing Rawson. The inscription round the edge of the monument
runs thus:— “Here lyeth the bodie of the ladie Anne Stanhope wydowe
daughter to [Nicholas] Rawson of Aveley in the Countie of Essex Esquire
late wyfe to Sir Michaell Stanhope knight which ladie Ann deceased the
xx of Februari 1587 VIVIT POST FUNERA VIRTVS.”
Arms,
Armour and Alabaster Round Nottingham (George Fellows, 1907)
... the most
imposing is the Altar Tomb made of alabaster, on which lies the effigy
of Lady Anne Stanhope, widow of Sir Michael. She was the daughter of
Nicholas Rawson, of Aveley, Essex, and died on 20th February, 1587,
having survived her husband 35 years. She presented him with a large
family, viz., five sons and three daughters, besides two sons and one
daughter, who died in infancy. The offspring are represented on the
Altar base kneeling in a line: at the first glance there appear to be
three sons and five daughters, but a closer inspection shows that two of
the figures are intended to be sons clothed in the robes of the
respective offices they held: on the east end of the tomb the three who
died early are shown swathed in their grave clothes. From the
inscription on a tablet near the tomb we learn that the sons were
successful in life, and eventually attained to good positions. Sir
Thomas was the heir; Edward, one of the Queen's Council for the North of
England; John, a gentleman of the Privy Chamber to "our most deare
Sovarigne ladie queene Elizabeth"; he was created Baron Stanhope of
Harrington. Edward, Doctor of Civil Law and a Master of the High Court
of Chancery, and Michael, one of the Privy Chamber to Queen Elizabeth.
Three daughters married well, whilst Margaret, William, and Edward, died
young; it will be seen from the above that three sons were named Edward!
The inscription goes on to say that "she kept contynwallie a worshipfull
house, releved the poore dealy .... spent the most tyme of her latter
dayes in prayer, etc," She is represented as clothed in a loose outer
robe with long cords, ending in tassels near her feet, a frill round her
neck, puffed sleeves, a quadruple necklace, and a long chain carrying a
pomander, but her countenance and hands have been apparently sawn off;
this was probably a wantonly revengeful act on the part of the
Cromwellians. At the west end of the Altar base are three shield of
arms, viz., a large one in the centre showing Stanhope, quartering,
Malluvel, vert, three greyhounds courant or, Longvillers sable, a bend
between six crosses crosslet or (Dr. Thoroton states (p. 148) that "the
family of Stanhope before used the coat of Lungvillers ") and . . . . a
fesse between three saltires engrailed, impaling Rawson, gules, a four
square castle in perspective with as many towers and cupolas, viz., one
at each angle or, standing in water azure. This shield is flanked on
either side by a lozenge bearing the arms of Stanhope and Rawson
respectively.
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Memorial to Sir Michael Stanhope
This slab is on the wall below the east window of the south aisle
of St Peter and St Paul, Shelford, Nottinghamshire.
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To the left of Anne's tomb is a slab engraved with an epitaph to Anne's
husband, Michael Stanhope, which also contains details about Anne and their
children
Transactions
of the Thoroton Society of Nottinghamshire vol 7 pp45-6
(1904)
A black
slab on the wall below the east window of the south aisle, has the
following inscription in quaint letters and curious spelling:—
“The Epitaphe of Sir Michaell Stanhope knight whilest he lyved
governor of Hull under the la/te kinge of Famous memorie Henre theighte
and cheife gentleman of pryvie chamber to the la/te noble and good kinge
Edward the sixt. by Sir Michaell she had theis Children Sr Thom/as
Stanhope of Shellford in the Countie of nottingham knight Elenor maried
to thomas/ Cowper of thurgorton in the countie of nott esquier Edward
Stanhope esquier one of her / magesties Counsell in the northe partes of
England Iulyon maried to Iohn Hotham of / Scorborowe in the Coūtie of
yorke esquier Ioh Stanhope esquier one of the gentlemen / of the pryvie
chamber to our most deare Sovarigne ladie queene Elizabeth Iane ma/ryed
to Sr roger towneshende of rayham in the Countie of norfolke
knight Edwarde / Stanhop doctor of the civell lawe one of the masters of
her magesties heigh courte of / Chancerie Michaell Stanhope esquier one
of the pryvie Chamber to Queene El/yzabeth Besides margaret wyllm and
edwarde who dyed in their infancie the / said ladie ann Stanhope lyvede
widowe xxxv yeares in wch tyme she broug/ht up all her yonger
children in vertue and learninge whereby they weare / preferred to the
maridge and callinge before recyted in her lyfe tyme she kept /
Contynewallie a worshipfull house releved the poore dealy gave good
Coūtena/nce and conforte to the preachers of gods word spent the most
tyme of her / latter dayes in prayer and usinge the church where gods
word was preached / she beīge . . . . yeares old dyed the xxth
of februarie 1587 the xxxth yeare of the Queenes Raigne
aforsayd in the faith of Christ wth hope of a loyfull
Resurrecciō.”
dated 16 September 1583 and proved in
Exchequer Court, York, on 10 October 1588
Archaeologia vol 38 pp390-1 (1860)
Lady
Stanhope ... died in 1588, having survived her husband thirty-five years
and was buried at Shelford, Notts, where there is a monument to her
memory, with her effigy recumbent and a long inscription. By her will,
dated 16th Sept. 1583, she bequeathed to each of her sons and daughters,
and their respective wives and husbands, a ring, with the motto “Vinclum
caritatis indissolubile,” and she charged them, before the tribunal seat
of God, to love each other as God hath loved us, having always in their
minds the holy prophet David’s saying, “Behold, how good and comfortable
a thing it is for brethren to dwell in unity and love together.” She
constituted the Lord Treasurer of England (Burghley) supervisor and
overseer of her will, giving to him a ring of ten shillings, with these
words, “Blessed be the peacemakers,” requesting him that, as she and
hers had always been bound and beholden to him in her lifetime, so now,
being called away, as her hope was into a better life, from her
children, he would be as a father to her fatherless children, (and
especially to her youngest son, Michael, whom she last provided for)
desiring him also to cease and order all strifes and debates, if any
should arise betwixt any of her other children, either for legacies or
other debt or duty, and straightly charging all her children, upon God’s
blessing and hers, to be ruled and ordered by the good advice of her
supervisor, then their father. Also she gave to her good lady and
cousin, the wife of the said supervisor, a ring of value and price like
unto her husband’s, with the words, “I die to live.” a
a Proved in Exchequer Court York 10 Oct 1588.
Notes on the Churches of Nottinghamshire: Hundred of
Bingham p417 (John Thomas Godfrey, 1907)
By her
will, proved at York, 10 October, 1588, Anne Stanhope, of Nottingham,
late wife of Sir Michael Stanhope, Knt., desired to be buried in the
chancel of the parish church of Shelford, and bequeathed to every one of
her sons and daughters and every of their wives and husbands one ring
apiece, in value 20s., to be made with these words “Vinculum caritatis
indissolubile.” (Torre MS.)
Avery Rawson
1467
Richard Rawson
Isabell
Crafford
Mercer and Merchant
of the Staple at Calais
Avery apprenticed to his father in the Mercers' Company in 1488 (Records
of the London Livery Companies Online) and is shown as becoming a
freeman the same year (Records
of the London Livery Companies Online). Of course, Avery's father had
died three years earlier, in 1585, but these records indicate Avery's
admission to the Mercer's Company by patrimony, rather than reflecting an
actual apprenticeship, and place Avery's age in 1588 at 21 years. Avery
seems to have experienced initial success. He was elected a Warden of the
Mercers' Company and bought himself the manor of Avely in Essex in 1506. His
fortunes turned for the worse, however, and Avely was sold in 1513. In 1515
Avery appealed to the Mercers for the return of three Arras tapestries he
had gifted to the Company as a memorial to his parents while a Warden. The
Company refused to return the hangings, but charitably offered him twenty
pounds instead because Avery "hath lately susteyned many grete losses wherby
he is growen moche in povertie & necessitie". Avery seems to have
remained in good standing and in 1518 was appointed to an office controlled
by the Mercers dominating the importation of silks. Avery, however,
continued to rack up debt, including to the powerful Cardinal
Wolsey, and in 1520 he fled England, seeking sanctuary in Antwerp. A
records in 1536 shows five men "bounden by three obligations to pay for the
debt of Averey Rawson" which at that time had reached 10,000 pounds.
Tudor
Textiles pp106-7 (Eleri Lynn, 2020) One
Avery Rawson, a mercer of London, was a merchant to Cardinal Wolsey. He
had sold him eighty-five coverlets of Norfolk wool, as listed in the 1530
inventory of Wolsey's possessions. It seems, however, that he had not met
all his obligations to the cardinal, and Thomas Heneage (c.1480-1553),
later a gentleman of the Privy Chamber but at that time a servant of
Wolsey's, confiscated the beams, scales and weights necessary for Rawson;s
business, wile Rawson himself fled the city and sought sanctuary.
Acts
of Court of the Mercers' Company 1453-1527 p428 (Lætitia Lyell,
Frank D. Watney, 2012)
ANNO XVcXVo [1515]
Thomas
Baldry W. Buttry W. Brown & Christofer Rawson
QUARTER DAY HOLDEN THE xviijth
DAY OF JUNE THE YERE ABOUEWRITTEN
At the same Courte, Averay Rawson made peticion unto the compeny
desyryng to haue serten peces of Arras whiche he sayth that he left
& lent unto the said Compeny what tyme that he was Warden. And for
asmuche as the most partie of the Compeny was not advised nor knew under
what maner the said arras was left in this place, therfor agreed that
Maister Wardens and thassistants with theym shall make suche aunswer in
this said request as they shall seme most convenyent &c.
pp431-2
ANNO XVcXVo [1515]
John Aleyn
John Kyme John Barnard & John Kervill
QUARTER DAYE HOLDEN THE
xvjth DAY OF SEPTEMBRE THE YERE
ABOUEWRITTEN
Averey Rawson at the same
Courte and many tymes before made supplycacion unto the Compeny and
desyred to haue delyuered unto hym the iij peces of arras of the
histories of Aman and Mardochus hanging in oure Hall, which arras he
saith he dyd lende unto the compeny whan he was Warden, and also
desireth to be allowed for the resonable warying of the said arras. And
whan the Compeny had understood his request, there was dyuers and many
of theym aunswarde and said that they were present at suche tyme as he
gave the said arras unto this Compeny for a memoriall that his Father
and mother shuld the better be remembered and prayde for, and uppon that
gyft he brought certen scochyens of their armes to be sett aboute oure
Hall whiche do yitt appere, & caused to be wrytten aboute the same
as followeth, Orate pro animabus Ricardi Rawson nuper merceri &
Aldremanni Londonarium & Isabelle consortis sue ac pro bono statu
Alveredi Rawson merceri filii & heredis dicti Ricardi &
Isabelle. Notwithstondyng, the said Compeny considered the said Avere
Rawson hath lately susteyned many grete losses wherby he is growen moche
in povertie & necessitie an in consideracion thereof they graunted
hym for his releff in his said necessitie xx li. sterling, with the
condicion that he woulde be content afore alle the said Courte to
conferme his forsaid gyfte of the said Arras. And whan the said Averey
Rawson had understoud the myndes of the Compeny in this behalf, he
thanked them hertely and said that he gave the forsaid arras frely unto
theym for thentent aforsaid,, and promysed furthermore that he nor non
in his name for hym shall neuer hereafter make any title or clayme unto
or for the said arras or any parte therof &c.
p499
ANNO XVcXXo [1520]
Hugh Clopton
Nicholas Lewson & Myhell Dormer
GENERAL COURTE OF OURE
FELYSHIPP HOLDEN THE vth DAY OF
JULIJ THE YERE ABOUEWRITTEN,
...
And when all the
said parsons were assembled together, Maister Wardens shewed unto theym
that the cause of theyre assemble at that tyme was to advertise theym
howe that Avery Rawson, which lately had thoffice of waying of sylk,
hath nowe desaytfully, Rebukefully and shamefully withdrawn hym self
from this Citie of London so that he can not excersice nor occupie the
said office in his owen parson lyke as he is bound and ought to do, as
more clerely may appere in an acte made the xxvjth daye of
September Anno xvcxvth, at which tyme the said
office was first geven unto the said Averey. By reason of whose absence
and with drawyng as is aforesaid, the said office is nowe voyde and
destitute of oon Able parson to supply and occupie the same office. ...
And with the holle will, consent and agrement as well of the said
worsshipfull Aldermen as of all the holle felyshipp, it was tryed by
handes that the clere and hole Eleccion rested uppon John Hewster.
p512
ANNO XVcXXo [1520]
Myghell
Inglysshe J. Brown R. Raynold & R. Warren
The xxvth daye of
October
...
And at the same Court it
was agreed that for asmuche as thoffice of waying of all maner sylkes
was geven unto John Hewster as more playnlyer yt shall appere at a
generall Courte holden the vth daye of July. And for asmuche as the
forsaid John Hewster hath bene and spoken with Maister Hynahe, seruaunt
with my lorde Cardynall, for the Beame and Scales and Wayghtes that were
delyuered unto Averey Rawson to waye all maner unwrought sylke. And for
that the said Avery Rawson had an office in the Kynges Custumhous under
the said Maister Hynage, by the whiche Avery Rawson tha said Maister
Hynage Extended grete losses, and withoute the forsaid John Hewsterwill
gyve unto the said Maister Hynage oon hundryth markes sterling, he can
not obtayne his favour to have the forsaid beame and Scales and wayghtes
Wheruppon theis parsones before
written, consideryng that better it were to geve this C marcs than the
office shulde be taken from the gyft of this felishipp, wheruppon it was
agreed that the said John Hewster shall paye unto the said Maister
Hynage the C marke sterling in fourme folowyng, that is to say,
xxxiijli. vjs. viijd. to be paide oute of hande, and at the Fest of all
Saynts, Anno xvcxxj other xxxiijli. vjs. viijd.., and by the
said assemble it was agreed the Richard Raynold secunde Warden shall
delyver unto the forsaid John Hewster oute of oure Comen box xiijli.
Transactions
of the London and Middlesex Archaeological Society vol 4 pp140-1
(1869)
REMARKS ON THE MERCERS AND
OTHER TRADING COMPANIES OF LONDON
By John Gough Nichols
...
On account of
the absence of Thomas Tykhill, late Weyer of Sylke, Nicholas Hatton,
mercer, was chosen in his place, 19 August, 11 Edw. IV. Other successors
to the office were:
...
Avery Rawson, 26 Sept. 1518, on death of
Fisher.
John Hewster, 5 July, 15.. on the absence of Rawson.
Letters
and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, Henry VIII, Volume 3, 1519-1523
p382 (ed. J S Brewer, 1867)
12 Henry VIII
[1520]
3 Nov. R. O.
1038. The VICE-DEAN
and CHAPTER of OUR LADY'S CHURCH,
ANTWERP, to QUEEN KATHERINE.
Have already written to the King in behalf of Alfred
Rawson, merchant of England, who has fled to their church for safety,
being unable to pay his debts, either to the crown, Thos. Hannayge his
master, or any other of his creditors. Asks her to persuade the King to
allow him to return and endeavor to mend his fortunes. Antwerp, 3 Nov.
1520.
Lat., p. 1. Add.
and endd.
Letters
and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, Henry VIII, Volume 11, July-December
1536 pp592-3 (1898)
28 Henry VIII
[1536]
[7 Aug.] R. O.
