ENGLISH ECONOMIC HISTORY
SELECT DOCUMENTS
ENGLISH
ECONOMIC HISTORY
SELECT DOCUMENTS
COMPILED AND EDITED BY
A.E. BLAND, B.A., P.A. BROWN, M.A.,
AND R.H. TAWNEY, D. LITT.
LONDON
G. BELL AND SONS, LTD.
YORK HOUSE, PORTUGAL STREET, W.C.2
_Seventeenth Impression
First published October, 1914_
_Printed in Great Britain by Jarrold & Sons, Limited, Norwich_
INTRODUCTION
The object of this book is to supply teachers and students of English
Economic History with a selection of documents which may serve as
illustrations of their subject. It should be read in conjunction with
some work containing a broad survey of English economic development,
such as, to mention the latest and best example, Professor W.J. Ashley's
"The Economic Organization of England."[1] The number of historical
"source books" has been multiplied so rapidly in recent years that we
ought, perhaps, to apologise for adding one to their number. We ventured
to do so because in the course of our work as teachers of Economic
History in the University Tutorial Classes organised by the Workers'
Educational Association, we found it difficult to refer our students to
any single book containing the principal documents with which they ought
to be acquainted. That Economic History cannot be studied apart from
Constitutional and Political History is a commonplace to which we
subscribe; and we are not so incautious as to be tempted into a
discussion of what exactly Economic History means. It is sufficient for
our purpose that a subject which is called by that name is being
increasingly studied by University students, and that while the
principal documents of English Constitutional History are available in
the works of Stubbs, Prothero, Gardiner and Grant Robertson, there is no
book, as far as we know--except Professor Pollard's "The Reign of Henry
VII. from Contemporary Sources"--which illustrates English economic
development in a similar way. We are far from comparing our own minnow
with these Tritons. But it may perhaps do some service till more
competent authors take the field. It is hardly necessary for us to
apologise for translating our documents into English, and for
modernizing the spelling throughout. We are likely not to be alone in
thinking that it would be a pity if a passing acquaintance with the
materials of mediæval economic history were confined to those who can
read Latin and Norman-French.
A word of explanation as to the selection and arrangement of our
extracts may perhaps be excused. Our object was not to produce a work of
original research, but to help students of economic history to see it
more intelligently by seeing it through the eyes of contemporaries.
Hence, though a considerable number of our documents are published here
for the first time, we have not consciously followed the lure of the
unprinted, and have chosen our extracts not because they were new, but
because they seemed to illustrate some important aspect of our subject.
For the same reason we have not confined ourselves entirely to
"documents" in the strict acceptation of that term, but have included
selections from such works as Roger of Hoveden, The Libel of English
Policy, The Commonweal of this Realm of England, Hakluyt's Voyages, and
the Tours of Defoe and Arthur Young, when they seemed to throw light
upon points which could not easily be illustrated otherwise. The
arrangement of our selections caused us some trouble. It is, perhaps,
hardly necessary to urge that a document must be studied with reference
to its chronological setting; and the simplest plan, no doubt, would
have been to print them in strict chronological order. We felt, however,
that the work of all but the more expert readers would be lightened if
we grouped them under definite, even if somewhat arbitrary, headings of
period and subject, and added short bibliographies of the principal
authorities. This seemed to involve the writing of short introductory
notes to explain the contents of each section, which we have accordingly
done. But no one need read them. No one but students beginning the
subject will. If an excuse is needed for stopping with the year 1846, we
must plead that to end earlier would have been to omit documents of the
first importance for the study of modern economic history, and that to
continue further would have caused our book to be even more overburdened
than it is at present.
That the attempt to produce in one volume a satisfactory selection of
documents to illustrate English Economic History from the Norman
Conquest to the Repeal of the Corn Laws can hardly be successful, that
we have neglected some subjects--taxation, colonization, and foreign
trade--and paid excessive attention to others--social conditions,
economic policy, and administration--that every reader will look for a
particular document and fail to find it, of all this we are sadly
conscious. We are conscious also of a more serious, because less
obvious, defect. Partly through a pardonable reaction against the
influence of economic theorists, partly because of the very nature of
the agencies by which historical documents are compiled and preserved,
the natural bias of economic historians is to lay a perhaps excessive
stress on those aspects of economic development which come under the
eyes of the State and are involved in its activity, and to neglect the
humbler but often more significant movements which spring from below, to
over-emphasize organisation and to under-estimate the initiative of
individuals. If a reader of these selections exclaims on putting them
down, "How much that is important is omitted!" we can only confess
ourselves in mercy and express the hope that they may soon be
superseded.