3. JOHN
KYME.
“Memorandum that John Kyme, George Medley, Richard Reynolds,
Robert Palmer, and Fras. Baldewyn were bounden by three obligations to
pay for the debt of Averey Rawson to the King's use by every obligation
5,000 marks, at days now all expired,” i.e.,
10,000l. in all, of which sum
they only received 5,000l. They
discharged the first payment, 3,333l.
6s. 8d.,
in full. Ric. Reynolds and Rob. Palmer are to pay, at days given them,
2,666l. 13s.
4d. The King has received, out
of Lewis Harpisfelde's house, 513l.
Sir Brian Tuke has received of the rest of Kyme's goods, 715l.
15s. 7d.
And though the goods of Fras. Bawdwyn, deceased, amounted to little more
than 800l., yet towards the
2,000 marks laid to the charge of his executors, viz., Oliver Leder, who
has married his daughter, and Ric. Reynolds, it has been arranged that
the King shall be paid 1,200l.
in 10 yearly instalments; “which is not so long days by four years as
the King's grace gave unto the said Reynolds and Palmer.” And for this
good sureties shall be put in. Debts owing to Kyme arrested to the
King's use, 1,012l. 4s.
3d. Total of all these
payments, 9,440l. 19s.
10d., which falls short of the
obligations by only 559l. 0s. 2d.,
but exceeds what Kyme and the others received by 4,440l.
19s. 10d.
The Gentleman's Magazine August 1856 vol 201
p179n
Averey, or
Alured Rawson, settled at Alvethley, now called Aveley, Essex. He had a
son, Nicholas, one of whose daughters and co-heiresses, Anne, became
wife of Sir Michael Stanhope, and was by him the ancestress of the two
noble families of Chesterfield and Stanhope. See her tomb at Shelford,
Notts.—Thoroton's Notts, by Throsby, vol. i. p. 290.
Avery is named in the wills of his father, dated 8 October 1483 and his
mother, dated 1 September 1497, by which time he must have been married as
the will also mentions his daughter, Isabelle.
Avery received a legacy of £200 in the will of his father, dated 8 October
1483.
Testamenta Eboracensia vol 4 pp130n-1
(1869)
Oct. 8, 1483.
Richard Rawson, mercer, citizen and alderman of London. ... Wife
Isabell. Son Averey cc li. Sons Chr., John, and Richard, and daughters
Eliz. and Alice, each cc li.
He received a legacy of £100, and is named as "myne eldest sonne" in the
will of his mother
dated 1 September 1497. This will also names Avery's daughter, Isabelle.
Testamenta Eboracensia vol 4 pp130-1 (1869)
Sept. 1,
1497. Isabell Rawson of London, widow. ... Alverey Rawson, myne
eldest sonne, c. li. To Isabelle his dou., my god doughter, a cheyne of
goold with J.H.C. hanging thereby. To my son Chr. Rawson j dosin of
sponis of silver wt knoppis gilt. To John Rawson, knight of
the Rhodes, my sonne, a stonding cup with a cover of silver gilt, a
leyer of burall garnisshed with silver and gilt, and xx li. To Richard
Rawson, my sonne, atte Bononye, xx li. Son Nich. Rawson xx li. Dau. Anne
Salle wid. c li. Dau. Eliz. wife of John Foxe, mercer, xx li. Dau Alice
xx li.
Avery bought the manor of "Alvetley" (Aveley) on 13 July 1506
Calendar
of Close Rolls, Henry VII: vol 2, 1500-1509 pp278-300 (ed. R.
A. Latham, 1963)
793
Adrian Fortescu knight, to Alfred Rawson and John
Crafford and Alfred's heirs and assigns. Release and quitclaim with
warranty of Alvetley manor with a messuage, 100 a.
land, 40 a. meadow, 160 a. pasture, 100 a.
marsh and 10l. rent in
Alvetley, Wenyngton, Pourflete, Reynham, Wokingdon, Stifford and Litill
Thoroke co. Essex and the advowson of the church, free chapel or chantry
in Alvetley. Dated 13 July, 21 Henry VII.
Memorandum
of acknowledgment, 30 August this year.
Avery is named as an overseer in the will of his uncle, Thomas Crafford,
dated 28 July 1508 which is held at the
National Archives, Kew (PROB 11/16/198).
??? ??? as my nephew Avery Rawson oweth to me
xiiij l as it appeareth by my obligations if the said Avery Rawson
according to the ??? that he hath made to me afore tyme ??? suffer my said
wyf and my said sonnes to have and enjoy ??? to that my ??? ??? crofts of
??? called Rodyons for ??? Then I will that my said wyf shall ??? the
forsaid xiiij l of him nor of ??? ... And ??? George Rede and my nephew
Avery Rawson to be overseers
Avery is named as "Alverey" in the will of his sister Alice (Rawson) Darold,
dated 9 September 1514.
Essex Institute Historical Collections vol 41
pp282 (1905)
To my brother Alverey a silver spoon.
He is also named in the will of his brother, Christopher, dated 30 September
1518
Transactions of the London and Middlesex
Archaeological Society vol 2 pp249-50 (1864)
By his will,
dated 30th September, 1518, he devised his wharf and houses called Old
Wool Quay in the parish of Allhallows Barking of London, which Robert
Whitehead held to farm, and all other his messuages, tenements, and
gardens, with their appurtenances, in that parish, which were the
jointure of his wife Agnes (who was the daughter of William Buke) to
John Kirton and the said Robert Whitehead, to the use of his eldest son
John, and the heirs male of his body; failing which, to the use of his
son Thomas, and the heirs male of his body; failing which, to the use of
his son Richard, and the heirs male of his body; failing which, to the
use of John Rawson, son of his brother Nicholas Rawson, and the heirs
male of his body; failing which, to the use of Walter, second son of the
said Nicholas, and the heirs male of his body; failing which, to the use
of his brother Averey Rawson, and the heirs male of his body
The Essex Record Office holds records of transactions involving Avery dated
4 July 1493 (Essex
Record Office D/DL T1/528), 14 July 1509 (Essex
Record Office D/DL T1/588), 22 July 1509 (Essex
Record Office D/DL T1/589), 23 March 1510/11 (Essex
Record Office D/DL T1/595) and Easter 1513 (Essex
Record Office D/DL T1/598) in which the Manor of Aveley is described
as "Manor of Aveley,100 acres land, 40 acres meadow, 160 acres pasture, 211
acres marsh, and £10 rent in Aveley, Wennington, Purfleet, Rainham,
Ockendon, Stifford, and West Thurrock."
The history and antiquities of the county of Essex
vol 1 p78 (Philip Morant, 1763)
ALVELEY.
Alured Rawson, citizen of London; and merchant of the
Staple at Calais, was lord of this maner in 1509.—Nicolas Rawson,
his son, left one daughter and heir, named Anne, who was married to
Sir Michael Stanhope; ancestor of the Lord Chesterfield.
He was involved in the unhappy fate of Edward Duke of Somerset, the
Protector; who had married his sister. Anne, his widow, long survived
him, to the great advantage of the Stanhope family, for she took very
great care of her childrens education and fortune.
- Avery was admitted to the
Mercer's Company by patrimony in 1488 (Records
of the London Livery Companies Online). This admission usually
occurred when the new member reached the age of 21 (see City of London Livery Companies' Commission
vol 1 p69n (1884)) indicating Avery's birth in 1467.
- Avery is mentioned as
"my son" in the wills of both his father Richard Rawson, dated 8 October
1483, held at The
National Archives PROB 11/7/230, and his mother Isabell Rawson,
dated 1 September 1497, held at The
National Archives PROB 11/11/70
- Essex
Record Office D/DL T1/589 is a record of a transaction, dated 22
July 1509, in which "The said John Barett paid, at the request of the
vendors, the sum of 100 marks to Averey [Alfred] Rawson, citizen and
mercer of London and merchant of the Staple of Calais, in dischange of a
debt owing to him by Rich.Cely."
Christopher Rawson
|
|
Closeup of Christopher Rawson from brass
memorial to Christopher and his wives, in Allhallows Barking,
London
|
 |
 |
|
Closeups of Margaret and Agnes Rawson
(which is which is unclear) from brass memorial to Christopher and
his wives, in Allhallows Barking, London
|
1472
Richard Rawson
Isabell
Crafford
Margaret
Margaret was buried in St Olaves, Hart Street, London.
Agnes Buck
Agnes was the daughter of John Buck, tailor (scissor), and freeman of the
city of London. In the post-mortem
inquisition for her father on 9 July 1532, she is described as "Agnes, late wife of Christopher
Rawson, daughter of the said William
Buck."
(unknown to which mother)
- John Rawson
- Thomas Rawson
- Richard Rawson
- Margaret Rawson
- Catherine Rawson
Mercer and Merchant
of the Staple at Calais.
Christopher was admitted by patrimony to the Mercers' Company in 1493 (Records
of the London Livery Companies Online) and was Junior Warden of that
company by 1516.
Transactions of the London and Middlesex
Archaeological Society vol 2 pp249-50 (1864)
MEMORIALS OF
THE PRINCIPAL PERSONS INTERRED IN THE CHURCH
OF ALLHALLOWS BARKING.
BY THE LATE GEORGE RICHARD CORNER, ESQ. F.S.A. EDITED BY JOHN
GOUGH NICHOLS, ESQ. F.S.A.
[Communicated to the Meeting held at that Church,
April 28, 1862.]
...
CHRISTOPHER
RAWSON, 1518.
Christopher Rawson, citizen and Mercer of London, was third son
of Richard Rawson, citizen and Mercer of London, Alderman of Farringdon
Without, and Sheriff in 1476, descended from an ancient family at
Fryston near Pontefract, Yorkshire. Christopher was admitted to the
freedom of the Mercers’ company, by patrimony, in 1493, and he became
junior warden of that company in 1516. He was also a Merchant of the
Staple of Calais. By his will, dated 30th September, 1518, he devised
his wharf and houses called Old Wool Quay in the parish of Allhallows
Barking of London, which Robert Whitehead held to farm, and all other
his messuages, tenements, and gardens, with their appurtenances, in that
parish, which were the jointure of his wife Agnes (who was the daughter
of William Buke) to John Kirton and the said Robert Whitehead, to the
use of his eldest son John, and the heirs male of his body; failing
which, to the use of his son Thomas, and the heirs male of his body;
failing which, to the use of his son Richard, and the heirs male of his
body; failing which, to the use of John Rawson, son of his brother
Nicholas Rawson, and the heirs male of his body; failing which, to the
use of Walter, second son of the said Nicholas, and the heirs male of
his body; failing which, to the use of his brother Averey Rawson, and
the heirs male of his body; failing which to the use of his own
daughters, Margaret and Catherine, and their heirs. And he directed an
obit to be kept in the parish church of St. Mary Magdalen, Milk Street,
as he had been used to keep it, at the tomb of his father and mother,
for their souls, his own soul, and the souls of his two wives, Margaret
and Agnes, &c.; and in event of the decease of his daughters without
issue, the said hereditaments were to go to found a chantry in the
chapel of St. Anne, in the church of Allhallows Barking, for his own
soul and the souls of his wives and children &c.
His eldest brother, Avery, was of Aveley, Essex, and had one son,
Nicholas, who married Beatrix, daughter of Sir Philip Cooke, knt. of
Gidea Hall, Essex, and died in 20 Hen. VIII. leaving a son, Walter, who
died without issue, and three daughters, one of whom, Anne, married Sir
Michael Stanhope, brother-in-law of the Protector Somerset, and had a
large family by him, from whom are descended the Earls of Chesterfield,
Harrington, and Stanhope.
Another brother of Christopher Rawson was Sir John Rawson, knight
of Rhodes and of St. John of Jerusalem, Prior of Kilmainham, Privy
Councillor and Lord Treasurer of Ireland, created Lord Clontarf in 1541.
And he had also another brother, Richard Rawson, D. D. rector of the
adjoining parish of St. Olave’s Hart Street, archdeacon of Essex,
chaplain and almoner to King Henry the Eighth, and canon of Windsor, who
died in 1543, and was buried in St. George’s Chapel at Windsor.
The daughters of Christopher became co-heiresses. Margaret was
wife, first of Henry Goodricke, an eminent lawyer of his time, from whom
descended the Goodrickes, baronets of Ribstone, Yorkshire. He was
brother of Thomas Goodricke, Bishop of Ely and Lord Chancellor, temp.
Hen. VIII. Catherine was wife of Oliver Richardson.
The monumental brasses of Christopher Rawson and his two wives
still remain in the church. They are described in Mr. Maskell’s Collections,
at p. 46.
Christopher received a legacy of £200 in the will of his father, dated 8
October 1483.
Testamenta Eboracensia vol 4 pp130n-1
(1869)
Oct. 8, 1483.
Richard Rawson, mercer, citizen and alderman of London. ... Wife
Isabell. Son Averey cc li. Sons Chr., John, and Richard, and daughters
Eliz. and Alice, each cc li.
He is also named in the will of his mother, Isabell, dated 1 September 1497.
Testamenta Eboracensia vol 4 pp130-1 (1869)
Sept. 1,
1497. Isabell Rawson of London, widow. ... Alverey Rawson, myne
eldest sonne, c. li. To Isabelle his dou., my god doughter, a cheyne of
goold with J.H.C. hanging thereby. To my son Chr. Rawson j dosin of
sponis of silver wt knoppis gilt. To John Rawson, knight of
the Rhodes, my sonne, a stonding cup with a cover of silver gilt, a
leyer of burall garnisshed with silver and gilt, and xx li. To Richard
Rawson, my sonne, atte Bononye, xx li. Son Nich. Rawson xx li. Dau. Anne
Salle wid. c li. Dau. Eliz. wife of John Foxe, mercer, xx li. Dau Alice
xx li.
Christopher is remembered in the will of his sister Alice (Rawson) Darold,
dated 9 September 1514.
Essex Institute Historical Collections vol 41
pp282 (1905)
To my brother Christopher a silver spoon.
The Essex Record Office holds records of transactions involving Christopher
dated 4 July 1493 (Essex
Record Office D/DL T1/528), 12 July 1509 (Essex
Record Office D/DL T1/586), 14 July 1509 (Essex
Record Office D/DL T1/588), and Easter 1513 (Essex
Record Office D/DL T1/598).
2 October 1518
|
|
Brass memorial to Christopher Rawson,
1518, and his wives, Margaret and Agnes, in Allhallows Barking,
London
|
in the south aisle of the Lady
Chapel at Allhallows Barking, London England
Berkyngechirche
Juxta Turrim pp46-8 (Joseph Maskell, 1864)
Rawson,
brass, 1518. A little to the west of Rusche’s memorial is a
brass consisting of three figures on a broad slab, inscribed—“*
* * * Xpher Rawson late mercer Lond. and Mercht
of the Staple at Calais which deceased the Second day of October MDXVIII,
and Margaret and Agnes his wyves, which Agnes dyed the * *
* * * * * * ”
Here. as in the previous specimen, the invocation has been
obliterated, probably by the Puritan iconoclasts in 1644. The brass
contains three figures of equal length,—nineteen inches,—which rest on a
broad plate of two feet containing the inscription. At best this is but
a poor example and has been shamefully handled in relaying. The central
figure is the merchant, represented in a sumptuous tunic bordered with
fur. The cuffs are large and hang down. The gypciere is half hidden by
the dress, as if fastened to the inner garment. A waistcoat distinctly
appears in the upper part of the breast. The hair is long, and out of
the mouth issues a scroll inscribed “Libera nos.” Similar scrolls are
placed above each effigy, with the device of a small animal, nearly
obliterated, between each word. One is a rabbit, the others are
indistinguishable. The feet rest on a cushion, the shoes are large and
clumsy. The dress of both females is similar; it is close-fitting and
scanty, tightly girdled at the waist; the scarf much ornamented and with
one end hanging down to the feet. The sleeves are small and tight, they
have cuffs of fur or miniver, and the hands are clasped. The head-dress
is angular in shape, with long lappets depending.
Rawson was evidently a citizen of mark, freeman of the ancient
guild of the Mercers.
An interesting account of this family may be found in the Gentleman’s Magazine for May, 1856,
by which it appears that Christopher Rawson was the third son of Richard
Rawson, Citizen and Mercer of London, by Isabella Crawford, his wife.
... Christopher Rawson possessed Old Wool Quay, in Thames Street, by
devise of his mother, and this doubtless gave him a footing in Barking
parish. He was admitted to the freedom of the Mercer’s Company by
patrimony, 1493, and in 1516 was Junior Warden. He died 1518, and by his
Will, dated 30th September in that year, gave the wharf called Old Wool
Quay, to trustees, for the use of his “eldest son John and the heirs
male of his body lawfully begotten; failing which to the use of his son
Thomas, and the heirs male, &c.; fạiling which to the use of his son
Richard, &c.; failing which to the use of John Rawson, his nephew;
failing which to the use of his nephew Walter; failing which to Avery
his brother, and heirs; failing which to his own daughters, Margaret and
Catherine, and their heirs.” He directed “an obit to be kept in the
Church of S. Mary Magdalen, Milk Street, as he had been used to keep it
at the tomb of his father and mother for their souls, and his own soul,
and the souls of his two wives, Margaret and Agnes;” and in the event of
the decease of his daughters without issue, these said hereditaments
were to go to found a “chantry in the Chapel of S. Anne in the Church of
Allhallows Barking, for his own soul, the souls of his wives and
children, &c.”
Survey of London vol 15 part 2 p68 (1934)
THE PARISH OF
ALL HALLOWS BARKING
On floor of south
aisle.
17. CHRISTOPHER RAWSON, mercer of London and merchant of the staple of
Calais, 1518, and two wives, MARGARET and AGNES.
Full-faced effigy of Christopher Rawson standing between the
effigies of his two wives, who are slightly turned so as to face him.
Each figure has a mouth scroll, and above the head of the man is another
semicircular scroll. Below is a foot inscription. The figures are 19½
inches in height, the mouth scrolls 7 x 1 inch, and the semicircular
scroll 7 x 1 inch. (Plate 79.)
Christopher Rawson is represented clean shaven, with long hair,
wearing a doublet, a long fur-lined overgown with wide sleeves edged
with fur, and broad round-toed shoes. Attached to his girdle is a large
pouch. His mouth scroll reads “Justifica nos” with some animal between
the words. In the centre of the stone and above his head is another
semicircular scroll inscribed “O beata Trinitas” with a rose dividing
the words. His two wives are dressed alike in kennel-shaped head-dresses
and close-fitting gowns with fur cuffs and broad girdles with large
buckles and long pendent ends terminating in metal tags. The dexter
wife's scroll, which is slightly mutilated, reads “Libera nos” with a
rabbit between the words, and the sinister wife's “Salva nos” with the
stem of a tree between the words.
Inscription in English, 27 x 4½ inches, four lines, black letter
(the precatory clauses completely defaced):”
- [ . . . ] of xpofer Rawson late m'cer of
London & m'chūnt of the
- staple of Calais which decessid the
second day of October Ano dn̄i
- Mo VcXVIIIo
& M'garet & Agnes his wyves which agnes dved the
- — — day of — — Anno dn̄i MoCCCCC
—— [ . . . ].
He was the son of Richard Rawson,
citizen and mercer, and Isabella (Crawford), who is mentioned in a
transaction in 1491 relating to the old Wool Quay, which she devised to
her son. He belonged to a distinguished family of brothers, among whom
were John, Prior of Kilmainham and later Viscount Clontarf ; Avery, who
settled at Avely in Essex ; and Richard, rector of St. Olave’s, Hart
Street. His father was Sheriff in 1476. Christopher Rawson’s occupation
is referred to in the account of the Custom House in this volume. He
married Agnes, daughter of William Buke, and left full directions for
the execution of this brass in his will, dated 30th September, 1518, and
proved 18th January, 1518-19. He desires to be buried in the chapel of
our blessed Lady set on the south side of the parish church of All
Hallows Barking, “where I am parisshen," and wills that “a marble stone
shalbe ordeyned by myn exrs and laide upon my grave, wt
the ymages of me and my two wyfes and children, and wt an
ymage of the Holy Trinitie, and this scripture, Libera nos, Salva nos,
Sanctifica nos, O beata Trinitas, for which I bequeth XLs.” He also
intended the foundation of a chantry in the chapel of St. Anne in the
church of All Hallows Barking. For the family of Rawson, see G. R.
Corner in Gent. Mag., May,
1856, quoted by Maskcll, p.47.
Relaid in a new slab, 64 x 32 inches.
Transactions of the St. Paul's Ecclesiological Society
vol 4 p68 (1900)
NOTES ON THE
MONUMENTAL BRASSES OF MIDDLESEX.
BY MILL STEPHENSON, F.S.A.
... Of the thirteen examples between 1500 and 1530, the small brass of
Christopher Rawson, mercer and a merchant of the Staple of Calais, 1518,
is selected on account of the interesting details supplied by his will.
The brass is now in the south aisle of All Hallows Barking, and
represents the worthy mercer standing between his two wives; there is an
inscription plate below their feet, and small scrolls proceeding from
their mouths. By his will, dated September 30, 1518, a few days before
his death, and proved on the 18 January following, he directs his body
to be buried “in the chapell of our blessed Lady set on the south- side
of the parish churche of Allhalowen Berkyng in the Towre of London wher
I am parrishen. that is to wit in the wey ledynge oute of the quere. And
I will that a marble stone shal be ordeyned by myn executors and laide
upon my grave, with the ymages of me and my two wyfes and children, and
with an ymage of the Holy Trinitie, and this scripture ‘Libera nos Salva
nos Sanctifica nos O beata Trinitas,’ for which I bequeth xls.” His
directions as to the brass, unless indeed it has been relaid, were not
entirely carried out, as there is no representation of the Trinity nor
any children. His executors may have foreseen the coming storm and
omitted the Trinity; certainly some kind hand obliterated the prayer
clauses in the inscription and saved the memorial from utter
destruction.
The 1633 edition of John Stow's Survey of London has a simpler rendering of
the inscription on Christopher's grave. Perhaps it was simplified in the
extract, or perhaps there was a simpler original and the more complex brass
added later.
A Survey of London p133 (John Stow, 1633)
Now
therefore, to begin at the East end of the Street, on the North side
thereof, is the faire Parish Church, called, Alhallowes
Barking, which standeth in a large, but sometime far large
Cemitery or Church-yard.
... Vpon the ground, somewhat neere to one another, are divers
faire Gravestones, bearing these inscriptions:
... Here lyeth buried the body
of Christopher Rawson, late
Mercer of London, and
Merchant of the Staple at Callis, who
deceased the second day of October, Anno Domini, 1518.
The will of Cristofer Rawson, Mercer
and Merchant of the Staple at Calais of London, dated 30 September 1518 and
proved on 18 January 1518(9), is held at The
National Archives PROB 11/19/188.
An extract of Christopher's will can be found at
Testamenta Eboracensia vol 4 pp131n (1869)
LXVII. THE WILL OF ISABELL RAWSON OF
LONDON, WIDOW.
[Reg. Horne, at Doctors’ Commons.]
Sept. 1, 1497. Isabell Rawson of London, widow. ...
To my son Chr. Rawson* j dosin of sponis
of silver wt knoppis gilt.
...
* Sept.
30, 1518. Christopher Rawson, citizen and mercer of London, and merchant
of the Staple at Calais. “To be bur in the chapell of our blissed Lady
set on the south-side of the parr. churche of Alhalowen Berkyng, in the
Towre of London, where I am parisshen ; that is to wit in the wey
ledynge oute of the quere. And I will that a marble stone shalbe
ordeyned by myn exrs and laide upon my grave, wt
the ymages of me and my two wyfes and children, and wt an
ymage of the Holy Trinitie ; and this scripture, Libera
nos! Salva nos! Sanctifica nos! O beata Trinitas! for the which
I bequeth xl s. Late wife Margt ; wife Agnes ; children John,
Thos., Richard, Margt, and Catherine, each 20l.
when of age or at their marriage ; bror Averey R. and his
dau.; Margt R. my god-dau.; brors Doctor R.; and
Sir John R.; bror Frost and sister his wife ; bror
Fox and sister his wife. Wife exx.” [Pr. Jan. 18,
1518-19.] (Reg. Ayloffe at Doctors’ Commons.)
A different extract in more modern English is at
Essex Institute Historical Collections vol 41
pp282-3 (1905)
ENGLISH NOTES ABOUT EARLY SETTLERS IN NEW ENGLAND
Communicated by Lothrop Withington
...
CHRISTOPHER
RAWSON, citizen and mercer of London, 30 September 1518,
proved 18 January 1518. My body to be buried in the Chapel of our
blessed Lady set on the South side of the parish church of Allhallowen,
Berking in the Tower of London, where I am a parishioner, that is to
wit, in the way leading out of the Choir there, or nighth thereunto, and
a marble stone laid upon my grave with the images of me and my two wifes
and children and with an image of the Holy Trinity, and this scripture Zibera nos salua nos instifica nos O beata
Trinitas. To the church works of the parish church of St.
Olaves, Hart Street, to have my soul and the soul of Margaret, late my
wife, there buried, prayed for. To my wife Agnes. To my children John,
Thomas, Richard, Margaret and Katherine. To my brother Averey Rawson and
my god daughter Margaret Rawson, his daughter. Provision for a mass to
be sung or said in the parish church of Mary Magdalen in Milk Street,
London, at the altar over the tomb of my father and mother. My brother
Dr. Rawson, my brother Sir John Rawson, my brother Frost and my sister
his wife, my brother Fox and my sister his wife.
Ayloffe,
13.
- Christopher was admitted
to the Mercer's Company by patrimony in 1493 (Records
of the London Livery Companies Online). This admission usually
occurred when the new member reached the age of 21 (see City of London Livery Companies' Commission
vol 1 p69n (1884)) indicating Christopher's birth in 1472.
- Christopher is
mentioned as "my son" in the wills of both his father Richard Rawson,
dated 8 October 1483, held at The
National Archives PROB 11/7/230, and his mother Isabell Rawson,
dated 1 September 1497, held at The
National Archives PROB 11/11/70
- Brass memorial
to Christopher Rawson, and his wives, Margaret and Agnes, in Allhallows
Barking, London, an image of which is found in Survey of London vol 15 part 2 plate 79
(1934); Margaret burial from Essex Institute Historical Collections vol
41 pp282-3 (1905)
- Brass memorial
to Christopher Rawson, and his wives, Margaret and Agnes, in Allhallows
Barking, London, an image of which is found in Survey of London vol 15 part 2 plate 79
(1934); Agnes father from William's post-mortem inquisition in Abstracts
of Inquisitiones Post Mortem For the City of London part 1 pp43-60
- Transactions of the London and Middlesex
Archaeological Society vol 2 pp249-50 (1864); The Ancestry of Edward Rawson p8
(Ellery Bicknell Crane, 1887) states that Margaret was the mother of all
five children.although the pedigree on p33
seems to indicate that Agnes was the mother of the children
- Records
of the London Livery Companies Online; Transactions of the London and Middlesex
Archaeological Society vol 2 pp249-50 (1864)
- Survey of London vol 15 part 2 p68
(1934), transcribing the brass memorial to Christopher in Allhallows
Barking; A Survey of London p133 (John Stow,
1633)
- Survey of London vol 15 part 2 p68
(1934), transcribing the brass memorial to Christopher in Allhallows
Barking; A Survey of London p133 (John Stow,
1633)
- Testamenta Eboracensia vol 4 pp131n
(1869); Essex Institute Historical Collections vol
41 pp282-3 (1905)
- Christopher Rawson
Elizabeth (Rawson) Foxe
Richard Rawson
Isabell
Crafford
John Foxe
This marriage had occurred by September 1497 when Elizabeth's mother,
Isabel, named "my daughter the wife of John Foxe". Elizabeth's marriage
portion being held by Richard Rawson's executors was discharged by John Foxe
on 14 July 1499, presumably after the marriage of Elizabeth's sister, Alice.
Calendar of Letter-Books of the City of London: L,
Edward IV-Henry VII pp242-247 (1912)
Folio 239.
Custodia pueror' Ric'i Rawson
Aldermanni.
18 Jan., 3 Henry VII. [A.D. 1487-8], came Henry Brian, Thomas Quadryng,
mercers, Thomas Eyre, John Payntour, grocers, and entered into bond in the
sum of £400 for payment into the Chamber by the said Henry of a like sum
to the use of Elizabeth and Alice, daughters of Richard Rawson, late
mercer and Alderman, when they come of age or marry8.
8 Margin. 11 July, 14 Henry VII. [A.D. 1499], came John Fox,
mercer, who married the above Elizabeth, and Godfrey Darrald, merchant of
the staple of Calais, who married the above Alice, and acknowledged
satisfaction for their wives' patrimony.
John was a mercer, of London. He obtained the freedom of the Mercers'
Company, by servitude to Henry Cantlowe, in 1497 (Records
of the London Livery Companies Online). Since apprenticeship was
typically seven years and entered in to around the age of fifteen, John was
likely born around 1475.
John and Elizabeth had children - the will of Elizabeth's sister Alice
Darold in (The
National Archives PROB 11/17/590) provides a legacy to "each and every
of my sister Foxe's children"
Elizabeth received a legacy of £200 in the will of his father, dated 8
October 1483.
Testamenta Eboracensia vol 4 pp130n-1
(1869)
Oct. 8, 1483. Richard Rawson, mercer, citizen and
alderman of London. ... Wife Isabell. Son Averey cc li. Sons Chr., John,
and Richard, and daughters Eliz. and Alice, each cc li.
Elizabeth, described as "my daughter the wife of John Foxe" is left
£20 in the will of her mother Isabell, dated 1 September 1497.
Essex Institute Historical Collections vol 41
pp279-80 (1905)
ISABELL RAWSON
of London, widow, 1 Septemper 1497, proved 11 October, the same year.
... To Elizabeth my daughter the wife of John Foxe, mercer, in money
twenty pounds and a pair of beads, &c.
John and Elizabeth both receive legacies in the will of Elizabeth's sister
Alice (Rawson) Darold, dated 9 September 1514. John is also named as a
residual legatee and executor.
Essex Institute Historical Collections vol 41
pp282 (1905)
To my brother John Fox a pair of beads of vexilla
gauded with five wounds silver and gilt. To my sister Fox a pair of the
best sheets that I have and all my flax and flaxen yarn ... The residue to
Master Richard Rawson Clerk and Master John Fox my brethren, the which
Richard and John I ordain, constitute and make my true and lawfull
executors.
The will of Elizabeth's brother, Christopher, dated 30 September 1518
mentions "my brother Fox and my sister his wife".