It remains for us to thank those who have helped us with suggestions and
criticisms, or by permitting us to reprint extracts from documents
already published. We have to acknowledge the kind permission to reprint
documents given to us by the Clarendon Press, the Cambridge University
Press, the London School of Economics, the Department of Economics of
Harvard University, The Royal Historical Society, The Early English Text
Society, the Co-operative Union, Ltd., the Controller of H.M. Stationery
Office, the Corporation of Norwich, the Corporation of Nottingham,
Messrs. Kegan Paul, Trench and Trübner, Messrs. Duncker & Humblot, Dr.
G. von Schanz, Professor G. Unwin, Professor F.J.C. Hearnshaw, The Rev.
Canon Morris, Miss M.D. Harris, Mr. and Mrs. J.L. Hammond and Mr. F.W.
Galton. Among those who have assisted us with suggestions or in other
ways we must mention Mr. Hubert Hall, Mr. M.S. Giuseppi, Mr. S.C.
Ratcliff, all of the Public Record Office, The Ven. Archdeacon
Cunningham, Mr. W.H. Stevenson, of St. John's College, Oxford, Mr. A.
Ballard, Miss Putnam, Mr. R.V. Lennard, of Wadham College, Oxford, Mr.
K. Bell, of All Souls' College, Oxford, Mr. H. Clay, Mr. F.W.
Kolthammer, Miss O.J. Dunlop, Miss H.M. Stocks, and Mr. and Mrs. J.L.
Hammond. For reading our proofs, or part of them, we are indebted to Mr.
E. Barker, of New College, Oxford, Mr. C.G. Crump and Mr. C.H.
Jenkinson, of the Public Record Office, Dr. Knowles, of the London
School of Economics, and Professor G. Unwin, of the University of
Manchester.
We desire especially to express our gratitude to Mr. A.L. Smith, of
Balliol College, Oxford, to whose encouragement it was largely due that
this book was undertaken, and to Professor Unwin, who has not only read
through the whole of it in proof, but by his advice and inspiration has
laid us under an obligation that we cannot easily acknowledge.
[Footnote 1: Messrs. Longman Green & Co.]
A.E.B.
P.A.B.
R.H.T.