Essex Institute Historical Collections vol 41
pp282-3 (1905)
CHRISTOPHER
RAWSON, citizen and mercer of London, 30 September 1518,
proved 18 January 1518. ... My brother Dr. Rawson, my brother Sir John
Rawson, my brother Frost and my sister his wife, my brother Fox and my
sister his wife.
Isabelle Rawson
Avery Rawson
Isabell is left a bequest in the will of her grandmother, Isabell Rawson,
dated 1 September 1497, held at The
National Archives PROB 11/11/70
Testamenta Eboracensia vol 4 p131 (1869)
Alverey Rawson,
myne eldest sonne, c. li. To Isabelle his dou., my god doughter, a
cheyne of goold with J.H.C. hanging thereby.
A different extract in more modern English is at
Essex Institute Historical Collections vol 41
p280 (1905)
To Avery Rawson, mine eldest son one hundred
pounds sterling and to Isabell his daughter, my god daughter, a chain of
gold, &c.
John Rawson
1471
Richard Rawson
Isabell
Crafford
Mercer
John was admitted by patrimony to the Mercers' Company in 1492 (Records
of the London Livery Companies Online), but did not remain a mercer
for long. By 1497 he had joined the order of Knights
of Saint John, then established at the island of Rhodes (His mother's
will, dated 1 September 1497, names him as a "knight of the Rhodes". In 1511
he was appointed prior of Kilmainham,
an office which carried with it the headship of the order in Ireland and a
seat in the Irish house of peers; at the same time he was sworn of the Irish
privy council. In 1517 he was Lord-Treasurer of Ireland, and as Prior of
Kilmainham he was a member of the Irish House of Peers. The order of St
John's bastion on the island of Rhodes
was attacked by the Sultan Solyman in 1522 and "the imperative summons
of the Grand Master to all the Knights in every country, obliged Sir John
Rawson to repair to Rhodes to aid in its defence; and we find his name at
the head of the list of Knights of Saint John, of the English tongue, who
were reviewed by the Grand Master, Villiers de l’Isle Adam, in preparation
for the defence of the island; and we may fairly conclude that he was
present, and took part in the heroic defence of Rhodes in the year 1522, by
600 Knights, and a very limited number of military retainers, when after
sustaining a siege of six months, by 200,000 Turks, the island was abandoned
by the Knights." This list of English knights at Rhodes in 1522 can be found
at A History of the Knights of Malta p345
(Whitworth Porter, 1883). John returned to Ireland at least by 1524 and took
up his appointment as treasurer again. In 1527, John Rawson was appointed as
turcopilier of the Knights of St John, but within a year exchanged this
position with Sir John Babington who had been appointed Grand Prior of
Ireland. In 1541, King Henry VII resolved to dissolve the order of St. John
and after prolonged negotiations Rawson surrendered the priory Kilmainham,
and received in return a pension of five hundred marks, and on 22 Nov. 1541
was created Viscount Clontarff for life.
The Gentleman's Magazine August 1856 vol 201
pp179-185
MEMOIR OF SIR JOHN RAWSON,
KNIGHT OF RHODES, PRIOR
OF KILMAINHAM, AND VISCOUNT CLONTARFF.
SIR JOHN RAWSON was
descended from an ancient family, seated at Water Fryston, in the West
Riding of Yorkshire,—a family which, if the tradition be correct, that
their Saxon name was Ravenchild, has been located in the valley of the
Aire from before the Norman Conquest; as it appears from Domesday Book
that “Ravenchil” held three carucates of land in Shipley: and it is a
singular coincidence that William Rawson of Bradford (as stated in the
visitation of 1666) married Agnes, daughter and heir of William
Gascoigne, Esq., and thus acquired the manor and estate of Shipley,
about the middle of the sixteenth century. But Mr. Hunter, in his
history of the Deanery of Doncaster, says the origin of the name of
Rawson is Ralphson, filius Radulphi.
The earliest authentic pedigree of the family is that of the
Rawsons of Fryston, from the visitations of Yorkshire in 1563, 1584,
1585, and 1612. It begins with Robert Rawson of Fryston, who lived tempore Richard II., and married
Agnes, daughter of Thomas Mares, by whom he had a son, Richard Rawson,
of Fryston, who married Cicely, daughter of Paulden, or Baldein. Their
son, James Rawson, of Fryston, appears (by the pedigree) to have had
issue by his wife Mary, daughter of John More, of Whitkirk, Henry
Rawson, of Bessacar Grange, whose will, dated May 12, 1500, is referred
to by Mr. Hunter: he therein mentions his brothers, Avery and
Christopher, merchants in London; but I am inclined to think there must
be an error in the pedigree, in making this Henry Rawson, of Bessacar,
the son of James, for Averey and Christopher Rawson were certainly sons
of Richard Rawson, citizen and mercer of London, by Isabella Craford his
wife, as appears from the wills of both father and mother in the
Prerogative Office. Richard Rawson who was probably a brother of James
Rawson, of Fryston, was elected alderman of the ward of Farringdon
without, London, in 1475, 16th Edward IV. In the following year he was
sheriff of London, and in 1478, and again in 1483, he was senior warden
of the Mercers’ Company, but he died in the latter year, and was buried
at St. Mary Magdalen’s, Old Fish-street, where also his wife was
interred. in A.D. 1497. In her will, dated September 1,
1497, she mentions her son, John Rawson, a knight of Rhodes, to whom, as
well as to her sons Averey, Christopher, Richard, and Nicholas, she gave
(to each) a dozen of silver spoons with knoppes.
John Rawson, son of Richard Rawson, mercer, (the alderman and
sheriff.) was admitted to the freedom of the Mercers’ Company in 1492;
but (perhaps during a voyage to the Mediterranean), he had joined the
order of Knights of Saint John, then established at the island of
Rhodes, previously to 1497.
In 1511 he was appointed Prior of Kilmainham, near Dublin, and by
command of King Henry VIII. he was made one of the Privy Council of that
kingdom.
In the king's letter, dated June 16, 1512, is the following
recital:
“That Sir John Rawson being sorely visited by sickness did enter
by his proctors into the said Priory, yet the Treasurer &c. by a
jury have found the said Prior to be absent without the Kings leave. Now
the King commands an Amoveas manum,
and that the said Sir John may enter peaceably therein, and also that he
be admitted of the Privy Council.”
In 1517 he was Lord-Treasurer of Ireland, and as Prior of
Kilmainham he was a member of the Irish House of Peers.
The State Papers of the time of Henry VIII. (vols. ii. and iii.)
contain several letters from the Lord-Lieutenant, the Lord-Deputy and
Council of Ireland, to the King, and to Cardinal Wolsey, from August 25,
1520, to the end of February, 1522, bearing the signature of John
Rawson, Prior of Kilmainham, as one of the Council: amongst them is a
letter from Lord Surrey to Wolsey, dated December 16, 1520, in which he
says:—
“And according to your commandment, I have spoken with the Priour
at Kylmanon, and have caused him to wright to your grace, as he seyth
the trouth is in those causes your grace wrote to me off.”
There is also a letter from Rawson to Wolsey, dated March 6,
1522, as follows:—
“Most Reverend Fadre in God, in my moste humylly maner, I
recommend me to your grace; and moste affectuously thankyng your seid
grace, for your great goodnes shewid unto me many wais, and specially
nowe lately at the being of my Lord of Surraye with your grace; by whom
I understand your graciouse and favorable mynde to me, your poore
bedisman, in movying the Kynges moste Graciouse Highnes to assume me,
though I be not worthy, to the office of Thesaurershipp of his Excheker
here; wherein I shall endeavour me with true and diligent mynde,
according to my bondyn dewty, that your grace, god willing, shall not be
discontent preferring me to that rome.
“Farthermore, it maye please your grace to be avertizid; how thre
yeres past, by the favir and mene of your seid grace, I obteyned my
licens of absentie of the Kynges Highness from this his land of Ireland,
I, then intending and preparing me to have gonne to the service of my
religion at the Rodes, was for dyverse causes, fayne, and in manner
ayenst my will, to graunte and lett out certyene my fermys and tithis to
the Erle of Kyldare, during his liff naturall; by reason of whiche
graunte sense it pleasid the Kynges Hignes and your grace to revoke my
seid licens, and that I should retourne ayen hethir, at that tyme with
my good Lord of Surray, his grace’s Lieutenant here, hath byn mych to my
hynderans, and shal be for the tyme of my here abode, so that I shall
not be so able to do the Kynges Highnes and your grace such service as
my mynde and hertte is to do. In wich cause and other coneernynge me it
may please your grace to geve ferme credens to my seid Lord of Surraye
and I shall continually, according to my dewtie, pray for the prosperous
astate of your grace, long to endure, to the pleasure of God, and defens
and mayntenaunce of his Church. At Kilman the 6th day of Marche.
“Your Graces
bedysman
“J
Rawson Po
“Superscribed—
“To the most Reverend Fadre in God, my Lord Cardynal of Yorke,
Legate de latere, and Chanceler of Yngland.”
The danger to which Rhodes and the order of Saint John of
Jerusalem was then exposed, by the impending attack on the island by the
Sultan Solyman, with an overwhelming force, and the imperative summons
of the Grand Master to all the Knights in every country, obliged Sir
John Rawson to repair to Rhodes to aid in its defence; and we find his
name at the head of the list of Knights of Saint John, of the English
tongue, who were reviewed by the Grand Master, Villiers de l’Isle Adam,
in preparation for the defence of the island; and we may fairly conclude
that he was present, and took part in the heroic defence of Rhodes in
the year 1522, by 600 Knights, and a very limited number of military
retainers, when after sustaining a siege of six months, by 200,000
Turks, the island was abandoned by the Knights.
In 1524 Sir John Rawson was again in Ireland, as his signature is
annexed to a deed of accord (among the State Papers) between the Earls
of Ormond and Kildare, dated July 28, in that year.
In 1525 the Grand Master visited England, and was well received
by Henry VIII., “Who,” says L’Abbé de Vertot, “desired the Grand Master
to confer the Grand Priory of Ireland upon the Turcopilier, brother John
Rawson by name, who had been very serviceable to that prince in the
government of that island, and whose gentle administration had been very
instrumental in polishing and civilizing its inhabitants. The Grand
Master, in order to shew his complaisance to the King, engaged Sir John
Babington to resign the Priory of Ireland to Rawson, who, by way of
exchange, made a resignation to him of the Priory of Dinemor and the
dignity of Turcopilier; the Grand Master brought them likewise to a
further agreement, that if Babington should come to be Grand Prior of
England, he should be obliged to pay Rawson a pension of 1,800 livres.
The King, pleased at the Grand Master’s readiness to do what he had
required of him, confirmed all the privileges of the order, and sent the
Grand Master a bason and cup of massy gold, set with precious stones.”
It would appear by the foregoing extract from De Vertot that Sir
John Rawson was Turcopilier in 1525, but Sir William Weston was
Turcopilier till January 23, 1527, when he became Prior of England, and
was succeeded in the Priory of Ireland by Sir John Babington, and in the
Turcopiliership by Sir John Rawson.
The office of Turcopilier was one peculiar to the English tongue
in the order; he was the conventual bailiff, and commander of the
cavalry of the order, and of the guards stationed in the court. It was
the most important office in the English tongue, in the order, and in
exchanging it for that of the Grand Prior of Ireland, Sir John Rawson
sacrificed dignity to other considerations; perhaps a desire to continue
his services, which had been so useful in the government of Ireland,
influenced him to make that sacrifice.
He afterwards rejoined the Grand Master in Italy, as his name
appears on the minutes of a council of the order, on June 3, 1527, as
Prior of Ireland.
In October, 1528, he went to Ireland with a commission,
instructions, and letters from the King to the Earl of Ossory, then
engaged in invading the Earl of Desmond’s country; and during that visit
the Lord-Deputy of Ireland was entertained by the Priors of Kilmainham,
Christchurch, and All Saints, with the exhibition, at Christchurch, of
stage plays, on Scripture subjects. He returned almost immediately to
England, as appears by a letter from the Earl of Ossory to Cardinal
Wolsey, dated October 14, 1528; and Rawson was then Under-Treasurer of
Ireland, as appears by the instructions from the King to Sir William
Skeffington, Lord-Deputy, to pay the proceeds of a subsidy and of all
other the King’s revenues and profits in that land to the Priour of
Kilmaynam, Under-Treasurer there.
In 1530, and until July, 1532, he was Lord-Treasurer of Ireland,
but I do not find any notices of his presence there until 1533, when he
was in Ireland, as the “instructions by the Kings counsaile in Ireland
to John Alen Maister of the Rolls there, for the weale and reformation
of the said lande to some good order,” are signed by him.
In 1538 he came to England, but being unable to travel in
consequence of sickness, he wrote the following letter to the King, from
Saint David’s, with which he sent forward his brother, Richard Rawson,
D.D., who was then Archdeacon of Essex and Canon of Windsor:—
“Aftyr my boundyn dewte. Hyt may please your excellent Hyghtnes
to be advertysyd, how the 13 day of the last monethe, the Lord Jamys
Buttelar, the Bysshop of Waterford, the Mayr of the same and I, dyd
sartyffy your Hyghtnes, how it was reaportyd at your sivity of
Waterford, that a Chepelayn of the Imperatars was arryved in the West
parts of your Gracys land of Ireland, at a port cauled the Dangyll; of
whose besenes at that tyme, we culd have no farther knowledge; and
sythyns the Erle of Osserrie being at Waterford, had then more serteyn
knowledge from Lymeryke, by on letter to hym sent from thens, of whiche
lykewise hys lordshyp and I dyd sertiffy your hightnes, and dyd send the
same to Lymeryke, inclosyd in owrse of the 25th day of the laste
monethe.
“Farthermore, it may please your Hyghtnes to be advertysyed how
the laste day of July serteyn knowlege was brought to your Gracys sivity
of Waterford, that the Archbushop of Dublyn, being in shyppc to departe
towards Ingland, Tolmas, son to Erle of Kylldare causyd hym to be taken
and brought before hym, and there in hys syght, by hys cummaundement was
cruelly and shamefully murderyd, and other dyverse of hys chapelayns and
servantes that were in hys cumpanye. Whiche tiranny, withowte marse,
causythe the pepyll myche more to fere, and ys gretly dowtyd that he
woll do what he can to subdeu and dystroy your Gracy’s Inglysche
subjectes, in faute of ayde and deffens; for syche as were therunto
apoynted dyd lytyll good. He hath allso aluryd Oconnor unto hym; and all
other Irichemen that he can get be in his ayde, burnyng and distroying
your graces Inglyche subjectes. And in as myche as ther was no knowlege
of the arivall of Syr Wyllyam Skevyngton, namyd your Gracy’s Dcputye, I
shoyd to the Mayr of your Grace’s sivity of Waterford, that I wold
departe into Ingland or Walys, as wynd and wethyr wold serve, to sertyfy
your Hyghtnes as I knewe and harde; and aryvid here at Seynt Davis, in
Walys, the 6 day herof, and being moche dezezyd with the palsey, and may
not well indure to ryde, my brother Archdiacon, your Gracys Chapelyn who
hath continually ben thys halffe yere in my compane, reparythe now unto
your Hightnes with dylygens, who can informe your grasse as he hathe
sene and harde in Ireland, to whome itt may plese your Hightnes to geve
credens; and thus the blessyd Trinyte presarve your most exselent
Majestie in prosperite with victory of all your adversarys. Writton att
Seynt Davis in Walys, the 7 day of Auguste, your Grasse faythefull and
humyle subject.
“J. Rawson, Prior
of Kyllemayna.”
“Superscribed—To the Kyng Hys most noble Grasse.”
Sir John Rawson returned again to Ireland, and for several years
took an active part in the Council. The letters from the Council to the
King and his minister Cromwell, from 1535 to 1542, are frequently signed
by him.
On May 24, 1535, Thomas Agard wrote to Cromwell:—
“Sir, I beseche your Maisterschipe to be good to the Priore of
Kylmaynam. Undowted he is and ever schall prove hymselphe an honest man,
as I trust it schall by the holl Inglysehe Councell here be reported.
one letter from your Maisterschipe to hym were more comforthe than £500
of Money. He desires your Maisterschipe to take of his Gyfte 20 markes
yerly, the which he will sende to your Maisterschipe, iff he durste be
soo bold, by me at my returne, I besche your Maisterschipe of your mynde
in this behalf.”
In August, 1535, he was present at the yielding of the castle of
Old Rosse by Cahir McCarthy. The letter from the Council to
the king (signed by Rawson) is dated Aug. 27, “from the camp of your
hooste.”
In September of the same year he was recommended by Brabazon to
Cromwell to be Chancellor of Ireland. Sept. 10, Brabazon says:—
“My Lord Chancelour of Ireland, who is now with your Maistership
by the Kynges commande, as I thynk, is not mete to be the Kynges
Chauncelor here, and in Ireland is none so mete for that office for the
Kinge’s honor as is the Lord of Kilmenem, After whoez deth, be myne
assent, shuld never be Lord ther more but the King.”
April 26, 1538, Matthew King writes to Cromwell:—“My Good Lord,
As yet I have done nothing with the Priour of Kilmaynam, but I trust I
shall do shortly.” This perhaps alludes to overtures made to him for the
surrender of the Priory.
He is mentioned in a letter from Brown, Archbishop of Dublin, to
Cromwell, dated May 20, 1528, complaining of the Lord-Deputy having set
at liberty,—
“Spyte of my berde, yea and to my greate rebuke, one Humfrey, a
Prebendary of St. Patricke's, whom I had committed to Ward, until I knew
ferder the Kynges pleasour yn correcting of soche obstinate and sturdie
papistes; . . . . I think the symplest holy Water Clerke ys better
estemed than I am, I beseeche your Lordship, yn the waye of charitie,
other cause mye authorytie to take effect, or els lett me returne home
agayne unto the Cloyster. . . . . . . . . . . . When that I was att the
worst I was yn better case than I am now, what wyth my Lord Deputi, the
Bishop of Methe, and the pecuniose Prior of Kilmaynam,”
On Nov. 6, 1538, the Archbishop brought a specific charge against
the Prior of Kilmainham, in a letter to Cromwell, by his servant:—
“This berer my poor Servante is he which the Lorde of Kilmaynam
kepte 19 wekes in the Castell of Dublin, for howe ponderous a matter if
it shall please your Lordship to examine hym, I doubte not but he will
relate you of the whole truth.”
Sept. 12, 1540, Sir Anthony St. Leger, Lord-Deputy of Ireland,
wrote to King Henry VIII. from Kilmainham:—
“Further, pleace yt your Majestie according to your high
comaundement, I at my repare to thees partes moved the Lorde Kilmaynam,
Lord of Saincte Johns her, concernyng the surrender of his name and
landes, and how good and graciouse your Majestie is to hym, assignyng
unto hym for terme of his lif fyve hundreth markes by the yere, The
saide Lorde Kilmaynam is not onlie gladd and willing to obey your saide
commaundement and pleasure, but also desiered me to rendre unto your
excellent Majestie his moost humble thankes for your saide goodnes
towardes him; and also, he, perceiving your saide pleasur, hath not only
geven to me, your poore servaunte, certeyne implementes very necessarie
for the house ther, with corne, hay and other thinges whereof I had
grete nede, but also hath caused the principall house ther to be well
and substaneyally repayred in all places nedefull, whiche assuredly is a
goodly house, and grete piety that yt shuld decaye. And for as moche as
by the reporte of the most parte of the Counsell her, the saide Lorde
Kilmaynam hathe for the longe tyme of his aboode here, ben the person,
whiche, next your Majesties Deputie, hath alwayes kept the best house
and Englishe sort, and at tymes, when straungers of other countreys hath
repared hither, fested and intertayned theym to your Heightnes honour;
and also for that yt is thought by thoes of your Englishe Councellours
here that it shall be a greate lack to mysse hym out of Counsell, and
also out of the Parliament (when any shal be) as well for his honestie
as for his longe experience; they have all desiered me to write unto
your moost excellent Majestie in favours of the saide Lord Kilmaynam,
that for a mochc as your Majestie hath assigned hym so honorable
pension, and that he entendeth here to remayne, for terme of his lif,
that your Magestie wolde be so good and graciouse to geve hym the name
of honour of Vicounte of Clontaff, which is a place wher he entendeth,
with your Magesties favour, to make his abode; and to be a Lorde of
Parliament, and of your Counsell; assignyng to hym suche annuyte with
the saide name of honour, as shall stande with your Heighnes pleasur.
Wherefor in accomplishement of their saide requestes, I moost humbly
beseche your Magestie, to be goode unto hym in this their humble suetes
and myne, The man is very aged, and not like to Charge your Magestie
very longe.”
The Council also wrote to the King, at the same time, to the same
effect:—
“ . . . . . . Fynally, we humbly beseche your highnes to be good
and gracyous Lorde to Sir John Rawson, Knyght, Lorde of Saynte John’s in
Irelande, whoo undoubtedly hathe ben a substancyall servaunte and
Counsellor to your Grace, and a good buylder, and keper of greate
hospitalyte to all your Graces Deputies, Counsaillours and Straungers;
that upon his surrendre, being yet a necessary servaunte for your
Highnes, to remayne here for your Graces Affaires, he may be assured of
his pencyon in this lande, and contynue of your Graces Counsaill, and be
created a Lorde of Parlyament, lyke as we have made motyon to your
Highnes Deputie, to wryte to your Magestie in his favours in this
behalfe.”
The King acceded to the recommendation of the Lord-Deputy and
Council, in a letter to St. Leger, dated Sept. 26, 1540:—
“ . . . . . . Thirde, Touching the Prior of Kilmaynam we take
your sute for him in good parte and be right well contented that he
shall both continue in our Counsaill there, like as our pleasure is you
shall soo use him, with no lesse preeminence thenne he hath had in the
same, and also that he shalbe advanced to thonour of the Visconte of
Clontaff, with the annuitie of tenne poundes, the bill whereof being
there conceyved in due forme, and by you sent hether unto us, we shal
signe and remit unto you accordingly, assuring you that we take all his
proceedings by your letters signefied unto us in right thankfull parte.”
This arrangement having been made with the King, Rawson
surrendered the Priory of Kilmainham to him, receiving a grant for 500
marks per annum for his life out of the estates of the hospital; and in
1541 he was created Viscount Clontarff for his life, with a pension of
£10 per annum; which grants were confirmed by an Act of the Irish
Parliament, entitled “An Act for the Securitie of Sir John Rawson’s
pention, and for the creation of hym to be Vicecount Clontaff.”
The following occurs in a letter from the Lord-Deputy and Council
to the King, dated Dec. 7, 1542:—
“Furder, most gratious Lorde, where the Lorde of Clonterffe at
tyme of his beying Lorde Treasorer to your Magestie in this your realme,
disbursed for the furtherance of your Magesties affaires over and above
his receptes, of the somme of £173. 11. 4, as appearith in the foote of
his accomtes, here remaynyng of recorde, and although that the saide
Vicounte of Clontarffe hathe soondry tymes demaunded allowance of the
same, yet for as moche as here hathe been suche erneste affaires for
themployment of your Magesties Revenues here, as the same could not well
be spared, and for that cause, he hathe ben the lesse importune to
demande the same, and now the man being not so well able to lyve as he
hathe ben, and being now in maner impotent and bettered, and his
indebted to your Highnes otherwise, as well for his 20th parte as for
superfluous buyldings and belles bought of the late house of Kylmaynam,
whereof he was ruler, yt may therefore please your Magestie to sende
your most gracious commandement to the Barons of your Exchequer here, to
allowe unto the same Vycounte as moche of his saide surplusage as he ys
indebted to your highnes, whiche ys not so moehe as his saide
surplusage, by the somme of £32, and he is contentid not to demande the
saide reste, but frely to remytt the same to your Highnes proffyte; and
being very sycke, hath instantly desyred us to make his humble petytion
to your Magestie for the furtheraunce of this his suete.”
The last notice of Sir John Rawson which we find in the State
Papers is contained in a letter from St. Leger to King Henry VIII.,
dated August 27, 1542, in which he says:—
“The olde ladie of Ormonde is deceased, and the Lorde, sometyme
of Kilmanam very sicke, I thinke he will hardlie escape, and if he dye,
your Highnes shall save by the same 500 merkes sterling of Pencion.”
Notwithstanding the prediction of his speedy death in 1542, Lord
Clontarff survived till the year 1560, seeing out King Henry VIII., his
son Edward VI., and his daughter Queen Mary; and living into Queen
Elizabeth’s reign. The title, being only for his life, of course became
extinct on his death.
The arms of Sir John Rawson, Prior of Kilmainham, are given by
Gwillim as follows:—
“He beareth two Coats Quarterly, the first is, parted per fess,
undée, sable and azure, a Castle with four towers Argent. The second is,
Or, on a chevron vert, three Ravens heads erased, Argent.
“Ensigned all over with a chief Gules and thereon a Cross of the
third.
“This Coat Armour, thus Marshalled, was borne by the name of
Rawson, Knight of St. John of Jerusalem, and some time Lord Prior of the
late dissolved priory of Kilmainham, near Dublin.”
These arms, which are those of Rawson and Craford (his mother’s
family), quarterly, with the cross of the Order of St. John in chief,
were in one of the windows of Swingfield Church, Kent, but no trace of
them now remains. At Swingfield was a commandery of the Order of St
John, but I have not been able to trace any connection of Sir John
Rawson with that commandery.
Lord Clontarff is said, however, to have left a daughter,
Catherine, who was married to Rowland Whyte, son of Patrick Whyte,
second Baron of the Exchequer in Ireland. Alison, one of the daughters
of Sir Nicholas St. Laurence, Earl of Howth, married, first, John
Netterville of Dowth, Esq., and second, Patrick Whyte of Malaffyn, and
of Flemingstown, Esq., second Baron of the Exchequer, to whom she was
second wife, and had a son, Rowland, who married Catherine, daughter of
Sir John Rawson, Knight of Rhodes, and Prior of Kilmainham, created
Viscount of Clontarff, 33 Henry VIII., for life; and a daughter,
Margaret, wife to Walter Forster, merchant and alderman of Dublin.
March 15, 1528, Sir Rowland Whyte and Sir James Babington were
appointed to the commandery of Swingfield, Kent; but on May 8, in the
same year, they are both said to have been
dead. G. R. C.
Dictionary of National Biography vol 16 p779
(Leslie Stephen, Sir Stephen Lee, 1909)
RAWSON,
JOHN, Viscount CLONTARFF (1470?-1547), born about 1470,
was descended from an ancient family seated at Water Fryston in
Yorkshire; his father, Richard Rawson, was from 1478 to 1483, senior
warden of the Mercers’ Company, and in 1476 served as alderman in
London, subsequently becoming sheriff. His mother, Isabella Craford,
died in 1497, and was buried with her husband at St. Mary Magdalene’s,
Old Fish Street. A brother Richard was chaplain to Henry VIII and
archdeacon of Essex, and died in 1543.
John was the eldest son, and in 1492 was made free of the
Mercers’ Company; before September 1497 he joined the knights of St.
John, whose headquarters were then at Rhodes. In 1510 he was employed on
some mission to Rome connected with the order; on his way he was
entertained in great state at Venice by the doge (Cal.
Venetian State Papers, vol. ii. No. 64). In 1511 he was
appointed prior of Kilmainham, an office which carried with it the
headship of the order in Ireland and a seat in the Irish house of peers;
at the same time he was sworn of the Irish privy council. He also held
the preceptories of Quenington, Gloucestershire, and Swinfield.
In 1517 Rawson was made treasurer of Ireland, but in the
following year was summoned to the defence of Rhodes, then besieged by
the Turks. In 1519 he obtained a license from the king to go abroad for
three years; but apparently he did not leave England, for his license
was revoked, and he was compelled to return to Ireland in July 1520 with
Surrey (Letters and Papers of Henry
VIII, vol. iii. No. 2889). He remained in Ireland until March
1522, and then seems to have made his way to Rhodes, as his name appears
at the head of the list of English knights reviewed there by Villiers de
L’Isle Adam in that year (VERTOT, Hist.
of the Knights of Malta, 1728, vol. i. App. p. 154). Rhodes
surrendered on 20 Dec. and Rawson returned to Ireland, being reappointed
treasurer in the same year. In 1525 he again received a license to
travel abroad for three years, and in June 1527 was with L’Isle Adam at
Corneto in Italy; in the same month he was appointed turcopolier or
commander of the turcopoles or light infantry of the order, an office
which carried with it the headship of the English ‘langue’ and care of
the coast defences of Malta and Rhodes. But in the following year Henry
VIII, who needed Rawson’s services in the administration of Ireland,
secured his reappointment as prior of Kilmainham, and again made him
treasurer of Ireland.
Rawson took an active part in the work of the Irish privy
council; he was ‘an able man and the chief supporter of the government’
(BAGWELL): he maintained an establishment second only to
that of the lord deputy. In 1532 he took part in the proceedings against
Sir William Skeffington [q.v.], and in 1534 was one of the few who
remained loyal during Kildare’s rebellion [see FITZGERALD,
GERALD, ninth EARL OF KILDARE];
during its course his property was plundered by the insurgents and he
was present at the surrender of Rosse Castle. In 1535 Brabazon
recommended him to Cromwell for the lord-chancellorship of Ireland, but
the suggestion was not carried out. In 1540 he was one of those who made
depositions against lord-deputy Grey, who was accused of openly
supporting the Geraldines [see GREY LORD LEONARD].
Meanwhile Henry had resolved to dissolve the order of St. John; after
prolonged negotiations Rawson surrendered the priory Kilmainham, and
received in return a pension of five hundred marks, and on 22 Nov. 1541
was created Viscount Clontarff for life. But his health was broken; in
1538 he was described as old and impotent, and after some years of
illness he died in 1547, when Oswald Massingberd was appointed by the
grand master to succeed him as titular prior of Kilmainham. (WHITWORTH
PORTER, Knights of St.
John, pp. 733-4). The peerages, without giving any authority,
state that he lived till 1560, but no mention of him has been found
during this period, and his age makes it improbable.
Clontarff left some natural children; a daughter Catherine
married Rowland, son of Patrick White, baron of the Irish exchequer, and
the Sir John Rawson who frequently occurs in the Irish records during
Elizabeth’s reign may have been a son. Several of Rawson’s letters to
Wolsey and others are in the state papers.
[State Papers, Henry VIII, passim; Letters and Papers of Henry
VIII, ed. Brewer and Gairdner, passim; Materials for the Hist. of the
Reign of Henry VII (Rolls Ser.), i. 401, 610; Cal. Carew MSS. and Book
of Howth, passim; Lascelles’s Liber Munerum Hib.; Morrin’s Calendar of
Patent Rolls, Ireland; Teatamenta Eboracensia (Surtees Soc.), pt. iv.;
Le Neve’s Fasti Eccl. Angl.; Archdall’s Mon. Hibernicum, 1786, pp.