CONTENTS
PART I: 1000-1485
SECTION I
THE EARLY ENGLISH MANOR AND BOROUGH
1. Rights and Duties of All Persons (_Rectitudines singularum
personarum_), _c._ 1000 5
2. The form of the Domesday Inquest, 1086 9
3. The borough of Dover, 1086 10
4. The borough of Norwich, 1086 11
5. The borough of Wallingford, 1086 13
6. The customs of Berkshire, 1086 15
7. Land of the Church of Worcester, 1086 15
8. The manor of Rockland, 1086 16
9. The manor of Halesowen, 1086 16
10. The manor of Havering, 1086 17
SECTION II
THE FEUDAL STRUCTURE
1. Frankalmoin, _temp._ Henry II 22
2. Knight Service, 1308 23
3. Grand Serjeanty, 1319 24
4. Petty Serjeanty, 1329 25
5. An action on the feudal incidents due from lands held by
petty serjeanty, 1239-40 25
6. Free socage, 1342 26
7. Commutation of a serjeanty for knight service, 1254 27
8. Commutation of service for rent, 1269 27
9. Subinfeudation, 1278 28
10. Licence for the widow of a tenant in chief to marry, 1316 29
11. Marriage of a widow without licence, 1338 30
12. Alienation of land by a tenant in chief without licence,
1273 30
13. Wardship and marriage, 1179-80 30
14. Grant of an heir's marriage, 1320 31
15. Wardship, 1337 31
16. Collection of a carucage, 1198 32
17. An acquittance of the collectors of scutage of a sum of
£10 levied by them and repaid, 1319 33
18. Payment of fines in lieu of knight service, 1303 34
19. The assessment of a tallage, 1314 35
20. A writ _Precipe_, _c._ 1200 36
21. Articles of enquiry touching rights and liberties and the
state of the realm, 1274 36
22. Wreck of sea, 1337 40
SECTION III
THE JEWS
1. Charter of liberties to the Jews, 1201 44
2. Ordinances of 1253 45
3. Expulsion of a Jew, 1253 46
4. Punishment for non-residence in a Jewry, 1270 47
5. Grant of a Jew, 1271 47
6. Ordinances of 1271 48
7. Removal of Jewish communities from certain towns to
others, 1275 50
8. Disposition of debts due to Jews after their expulsion,
1290 50
SECTION IV
THE MANOR
1. Extent of the manor of Havering, 1306-7 56
2. Extracts from the Court Rolls of the manor of Bradford,
1349-58 65
3. Deed illustrating the distribution of strips, 1397 76
4. Regulation of the common fields of Wimeswould, _c._ 1425 76
5. Lease of a manor to the tenants, 1279 79
6. Grant of a manor to the customary tenants at fee farm,
_ante_ 1272 81
7. Lease of manorial holdings, 1332 82
8. An agreement between lord and tenants, 1386 84
9. Complaints against a reeve, 1278 84
10. An eviction from copyhold land, _temp._ Henry IV.-Henry VI 85
11. Statute of Merton, 1235-6 87
12. An enclosure allowed, 1236-7 88
13. An enclosure disallowed, 1236-7 89
14. A villein on ancient demesne dismissed to his lord's
court, 1224 89
15. Claim to be on ancient demesne defeated, 1237-8 90
16. The little writ of right, 1390 91
17. Villeinage established, 1225 92
18. Freedom and freehold established, 1236-7 93
19. A villein pleads villeinage on one occasion and denies it
on another, 1220 93
20. An assize allowed to a villein, 1225 95
21. A freeman holding in villeinage, 1228 96
22. Land held by charter recovered from the lord, 1227 97
23. The manumission of a villein, 1334 97
24. Grant of a bondman, 1358 98
25. Imprisonment of a gentleman claimed as a bondman,
1447 98
26. Claim to a villein, _temp._ Henry IV-Henry VI 100
27. The effect of the Black Death, 1350 102
28. Accounts of the Iron Works of South Frith before and
after the Black Death, 1345-50 103
29. The Peasants' Revolt, 1381 105
SECTION V
TOWNS AND GILDS
1. Payments made to the Crown by gilds in the twelfth
century, 1179-80 114
2. Charter of liberties to the borough of Tewkesbury, 1314 116
3. Charter of liberties to the borough of Gloucester, 1227 119
4. Dispute between towns touching the payment of toll,
1222 121
5. Dispute with a lord touching a gild merchant, 1223-4 123
6. The affiliation of boroughs, 1227 124
7. Bondman received in a borough, 1237-8 125
8. An inter-municipal agreement in respect of toll, 1239 126
9. Enforcement of charter granting freedom from toll, 1416 126
10. Licence for an alien to be of the Gild Merchant of London,
1252 127
11. Dispute between a gild merchant and an abbot, 1304 128
12. Complaints of the men of Leicester against the lord, 1322 131
13. Grant of pavage to the lord of a town, 1328 133
14. Misappropriation of the tolls levied for pavage, 1336 135
15. Ordinances of the White Tawyers of London, 1346 136
16. Dispute between Masters and Journeymen, 1396 138
17. Ordinances of the Dyers of Bristol, 1407 141