244-6, 796; Bagwell’s Ireland under the Tudors, vol. i. passim; Abbé
Vertot’s Hist. of the Knights of Malta, 1728, tom. i. App. p. 154;
Whitworth Porter’s Knights of St. John, pp. 345, 727, 733-4; Gent. Mag.
1856, ii. 179-186; Burke’s, Lodge’s, and G.E.C.’s Peerages.]
A. F. P.
|
|
Arms of John Rawson
|
A Display of Heraldrie p260 (John Gwillim,
1611)
He
beareth two Coats quarterly,
the first is parted per Fesse undee
Sable and Azure, a Castle with foure Towers
Argent. The second is Or,
on a Cheueron vert, three Rauens heads errased Argent, the
third as the second, the fourth as the first, ensigned all ouer with a Chiefe Gules, and thereon a Crosse of the third. This Coat-armor
thus marshalled was borne by the name of Rawson
Knight of this Order, and
sometime Lord Prior of the
late dissolued Priory of Kylmaneham, situated neere to the
City of Dublin within the
Realme of Ireland. Such
remunerations as are bestowed vpon militarie
persons secular, are these that follow and their like.
John received a legacy of £200 in the will of his father, dated 8
October 1483.
Testamenta Eboracensia vol 4 pp130n-1
(1869)
Oct. 8, 1483.
Richard Rawson, mercer, citizen and alderman of London. ... Wife
Isabell. Son Averey cc li. Sons Chr., John, and Richard, and daughters
Eliz. and Alice, each cc li.
He received a legacy, and is named as "John Rawson, knight of the Rhodes, my
sonne" in the will of his mother dated 1 September 1497.
Testamenta Eboracensia vol 4 pp130-1 (1869)
Sept. 1,
1497. Isabell Rawson of London, widow. ... To John Rawson, knight
of the Rhodes, my sonne, a stonding cup with a cover of silver gilt, a
leyer of burall garnisshed with silver and gilt, and xx li.
John is remembered in the will of his sister Alice (Rawson) Darold, dated 9
September 1514.
Essex Institute Historical Collections vol 41
pp282 (1905)
To my brother Sir John Rawson, Lord prior of
Kylmayland in Ireland my Cross of gold with three pearls.
He is also named in the will of his brother, Christopher, dated 30 September
1518
Essex Institute Historical Collections vol 41
pp282-3 (1905)
CHRISTOPHER RAWSON,
citizen and mercer of London, 30 September 1518, proved 18 January 1518.
... My brother Dr. Rawson, my brother Sir John Rawson, my brother Frost
and my sister his wife, my brother Fox and my sister his wife.
The Essex Record Office holds records of transactions involving John dated
12 July 1509 (Essex
Record Office D/DL T1/586) and 14 July 1509 (Essex
Record Office D/DL T1/588).
1547
John's successor as Grand Prior of Ireland was appointed by bull of the
Grand-Master John d'Omedes, Malta, on 27 August 1547.
The History of the Knights Hospitallers of St. John of
Jerusalem vol 3 p432 (L'Abbe de Vertot, 1818)
GRAND PRIOR of the
Order of St. John in Ireland.
BROTHER James Herring, deprived of his priory for not going to the
relief of Rhodes, besieged in 1480, and replaced by
Brother Marmaduke Lumley, in 1480.
Brother John Riquitan, in 1527.
Brother John Ransom, died in 1547
Brother Oswald Massinbert.
Dictionary of National Biography vol 16 p779
(Leslie Stephen, Sir Stephen Lee, 1909)
But his health was broken; in 1538 he was
described as old and impotent, and after some years of illness he died in
1547, when Oswald Massingberd was appointed by the grand master to succeed
him as titular prior of Kilmainham. (WHITWORTH PORTER,
Knights of St. John, pp. 733-4).
The peerages, without giving any authority, state that he lived till 1560,
but no mention of him has been found during this period, and his age makes
it improbable.
- John was admitted to the
Mercer's Company by patrimony in 1492 (Records
of the London Livery Companies Online). This admission usually
occurred when the new member reached the age of 21 (see City of London Livery Companies' Commission
vol 1 p69n (1884)) indicating John's birth in 1471.
- John is mentioned as
"my son" in the wills of both his father Richard Rawson, dated 8 October
1483, held at The
National Archives PROB 11/7/230, and his mother Isabell Rawson,
dated 1 September 1497, held at The
National Archives PROB 11/11/70
- The Gentleman's Magazine August 1856 vol
201 p185; Dictionary of National Biography vol 16
p779 (Leslie Stephen, Sir Stephen Lee, 1909)
- The Gentleman's Magazine August 1856 vol
201 p185; Dictionary of National Biography vol 16
p779 (Leslie Stephen, Sir Stephen Lee, 1909)
- The History of the Knights Hospitallers of St.
John of Jerusalem vol 3 p432 (L'Abbe de Vertot, 1818); A History of the Knights of Malta p734
(Whitworth Porter, 1883); Dictionary of National Biography vol 16
p779 (Leslie Stephen, Sir Stephen Lee, 1909)
- John Rawson
Margaret Rawson
Avery Rawson
Margaret is mentioned in the will of her uncle, Christopher Rawson, dated 30
September 1518, held at The
National Archives PROB 11/19/188.
Testamenta Eboracensia vol 4 pp131n (1869)
* Sept.
30, 1518. Christopher Rawson, citizen and mercer of London, and merchant
of the Staple at Calais. “... bror Averey R. and his
dau.; Margt R. my god-dau.;
A different extract in more modern English is at
Essex Institute Historical Collections vol 41
pp282-3 (1905)
CHRISTOPHER RAWSON,
citizen and mercer of London, 30 September 1518, proved 18 January 1518.
... To my brother Averey Rawson and my god daughter Margaret Rawson, his
daughter.
Nicholas Rawson
Richard Rawson
Isabell
Crafford
Nicholas probably studied at
Cambridge University, although the record is conflated with that of his
brother Richard, one of them graduating B.Can.L in 1490-1 This was probably
Nicholas since Richard was studying at the University
of Bologna, Italy, on 5 April 1489. Nicholas then studied at Oxford
University graduating M.A and B.D. in December 1508.
Alumni Cantabrigienses part 1 vol 3 p426
(John Venn, 1924)
RAWSON, NICHOLAS (? RICHARD). B.Can.L.
1490-1. S of Richard, merchant, of London. Studied at Bologna.
Archdeacon of Essex, 1502. Preb. of Lincoln, 1505. Preb. of Sarum. R. of
St Olave, Hart Street, London, 1510-8. Chaplain to Henry VIII. Canon of
Windsor, 1523. One of the canonists and jurists who in the convocation
of 1529 gave opinions as to the King's divorce. Died before Oct. 29,
1543. One of these names (Nicholas), M.A. (Oxford); supp.
B.D. 1508. Admon. (Oxford) Jan 10, 1511. (Cooper,
I.82, where he is identified with Richard.)
Alumni Oxoniensis 1500-1713 vol 3 p1237
(Joseph Foster, 1891)
Rawson, Nicholas, M.A.; B.D. supd. — Dec.
1508; admon. at Oxford (“Magister”) 10 Jan., 1511.
- John Rawson
- Walter Rawson
Clergyman
In 1497, Nicholas was master of the free chapel of St Nicholas in
Gressenhall, Norfolk. He was succeeded in this position in 1503 by Dominick
Civy (An Essay Towards A Topographical History of the County
of Norfolk vol 9 p519 (Francis Blomefield, 1808))
Curiously, Nicholas is not mentioned in the will of his father, dated
8 October 1483 (Testamenta Eboracensia vol 4 pp130n-1) in
which each of his four brothers received a legacy of £200 each. He is
mentioned, however, in the will of his mother dated 1 September 1497,
receiving £20. This will names Nicholas as master of Gryssenhall.
Testamenta Eboracensia vol 4 pp130-1 (1869)
Sept. 1,
1497. Isabell Rawson of London, widow. ... To
the free chapell of S. Nicholas in Gryssenhale in Norfolk, whereof my
sonne Nicholas Rawson is maister, a torche. ... Son Nich. Rawson xx li.
The will of Nicholas's brother, Christopher, dated 30 September 1518, seven
years after Nicholas's death, mentions two sons of Nicholas, John and
Walter.
Transactions of the London and Middlesex
Archaeological Society vol 2 pp249-50 (1864)
Christopher Rawson, citizen and Mercer of London, was third son of
Richard Rawson, citizen and Mercer of London, Alderman of Farringdon
Without, and Sheriff in 1476 ... By his will, dated 30th September, 1518,
he devised his wharf and houses called Old Wool Quay in the parish of
Allhallows Barking of London, which Robert Whitehead held to farm, and all
other his messuages, tenements, and gardens, with their appurtenances, in
that parish, which were the jointure of his wife Agnes (who was the
daughter of William Buke) to John Kirton and the said Robert Whitehead, to
the use of his eldest son John, and the heirs male of his body; failing
which, to the use of his son Thomas, and the heirs male of his body;
failing which, to the use of his son Richard, and the heirs male of his
body; failing which, to the use of John Rawson, son of his brother
Nicholas Rawson, and the heirs male of his body; failing which, to the use
of Walter, second son of the said Nicholas, and the heirs male of his
body;
1511
Administration of Nicholas's estate occurred in Oxford on 10 January 1511.
Counter evidence exists in the will of Nicholas's sister, Alice (Rawson)
Darold, dated 9 September 1514 in which legacies are left both to Richard
and Nicholas. So was the admon. at Oxford (“Magister”) 10 Jan., 1511." a
reference to some other Nicholas Rawson, a reference to some event other
than administration of his will, or did Alice leave a silver spoon to her
deceased brother?
Essex Institute Historical Collections vol 41
pp282 (1905)
To my brother Master Richard Rawson Doctor and
Archdeacon of Essex, my cup of silver and gift that my mother gave me. ...
To my brother Nicholas a silver spoon.
Nicholas Rawson
Avery Rawson
Beatrix
(Cooke) Copley
The history and antiquities of the county of Essex
vol 1 p78 (Philip Morant, 1763)
ALVELEY.
Alured Rawson, citizen of London; and merchant of the
Staple at Calais, was lord of this maner in 1509.—Nicolas Rawson,
his son, left one daughter and heir, named Anne, who was married to
Sir Michael Stanhope; ancestor of the Lord Chesterfield.
He was involved in the unhappy fate of Edward Duke of Somerset, the
Protector; who had married his sister. Anne, his widow, long survived
him, to the great advantage of the Stanhope family, for she took very
great care of her childrens education and fortune.
Transactions of the London and Middlesex
Archaeological Society vol 2 p250 (1864)
His
eldest brother, Avery, was of Aveley, Essex, and had one son, Nicholas,
who married Beatrix, daughter of Sir Philip Cooke, knt. of Gidea Hall,
Essex, and died in 20 Hen. VIII. leaving a son, Walter, who died without
issue, and three daughters, one of whom, Anne, married Sir Michael
Stanhope, brother-in-law of the Protector Somerset, and had a large
family by him, from whom are descended the Earls of Chesterfield,
Harrington, and Stanhope.
1528 - 1529 (20 Henry VIII)
Richard Rawson
Richard was apprenticed to John Olney
of the Mercer's Company in 1447 (Records
of the London Livery Companies Online). Apprenticeships usually
started aged between 12 and 16, putting Richards birth in a rough estimate
span of 1431 to 1435.
Cicely (_____) Rawson
Isabell
Crafford
Mercer, Sheriff and Alderman of
London.
Richard was apprenticed to John Olney of the Mercer's Company in 1447 (Records
of the London Livery Companies Online), becoming a freeman in 1463 (Records
of the London Livery Companies Online). He served as Sheriff of London
from 1476 to 1477, Alderman of various wards in London from 1476 until his
death in 1485, and was elected Senior Warden of the Mercer's Company in
1483.
Calendar of Letter-Books of the City of London: L,
Edward IV-Henry VII pp142-153 (1912)
Folio 122 b.
Eleccio vicecomitum.
The Feast of St. Matthew [21 Sept.], 16 Edward IV. [A. D. 1476], in the
presence of Robert Basset, the Mayor, Humphrey Starky the Recorder, Ralph
Verney, Knt., William Taillour Knt., John Tate, Robert Drope, Humphrey
Hayford, Thomas Stalbroke, Knt., Bartholomew James, Knt., William Heriot,
William Stokker, Knt., Robert Billesdone, John Broun, Thomas Bledlowe,
Edmund Shaa, Thomas Hille, Richard Rawson, Robert Colwiche, and Hugh
Brice, Aldermen, and very many Commoners summoned to the Guildhall for the
election of Sheriffs—William Horne, salter, was elected one of the
Sheriffs of London and Middlesex by the Mayor, and Richard Rawson, mercer,
was elected the other Sheriff by the Commonalty.
The Aldermen of the City of London, Temp. Henry
III.-1908 p154 (Alfred B. Beaven, 1908)
FARRINGDON WARD
WITHOUT
May 17, 1476 [Nominated by the Court] [Sworn same day] Richard Rawson, Mercer .. .. S.
1476-7
[Three nominations (names not given), had been rejected
by the Court]
Removed to Aldersgate, November 8, 1476.
p6
ALDERSGATE WARD.
November 8, 1476 Richard Rawson, Merchant
Taylor . . S. 1476-7
(Sheriff)
From Farringdon Without.
[Nominated: Aldermen Shaa, Robert Gardyner (Goldsmith),
John Barnwell (Fishmonger)]
Removed to Bassishaw, April 29,1482.
p17
BASSISHAW WARD.
April 29, 1482 Richard Rawson, Merchant
Taylor . . (S. 1476-7.)
From Aldersgate.
[Nominated: J. Fenkyll, J. Tate, T. Breteyn]
p225
Richard Rawson, for
Merchant Taylor read Mercer.
The Aldermen of Cripplegate Ward from A.D. 1276 to
A.D. 1900 pp193-4 (John James Baddeley, 1900)
No restriction whatever seems to have been placed upon the removal
of aldermen from one ward to another until the year 1479, when it became
necessary to prevent an abuse of the prerogative, by a custom having grown
up of aldermen very frequently removing from their wards.
A few instances may be mentioned of this abuse : Richard Rawson,
who was elected for Farringdon Ward Without on 17 May, 1476, and removed
to Aldersgate Ward on 8 November of the same year.—Journal
8, fo. 130b, 143b.
In 1485, Richard lent money to the king, Richard
III.
Richard III and London p327 (Rosemary
Horrox, 1983)
Most medieval
kings suffered from what in modern jargon would be called cash-flow
problems, which they met by resorting to loans. Such problems were
naturally most acute at times of extraordinary expenditure, notably in
wartime, but were also a regular part of ordinary royal finance. ... On
the basis of the extant material, the biggest private lender was Edmund
Shaw, whose personal loans totalled £500. Others also contributed. In
April 1485 Richard Rawson lent £54.4.2. A mercer, Rawson had contacts
with the royal household (which he had supplied with cloth in the
previous reign) and with the Exchequer, where the clerk of the pipe,
Nicholas Lathell, acted as .one of his executors. Rawson’s family
connections were with Yorkshire, where his brother Henry (of Bessacar
Grange) held office within the duchy of Lancaster honour of Pontefract.
Such private loans were not, of course, made for no return.
Although interest was theoretically prohibited by the church, it was
normally taken, but concealed. Thus an apparent loan of £100 might
represent an actual loan of, say, £60, with the difference being the
interest.