18. Incorporation of the Haberdashers of London, 1448 144
19. Indenture of Apprenticeship, 1459 147
20. A runaway apprentice, c. 1425 148
21. Incorporation of a gild for religious and charitable uses,
1447 148
SECTION VI
THE REGULATION OF TRADE, INDUSTRY, AND COMMERCE
1. Assize of Measures, 1197 154
2. Grant to the lord of a manor of the assize of bread and
ale and other liberties, 1307 155
3. An offence against the assize of bread, 1316 156
4. Inquisition touching a proposed market and fair, 1252 157
5. Grant of a fair at St. Ives to the abbot of Ramsey, 1202 158
6. Grant of a market at St. Ives to the abbot of Ramsey,
1293 158
7. Proceedings in the court at the fair of St. Ives, 1288 159
8. The Statute of Winchester, 1285 160
9. The recovery of debt on a recognisance, 1293 161
10. Procedure at a fair pursuant to the Statute for Merchants,
1287 162
11. The aulnage of cloth, 1291 163
12. The Ordinance of Labourers, 1349 164
13. Presentments made before the Justices of Labourers,
1351 167
14. Excessive prices charged by craftsmen, 1354 169
15. Fines levied for excessive wages, 1351 169
16. Writ to enforce payment of excess of wages to the collectors
of a subsidy, 1350 170
17. Application of fines for excessive wages to a subsidy,
1351-2 171
18. Labour Legislation: the Statute of 12 Richard II, 1388 171
19. Labour Legislation: a Bill in Parliament, 23 Henry VI,
1444-5 176
20. Organisation of the Staple, 1313 178
21. Arguments for the establishment of home staple towns,
1319 180
22. Ordinances of the Staple, 1326 181
23. The election of the mayor and constables of a Staple
town, 1358 184
24. Royal letters patent over-ruled by the custom of the
Staple, _c._ 1436 185
25. Prohibition of export of materials for making cloth, 1326 186
26. Commercial policy, _temp._ Edward IV 187
27. The perils of foreign travel, 1315 188
28. Grant of letters of marque and reprisals, 1447 190
29. Grant of liberties to the merchants of Douai, 1260 192
30. Aliens at a fair, 1270 193
31. Confirmation of liberties to the merchants of Almain,
1280 194
32. Alien weavers in London, 1362 195
33. The hosting of aliens, 1442 197
34. An offence against Stat. 18 Henry VI for the hosting
of aliens, 1440 198
35. Imprisonment of an alien craftsman, _c._ 1440 199
36. Petition against usury, 1376 200
37. Action upon usury, _c._ 1480 201
SECTION VII
TAXATION, CUSTOMS AND CURRENCY
1. Form of the taxation of a fifteenth and tenth, 1336 204
2. Disposition of a subsidy of tonnage and poundage, 1382 206
3. The king's prise of wines, 1320 206
4. The custom on wool, 1275 207
5. The custom on wine, 1302 208
6. The custom on general imports, 1303 211
7. Administration of the search for money exported, 1303 216
8. Provisions for the currency, 1335 217
9. Opinions on the state of English money, 1381-2 220
PART II: 1485-1660
SECTION I
RURAL CONDITIONS
1. Villeinage in the Reign of Elizabeth, 1561 231
2. Customs of the Manor of High Furness, 1576 232
3. Petition in Chancery for Restoration to a Copyhold, _c._
1550 234
4. Petition in Chancery for Protection against Breach of
Manorial Customs, 1568 241
5. Lease of the manor of Ablode to a Farmer, 1516 245
6. Lease of the Manor of South Newton to a Farmer, 1568 246
7. The Agrarian Programme of the Pilgrimage of Grace,
1536 247
8. The Demands of the Rebels led by Ket, 1549 247
9. Petition to Court of Requests from Tenants Ruined by
Transference of a Monastic Estate to lay hands, 1553 251
10. Petition to Court of Requests to stay Proceedings against
Tenants Pending the Hearing of their Case by the Council of
the North, 1576 254
11. Petition from Freeholders of Wootton Bassett for
Restoration of Rights of Common, _temp._ Charles I 255
12. Petition to Crown of Copyholders of North Wheatley,
1629 258
13. An Act Avoiding Pulling Down of Towns, 1515 260
14. The Commission of Enquiry Touching Enclosures, 1517 262
15. An Act Concerning Farms and Sheep, 1533 264
16. Intervention of Privy Council under Somerset to Protect
Tenants, 1549 266
17. An Act for the Maintenance of Husbandry and Tillage,
1597 268
18. Speech in House of Commons on Enclosures, 1597 270
19. Speeches in House of Commons on Enclosures, 1601 274
20. Return to Privy Council of Enclosers furnished by
Justices of Lincolnshire, 1637 275
21. Complaint of Laud's Action on the Commission for
Depopulation, 1641 276
SECTION II
TOWNS AND GILDS
1. A Protest at Coventry against a Gild's Exclusiveness,
1495 282