Richard was evidently also part owner of a tavern, The Greyhound, and some
time in the period 1475-1485 he sued to establish right of way to his
tavern.
List of Early Chancery Proceedings vol 2 p451
(1963)
BUNDLE 66 (1475
to 1480, and 1483 to 1485.))
248 Action brought by Richard Rawson, alderman, William Purches, Robert
Yarom, and John Sutton, wardens of the mistery of the mercery of London,
claiming a right of way through the churchyard from Puddyng lane to a
tavern called 'the Grehound,' their property. Certiorari.
Holinshed's Chronicles of England, Scotland, and
Ireland vol 3 p345 (1808 reprint of 1587 edition)
1476
Also this yeare Richard Rawson one of the shiriffes of London, caused to
be builded one house in the church yard of S. Marie hospitall without
Bishops gate of London, where the maior of that citie and his brethren
the aldermen vse to sit and heare the sermons in the Easter holiedaies,
as in times past appeared by an inscription on the front of the same
house, now by wethering defaced, which I haue read in these words: Praie
for the soules of Richard Rawson late Mercer and alderman of London, and
Isabell his wife, of whose goods this worke was made and founded. Anno
Dom. 1488.]
A
Survey of London p89 (John Stow, 1633)
Honour of
Citizens, and worthinesse of men.
Richard Rawson,
one of the Sheriffes, 1477, gave by Testament large Legacies to the
Prisoners, Hospitals and Lazer-houses. To other poore, to high wayes, to
the water-conduits, besides to poore Maids marriages, 340 pounds, and
his executors to build a large house in the Churchyard of S. Mary
Spittle, wherein the Maior and his brethren do use to sit, and heare the
Sermons in the Easter
holy-dayes.
Notes and Queries 2nd series vol 1 p452
(1856)
Richard
Rawson, citizen and mercer of London, was Alderman of Farringdon extra,
14 Ed. IV., Sheriff of London 1476, died 1483, and was buried at St.
Mary Magdalen, Milk Street. By his will he also gave many charitable and
devotional legacies, including legacies to the church of Friston, and
for repairing the highways in and about Pomfret, Sherburn, Friston, and
Castleforth.
There were three other brothers, viz. Robert, James, and Henry,
and three sisters, Elizabeth, Katherine, and Ellen.
Richard Rawson left by his wife, Isabella Trafford, five sons and
three daughters, viz. Averey, Christopher, John, Richard, Nicholas,
Anne, Elizabeth, and Alice.
September-October 1485, of "the
sweating sickness", in the first outbreak of the disease in England,
which occurred that year.
Chronicles of London p193 (Charles
Lethbridge Kingsford, 1905)
And the
xxvij day of Septembre began the Swetyng Syknesse London, wherof dyed
Thomas Hyll that yer Mayr, for whom was chosen Sir William Stokker,
knyght, which dyed wt in v dayes after of the same dyssease;
than for him was chosyn John Warde, which occupied till the day of newe
eleccion. And this yere dyed of that Syknes, besyde the ij mayrs aboue
rehersed, John Stokker, Thomas Breten, Richard Rawson, Thomas Norland,
Aldermen and many worshipfull comoners; vpon whos sowles, and all
Christen Jhesu haue mercy. Amen!
London and the Kingdom vol 1 pp326-7
(Reginald Robinson Sharpe, 1894)
The
sweating sickness, Sept.-Oct., 1485
A cloud soon overshadowed the rejoicings which followed Henry's
accession. An epidemic hitherto unknown in England, although visitations
of it followed at intervals during this and the succeeding reign, made
its appearance in the city towards the close of September. The “sweating
sickness,” as this deadly pestilence was called, carried off two mayors
and six aldermen within the space of a week —so sudden and fatal was its
attack. Sir Thomas Hille, who was mayor at the time of its first
appearance, fell a victim to it on the 23rd September, and was succeeded
by William Stocker, appointed on the following day. Within four days
Stocker himself was dead. ... Fortunately for the city, the epidemic
departed as suddenly and unexpectedly as it came. By the end of October
it had entirely disappeared, and allowed of Henry's coronation taking
place on the 30th of that month.
Lady Chapel in St Mary Magdelen,
Milk Street, London, England "before the image of our Lady"
The will of Richard Rawson, Mercer and
Alderman of London, dated 8 October 1483 and proved on 22 October 1485, is
held at The
National Archives PROB 11/7/230.
An extract of Richard's will can be found at
Testamenta Eboracensia vol 4 pp130n-1
(1869)
LXVII.
THE WILL OF ISABELL RAWSON OF LONDON, WIDOW.
[Reg. Horne, at Doctors’ Commons.]
Sept. 1, 1497. Isabell Rawson of London, widow. To be bur. near my
late housband, Richard Rawson.*
...
* One of the Rawsons of Fryston, a son of James Rawson of that
place, and brother of Henry Rawson of Bessacar grange, whose will occurs
shortly. He went up to London and realized great wealth. His will is in
Reg. Logge at Doctors’ Commons, 123b.
Oct. 8, 1483. Richard Rawson, mercer, citizen and alderman of London.
“To be bur. in oure Lady chapell, within the par. ch. of S. Mary Magd.
in Milk-strete, befor the ymage of oure Lady. To by some ornament for
the chirch of Friston-by-the-Water in Yorkshire v mark. To by, etc., for
Castelforth chirch, iij li. vj s. viij d. For Shurburn in Elmet chirch x
marks. For the mony of St. John in Pountefriet xl s. For the
chirch of the Blak Freris in Pountefreit xl s. For the brynyng home of a
new pipe to ye condutes of London xx li. To poure maidens
mariages, pour housholders, and poure people at Pountfriet, Sherburn,
Friston, and Castelforth xxvj li. xiij s. iiij d. In amending Ferybrigge
and Castelforth brigge, and high weis in Yorkshire, xx li. To a prest to
sing for me, my far and mor and bror
Thomas at S. M. Magd. for x years, x marks a year. Wife Isabell. Son
Averey cc li. Sons Chr., John, and Richard, and daughters Eliz. and
Alice, each cc li. Bror Robert R. xx li. Brors
James and Henry R., each xx marks. Sisters Eliz. Shaw and Kath.
Rishworth, each xx marks. Sister Elene Aylemer and Richard her son.
Children of brors Robert and Henry. Sister's dau. Joan
Baxter. Sister Eliz. iij li. vj s. viij d. Sister Margt. Fisher iij l.
vj s. viij d.” [Pr. Oct. 22.]
A different extract in more modern English is at
Essex Institute Historical Collections vol 41
pp280-1 (1905)
ENGLISH NOTES ABOUT EARLY SETTLERS IN NEW ENGLAND
Communicated by Lothrop Withington
...
RICHARD
RAWSON, citizen and alderman of London, 8 October 1483,
proved 22 October, the same year. My body to be buried in our Lady
chapel within the parish church of St. Mary Magdalen, in Milk Street,
London, before the image of our Lady. To the same church, whereof I am a
parishioner. To the church of All Hallowen in Honey Lane, London,
whereof I was late a parishioner. To the parish church of St. Andrew of
Triston by the Water in Yorkshire; the parish church of All Hallowen at
Castelforth in Yorkshire; the church of Shurburn in Elmet in Yorkshire;
and the church of the monastery of St. John Evangelist in Pontefract;
and the church of the Blackfriars in Pontefract. To an honest and
virtuous priest to sing for my soul and the souls of my father and
mother and my brother Thomas and all my brethren and sisteren and all
christen souls. To Isabell my wife, Avery my son, Christopher my son,
John my son, Richard my son, Elizabeth my daughter, Alice my daughter
(sundry legacies). The children of my brethren and “sustryn.” To the
amending of high noyous and jeopardous ways and other works of mercy and
charity. To my brother Robert Rawson, my brother James Rawson, my
brother Henry Rawson, my sister Elizabeth Shawe, my sister Katherine
Rishworth, my sister Elene Aylemer and Richard Aylemer, her son, my
brother Robert's children, my brother Henry's children, Johanne Baxter
my sister's daughter, the son of my sister Elizabeth, my sister Margare
Fisher, my godsons John and Richard Fisher and every of the five other
brethren and “sustryn” of the same John and Richard Fisher. To John
Fisher, late alderman of London, to the intent that he take upon him the
execution of this my present testament and to Nicholas Lathell gentleman
to the same intent. My wife and these two to be executors.
Logge,
16.
- The will of Richard's
brother, Thomas, dated 2 September 1473 and extracted at Essex Institute Historical Collections vol
41 pp281 (1905) mentions "my mother Cicely Rawson"
- The will of Isabell
Rawson of London, widow, dated 1 September 1497 and proved on 11 October
1497, is held at The
National Archives PROB 11/11/534 transcribed at Testamenta Eboracensia vol 4 pp130-1
(1869) mentions "my late housband, Richard Rawson"
- Sheriff from Calendar of Letter-Books of the City of London: L,
Edward IV-Henry VII pp142-153 (1912); Alderman from The Aldermen of the City of London, Temp. Henry
III.-1908 p154 (Alfred B. Beaven, 1908); Mercers' Company
from wikipedia
and A List of Some Eminent Members of the Mercers
Company of London p30 (Mercers' Company, 1872)
- The will of Richard
Rawson, Mercer and Alderman of London, dated 8 October 1483 and proved
on 22 October 1485, is held at The
National Archives PROB 11/7/230; Richard's successor as alderman
of Bassishaw Ward, Richard Gardyner, was sworn into office on 14 October
1485 from The Aldermen of the City of London, Temp. Henry
III.-1908 p17 (Alfred B. Beaven, 1908); cause of death
from A List of Some Eminent Members of the Mercers
Company of London p30 (Mercers' Company, 1872), Chronicles of London p193 (Charles
Lethbridge Kingsford, 1905), London and the Kingdom vol 1 pp326-7
(Reginald Robinson Sharpe, 1894)
- In the will of Richard
Rawson, Mercer and Alderman of London, dated 8 October 1483 and proved
on 22 October 1485, is held at The
National Archives PROB 11/7/230 transcribed at Testamenta Eboracensia vol 4 pp130-1
(1869) he requests "To be bur. in oure Lady chapell, within the par. ch.
of S. Mary Magd. in Milk-strete, befor the ymage of oure Lady"
- The will of Richard
Rawson, Mercer and Alderman of London, dated 8 October 1483 and proved
on 22 October 1485, is held at The
National Archives PROB 11/7/230; extracts at Testamenta Eboracensia vol 4 pp130n-1
(1869) and Essex Institute Historical Collections vol
41 pp280-1 (1905)
- Richard Rawson II
Richard Rawson
Richard Rawson
Isabell
Crafford
Richard probably studied at
Cambridge University, although the record in Alumni
Cantabrigienses is conflated with that of his brother Nicholas, one
of them graduating B.Can.L in 1490-1 This was probably Nicholas since
Richard earned the degree D.C.L at University
of Bologna, Italy, on 5 April 1489, and studied at the University
of Ferrara, graduating DCnL on 16 November 1500.
Alumni Cantabrigienses part 1 vol 3 p426
(John Venn, 1924)
RAWSON, NICHOLAS (? RICHARD). B.Can.L.
1490-1. S of Richard, merchant, of London. Studied at Bologna.
Archdeacon of Essex, 1502. Preb. of Lincoln, 1505. Preb. of Sarum. R. of
St Olave, Hart Street, London, 1510-8. Chaplain to Henry VIII. Canon of
Windsor, 1523. One of the canonists and jurists who in the convocation
of 1529 gave opinions as to the King's divorce. Died before Oct. 29,
1543. One of these names (Nicholas), M.A. (Oxford); supp.
B.D. 1508. Admon. (Oxford) Jan 10, 1511. (Cooper,
I.82, where he is identified with Richard.)
Clergyman
Richard was rector of St Martin's Church, Chipping Ongar, Essex from 1502
until 1503 when he was collated to the post of Archdeacon of Essex on 24
January 1502(3), holding this office until his death in 1543. He was also
rector of St Olave Hart Street in London from 9 October 1510 until he
resigned that position in June 1518. Richard was also, from 24 March
1504(5), prebendary of Langford Ecclesia in the church of Lincoln. In 1509
he was constituted prebendary of Coringham in the same church. He was also
prebendary of Durnford in the church of Sarum, Prebendary of St Stephen's
Chapel, Westminster in 1511 and Prebendary of Woodhorne in Chichester
Cathedral in 1521. Richard was chaplain to Henry VIII., and attended him in
that capacity at the Field
of the Cloth of Gold in June 1520 (Rutland Papers p34 (William Jerdan, 1842)).
On 28 Jan. 1522(3) he was appointed Canon to the second stall in St George's Chapel, Windsor
Castle, and held the stall until his death in 1543. Richard was
appointed rector of Beaconsfield on 26 July 1525 (Genealogical Gleanings in England vol 1 p59
(Henry Fitz-Gilbert Waters, 1901)), completing the building of the rectory
there.
Repertorium Ecclesiasticum Parochiale Londinense
vol 1 p72 (Richard Newcourt, 1708)
Archdeacons
of Essex.
...
g Ric. Rawson, D.D. 24. Jan.
1502. per mort Dom. Archiep.
h Edw. Mowle, cl. 29 Oct. 1543.
per mort. Rawson.
...
g Richard Rawson, who
was Collated to it Jan. 24,
1502, as above. After which he was admitted to the Rectory of S.
Olavs, Hartstreet, Oct. 9, 1510, which he resign'd about June, 1518. [Reg.
Lond.] He was a Canon of Windsor,
which (as well as this Archdeaconry) became void by his Death in 1543.
This was he who had the Contest with Bonner about the Pension of 101. per Annum for this Archdeaconry,
as is mentioned before.
p512
S.
Olave Jewry, Vicarage.
...
h Ric. Rawson, D.D. 9. Oct.
1510. per mort. Benet.
. Geor. Wilsset, A. M. 16 Junii 1518. per res. Rawson.
...
h Ric. Rawson. [Vid. inter
Archd. Essex.]
Athenae
Cantabrigienses: 1500-1585 vol 1 pp82-3 (Charles Henry
Cooper, 1858)
RICHARD
RAWSON, descended from an ancient family seated at Water Fryston,
Yorkshire, was fourth son of Richard Rawson merchant of London, and
alderman and sometime sheriff of that city, and Isabella [Craford] his
wife. He took the degree of bachelor of canon law in this university
1490, and afterwards studied at Bologna where it would seem he proceeded
doctor in his faculty. In 1502 he became archdeacon of Essex, and 24
March 1504-5 prebendary of Langford Ecclesia in the church of Lincoln.
In 1509 he was constituted prebendary of Coringham in the same church.
He was also prebendary of Durnford in the church of Sarum. In 1510 he
was rector of S. Olave Hart-street, London, which church he resigned
1518. He was chaplain to Henry VIII. and attended him in that capacity
at the field of cloth-of-gold June 1520. By patent 28 Jan. 1522-3 he was
constituted one of the canons of Windsor. In the parliament of 1523 he
was, by the title of sir Richard Rawson, appointed a receiver of
petitions for Gascony and other parts beyond the seas. He was one of the
learned canonists and jurists who in the convocation of 1529 gave their
opinions as to the king’s divorce. In 1531 he held the office of clerk
of the chancery. He was sometime in Ireland with bis brother sir John
Rawson, prior of Kilmainham and lord-treasurer of that kingdom, by whom
in 1534 he was dispatched to convey to the king intelligence of the
murder of Allen archbishop of Dublin. We find him in the convocation of
1540 concurring in the judgment against the validity of the king’s
marriage with Anne of Cleves. He had a controversy with Bonner bishop of
London about an annual pension payable for his archdeaconry. This
dispute was settled bv an award made 25 April 1541. Dr. Rawson died
before 29 Oct. 1543.
Information from Geo. R. Corner, Esq. Newcourt’s Report. i. 69,
71, 512. Le Neve’s Fasti. Rutland Papers. Rot. Parl. vi. p. lxxvi.
Rymer, xiv. 427. State Papers Hen. 8. Strype. Fidde’s Wolsey, Collect.
203.
Repertorium Ecclesiasticum Parochiale Londinense
vol 1 pp69-70 (Richard Newcourt, 1708)
The
Archdeacons of Essex have all
along of old, as appears by the London-Registry,
paid an annual Pension of 10l.
to the Bishop's Ratione & pro
Exercitio Jurisdictionis exterioris ejusdem Archidiacomatus,
every Year at the Feasts of Easter
and Michaelmas, by equal
Portions, according to that antient Ordination mention’d before. For the
true Payment whereof, every Archdeacon did use to make Oath at the Time
of his Admission to the said Archdeaconry.
But when Bonner was
Bishop of London, there
happen’d a Controversie between him and Richard
Rawson, the then Archdeacon of Essex,
about the Payment of this Pension; the said Bishop alledging the
aforesaid Pension to have been paid to his Predecessors time out of
mind, for and in Recompence, as well of and for the Right and Interest
of the said Bishop, as also of and for the Exercise of such Jurisdiction
as the said Archdeacon of Essex
hath in the said Archdeaconry. And he, the said Archdeacon, on the other
hand, alledging for his part, That he ought not to pay the said Pension,
for that he cannot obtain, in the King’s Court of Record, the yearly
Allowance of Twenty Shillings for the Tenth part thereof due to our
Sovereign Lord the King, by Act of Parliament. But this Matter being
refer’d by both Parties to the Arbitrement and final Award and
Determination of Richard Gwent,
then Official of the Arches Court of Canterbury,
he awarded as follows:
First, That the said Richard Rawson, his Executors or
Assigns, should, before the Feast of the Nativity of
S John Baptist, then next following, pay to the said Bishop, or
his Assigns, the Sum of 10l.
Sterling, in full of all Arrears due at Easter
last past.
Also, That as long as
the said Richard should
continue Archdeacon of Essex,
he should pay to the said Bishop, or his Assigns, the Sum of 9l.
Sterling, in the Name, and for the said Pension of 10l.
at the Feasts of Michaelmas
and Easter, by equal Portions
every Year, as long as he should continue should continue Archdeacon
there; and in case he should get the Payment of the said Twenty
Shillings to the King exonerated, then, and from thenceforth he should
pay the Sum of 10l. Sterling,
yearly, in the manner as aforesaid, to the said Bishop, or his Assigns,
in the Name of, and for the said annual Pension.
Lastly, That the said Richard Rawson, as long as he
continu’d Archdeacon there, should quietly and peaceably enjoy the said
Archdeaconry, and exercise all manner of Jurisdiction within the same,
as his Predecessors had done.
This Award bears Date April
25, 1541, and it seems took Effect only in the Matter then in Debate
between the said Bishop and Rawson;
for Edward Mowle, his
immediate Successor in this Archdeaconry, was at the time of his
Admission into the same, sworn to Pay 10l.
per Annum Pension to the said Bonner
and his Successors, Bishops of London,
as appears by the Act of his Institution.
Richard received a legacy of £200 in the will of his father, dated 8
October 1483.
Testamenta Eboracensia vol 4 pp130n-1
(1869)
Oct. 8, 1483.
Richard Rawson, mercer, citizen and alderman of London. ... Wife
Isabell. Son Averey cc li. Sons Chr., John, and Richard, and daughters
Eliz. and Alice, each cc li.
He received a legacy, and is named as "my son atte Bononye" (Bologna) in the
will of his mother dated 1 September 1497.
Testamenta Eboracensia vol 4 pp130-1 (1869)
Sept. 1,
1497. Isabell Rawson of London, widow. ... To Richard Rawson, my
son “atte Bononye” one dozen spoons of silver knobs gilt and in money
twenty pounds.
Richard is named as "my brother Master Richard Rawson Doctor and Archdeacon
of Essex" in the will of his sister Alice (Rawson) Darold, dated 9 September
1514.
Essex Institute Historical Collections vol 41
pp282 (1905)
To my brother Master Richard Rawson Doctor and
Archdeacon of Essex, my cup of silver and gift that my mother gave me.
He is also remembered as "my brother Dr. Rawson" in the will of his brother,
Christopher, dated 30 September 1518
Essex Institute Historical Collections vol 41
pp282-3 (1905)
CHRISTOPHER RAWSON,
citizen and mercer of London, 30 September 1518, proved 18 January 1518.
... My brother Dr. Rawson, my brother Sir John Rawson, my brother Frost
and my sister his wife, my brother Fox and my sister his wife.
Richard appears by title in the will of his brother-in-law, Walter Frost,
the second husband of his sister, Anne, dated 6 March 1528(9) and proved on
5 April 1529.
Publications of the Surtees Society vol 116
pp124-6 (1908)
LXXXIX. THE WILL OF WALTER FROST, OF FEATHERSTONE, ETC.*
... Unto maister Archdeacon of Essex, my brother, twenty poundes in
plate, be it more or lesse, whiche he hath in his handes, in recompence
of and for dwelling in his house belonging to his office, upon this
condicion, that myn executours may have the ordering of all such goodes
now being within his said house according to suche promys as he did make
at the buriall of my wife, his suster, before his frendes and myn. Unto
the said maister archdeacon a cupp of silver and gilt in valure of vj
li. or there aboutes.
When Richard was chaplain to Henry VIII, he owned a book Ruralia
Commoda by Pietro Crescenzi, and this same copy was later owned by
Henry VIII himself.
|
|
Signature of Richard Rawson in "Ruralia
Commoda"
|
Royal
Collection Trust
Ruralia Commoda
c.1490-5
Description
Pietro Crescenzi is best known for his manual on agriculture, the
'Ruralia Commoda', first written c.1305. Translated into several
languages, it was a standard work on agriculture and also hunting and
falconry, subjects which were of interest to Henry VIII. Among the many
lively woodcuts in this incunable, or book printed between 1450 and
1500, are illustrations showing the production of wine. An inventory
number written on the title page (1417) shows that this book belonged to
Henry VIII, and was part of his library at Whitehall Palace. An earlier
inscription records that it had been in the possession of the King's
chaplain, Richard Rawson. It would later pass with the rest of the old
Royal Library to the British Museum in 1757. Sold as a duplicate, it was
re-acquired for the Royal Library at Windsor during the early part of
Queen Victoria's reign.
In 1538 Richard apparently spent six months in Ireland with his brother, Sir
John Rawson, then Prior of Kilmainham. They arrived at Saint David in Wales,
from Ireland, with news of the murder of the Bishop of Waterford. Being too
ill to personally deliver the news to the king, John sent a letter to the
king to be carried by Richard, noting that "my brother Archdiacon, your
Gracys Chapelyn who hath continually ben thys halffe yere in my compane"
The Gentleman's Magazine August 1856 vol 201
pp179-185
In 1538 he came to England, but being unable to travel in
consequence of sickness, he wrote the following letter to the King, from
Saint David’s, with which he sent forward his brother, Richard Rawson,
D.D., who was then Archdeacon of Essex and Canon of Windsor:—
“Aftyr my boundyn dewte. Hyt may please your excellent Hyghtnes to
be advertysyd, how the 13 day of the last monethe, the Lord Jamys
Buttelar, the Bysshop of Waterford, the Mayr of the same and I, dyd
sartyffy your Hyghtnes, how it was reaportyd at your sivity of Waterford,
that a Chepelayn of the Imperatars was arryved in the West parts of your
Gracys land of Ireland, at a port cauled the Dangyll; of whose besenes at
that tyme, we culd have no farther knowledge; and sythyns the Erle of
Osserrie being at Waterford, had then more serteyn knowledge from
Lymeryke, by on letter to hym sent from thens, of whiche lykewise hys
lordshyp and I dyd sertiffy your hightnes, and dyd send the same to
Lymeryke, inclosyd in owrse of the 25th day of the laste monethe.
“Farthermore, it may please your Hyghtnes to be advertysyed how the
laste day of July serteyn knowlege was brought to your Gracys sivity of
Waterford, that the Archbushop of Dublyn, being in shyppc to departe
towards Ingland, Tolmas, son to Erle of Kylldare causyd hym to be taken
and brought before hym, and there in hys syght, by hys cummaundement was
cruelly and shamefully murderyd, and other dyverse of hys chapelayns and
servantes that were in hys cumpanye. Whiche tiranny, withowte marse,
causythe the pepyll myche more to fere, and ys gretly dowtyd that he woll
do what he can to subdeu and dystroy your Gracy’s Inglysche subjectes, in
faute of ayde and deffens; for syche as were therunto apoynted dyd lytyll
good. He hath allso aluryd Oconnor unto hym; and all other Irichemen that
he can get be in his ayde, burnyng and distroying your graces Inglyche
subjectes. And in as myche as ther was no knowlege of the arivall of Syr
Wyllyam Skevyngton, namyd your Gracy’s Dcputye, I shoyd to the Mayr of
your Grace’s sivity of Waterford, that I wold departe into Ingland or
Walys, as wynd and wethyr wold serve, to sertyfy your Hyghtnes as I knewe
and harde; and aryvid here at Seynt Davis, in Walys, the 6 day herof, and
being moche dezezyd with the palsey, and may not well indure to ryde, my
brother Archdiacon, your Gracys Chapelyn who hath continually ben thys
halffe yere in my compane, reparythe now unto your Hightnes with dylygens,
who can informe your grasse as he hathe sene and harde in Ireland, to
whome itt may plese your Hightnes to geve credens; and thus the blessyd
Trinyte presarve your most exselent Majestie in prosperite with victory of
all your adversarys. Writton att Seynt Davis in Walys, the 7 day of
Auguste, your Grasse faythefull and humyle subject.
“J. Rawson, Prior
of Kyllemayna.”
“Superscribed—To the Kyng Hys most noble Grasse.”
The Saturday Review 21 May 1881 vol 51 p649
(1881)
The former
Rectory, if not, as is sometimes said, the oldest parsonage in England,
can have very few to antedate it. Begun about 1500, when Richard Capul,
the then Rector, bequeathed 40l.
towards its building, and finished by Richard Rawson, who died Canon of
Windsor and Archdeacon of Essex, in 1543, the house can boast of an
antiquity of between three and four hundred years, and is one of the
most perfect and unaltered examples of its date. It encloses three sides
of a quadrangle, having a high wall and gateway on the fourth side. The
basement is of chequered brick; the upper story with its steep roofs
broken by lofty gables and dormers, is of huge timbers plastered
between. The principal staircase attached to the north side, enclosed in
a semi-cylindrical turret of timber, presents a most picturesque
feature. One cannot enter the house without being struck with the
immense waste of timber, according to modern ideas, in its construction.
Solid trunks are framed in dark passages, and built up in partitions
where thin planking would be deemed sufficient by modern builders. The
floors are of enormous thickness, and the steps of the staircases are of
huge blocks roughly squared with the axe. The whole building is so
characteristic of its age that it could hardly have failed to impress
itself on Disraeli's mind if he had ever visited it, and to appear in
one of his romances. Though described by the veteran architect Mr. J. C.
Buckler more than forty years ago in his History
of Eltham Palace, it seems to be almost unknown. Strange to
say, it finds no place in Mr. J. H. Parker's Domestic
Architecture. We are happy to say that though untenanted, save
by the Rector's groom, it is still well cared for, and we hope that so
precious a relic may be long preserved.
|
|
Beaconsfield Vicarage, built, or
completed, by Richard Rawson, photo c. 1898
|
The
Sketch 3 August 1898 vol 23 p55
In the shadow
of Beaconsfield Church, Bucks, where Burke lies buried, and wherein Lord
Rosebery the other day unveiled a new memorial to that great statesman
and orator, there stands a quaint half-timbered house of the sixteenth
century. Scaffold-poles rise by its side, and the builder is busily
engaged rescuing the old building from the hand of Time. This, until
some thirty years ago, was the Vicarage of Beaconsfield, built by one
Richard Rawson in 1525 upon the site, it is believed, of a monastic
house connected with Burnham Abbey. Uninhabited for the last generation,
this picturesque old building is now being restored at the expense of
Sir Edward Lawson, and will eventually be used as a church-house for
parochial purposes. Several of the fine old apartments will be utilised
as reading and recreation rooms, and it is not unlikely that a suite of
chambers will be placed at the disposal of the curate of the parish.
This old building has other claims than those which mere antiquity
gives, for in the spacious dining room Edmund Burke was often a guest,
and the mantelpiece still survives on which he was wont to lean when
pouring out rich stores of conversation upon the ears of his vicar host.
In the same room the builders have discovered the monogram of priest
Richard Rawson, to whom the building owes its existence.
1543
Richard's successor as Archdeacon of Essex was appointed on 29 October 1543
"per mort. Rawson".
St George's chapel, Windsor,
Berkshire, England
- Richard is named as the
fourth son of Richard and Isabell. The third, son, Christopher, was born
in 1472, so Richard was likely born in the 1470's.
- Richard is mentioned as
"my son" in the wills of both his father Richard Rawson, dated 8 October
1483, held at The
National Archives PROB 11/7/230, and his mother Isabell Rawson,
dated 1 September 1497, held at The
National Archives PROB 11/11/70
- Athenae Cantabrigienses: 1500-1585 vol 1
pp82-3 (Charles Henry Cooper, 1858); Alumni Cantabrigienses part 1 vol 3 p426
(John Venn, 1924); dates of degrees from Bologna and Ferrara from The College and Canons of St Stephen’s,
Westminster, 1348 -1548 vol 2 pp82-3 (Elizabeth Biggs,
2016), citing A Biographical Register of the
University of Cambridge to 1500 p473 (A. B. Emden, 1963)
- Repertorium Ecclesiasticum Parochiale Londinense
vol 1 p72 (Richard Newcourt, 1708); Athenae Cantabrigienses: 1500-1585 vol 1
pp82-3 (Charles Henry Cooper, 1858); Alumni Cantabrigienses part 1 vol 3 p426
(John Venn, 1924); wikipedia -Richard
Rawson (priest)
- Repertorium Ecclesiasticum Parochiale Londinense
vol 1 p72 (Richard Newcourt, 1708)
- Transactions
of the London and Middlesex Archaeological Society vol 2 p250
(1864)
- Richard
Rawson (priest)
- Richard Rawson
Walter Rawson
Nicholas Rawson
Beatrix
(Cooke, Copley) Rawson
Walter died without issue.
Transactions of the London and Middlesex
Archaeological Society vol 2 p250 (1864)
His
eldest brother, Avery, was of Aveley, Essex, and had one son, Nicholas,
who married Beatrix, daughter of Sir Philip Cooke, knt. of Gidea Hall,
Essex, and died in 20 Hen. VIII. leaving a son, Walter, who died without
issue, and three daughters, one of whom, Anne, married Sir Michael
Stanhope, brother-in-law of the Protector Somerset, and had a large
family by him, from whom are descended the Earls of Chesterfield,
Harrington, and Stanhope.
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