2. A Complaint from Coventry as to Inter-Municipal
Tariffs, 1498 282
3. The Municipal Regulation of Wages at Norwich, 1518 282
4. The Municipal Regulation of Markets at Coventry,
1520 283
5. The Municipal Regulation of Wages at Coventry, 1524 284
6. An Act for Avoiding of Exactions taken upon Apprentices
in Cities, Boroughs, and Towns Corporate, 1536 284
7. An Act whereby certain Chantries, Colleges, Free Chapels
and the Possessions of the same be given to the King's Majesty,
1547 286
8. Regrant to Coventry and Lynn of Gild Lands Confiscated
under 1 Edward VI, c. xiv (the preceding Act), 1548 291
9. A Petition of the Bakers of Rye to the Mayor, Jurats,
and Council to prevent the Brewers taking their trade, 1575 294
10. Letter to Lord Cobham from the Mayor and Jurats of
Rye concerning the Preceding Petition, 1575 295
11. The Municipal Regulation of the Entry into Trade at
Nottingham, 1578-9 295
12. The Municipal Regulation of Markets at Southampton,
1587 296
13. The Municipal Regulation of Wages at Chester, 1591 296
14. The Company of Journeymen Weavers of Gloucester,
1602 297
15. Petition of Weavers who are not Burgesses, 1604-5 299
16. Extracts from the London Clothworkers' Court Book.
1537-1627 300
17. The Feltmakers Joint-Stock Project, 1611 302
18. The Case of the Tailors of Ipswich, 1615 305
19. The Grievances of the Journeymen Weavers of London,
_c._ 1649 307
SECTION III
THE REGULATION OF INDUSTRY BY THE STATE
1. Proposals for the Regulation of the Cloth Manufacture
(_temp._ Henry VIII) 317
2. Administrative Difficulties in the Regulation of the
Manufacture of Cloth, 1537 319
3. An Act Touching Weavers, 1555 320
4. Enactment of Common Council of London as to Age of
Ending Apprenticeship, 1556 323
5. William Cecil's Industrial Programme, 1559 323
6. The Statute of Artificers, 1563 325
7. Proposals for the Better Administration of the Statute of
Artificers, 1572 333
8. Draft of a Bill Fixing Minimum Rates for Spinners and
Weavers, 1593 336
9. Draft Piece-list Submitted for Ratification to the Wiltshire
Justices by Clothiers and Weavers, 1602 341
10. An Act empowering Justices to fix Minimum Rates of
Payment, 1603-04 342
11. Administration of Acts Regulating the Manufacture of
Cloth, 1603 344
12. Assessment made by the Justices of Wiltshire, dealing
mainly with other than Textile Workers, 1604 345
13. Assessment made by the Justices of Wiltshire, dealing
mainly with Textile Workers, 1605 351
14. Administration of Wage Clauses of Statute of Artificers,
1605-08 352
15. Administration of Apprenticeship Clauses of the Statute
of Artificers, 1607-08 353
16. The Organisation of the Woollen Industry, 1615 354
17. Proceedings on the Apprenticeship Clauses of the Statute
of Artificers, 1615 356
18. A Petition to Fix Wages Addressed to the Justices by the
Textile Workers of Wiltshire, 1623 356
19. Appointment by Privy Council of Commissioners to
Investigate Grievances of Textile Workers in East
Anglia, 1630 357
20. Report to Privy Council of Commissioners appointed
above, 1630 358
21. High Wages in the New World, 1645 360
22. Young Men and Maids ordered to enter Service, 1655 360
23. Request to Justices of Grand Jury of Worcestershire to
assess Wages, 1661 361
24. Proceedings on the Apprenticeship Clauses of the
Statute of Artificers, 1669 361
SECTION IV
THE RELIEF OF THE POOR AND THE REGULATION OF PRICES
1. Regulations made at Chester as to Beggars, 1539 366
2. A Proclamation concerning Corn and Grain to be brought
into open Markets to be sold, 1545 367
3. Administration of Poor Relief at Norwich, 1571 369
4. The first Act Directing the Levy of a Compulsory Poor
Rate, 1572 372
5. The first Act requiring the Unemployed to be set to
Work, 1575-6 373
6. Report of Justices to Council Concerning Scarcity in
Norfolk, 1586 373
7. Orders devised by the Special Commandment of the
Queen's Majesty for the Relief and Ease of the Present
Dearth of Grain within the Realm, 1586 374
8. The Poor Law Act, 1601 380
9. A note of the Grievances of the Parish of Eldersfield,
1618 381
10. Petition to Justices of Wiltshire for Permission to Settle
in a Parish, 1618 382
11. Letter from Privy Council to Justices of Cloth-making
Counties, 1621-2 382
12. Letter from Privy Council to the Deputy Lieutenants and
Justices of the Peace in the Counties of Suffolk and Essex
concerning the Employment of the Poor, 1629 383
13. The Licensing of Badgers in Somersetshire, 1630 385
14. Badgers Licensed at Somersetshire Quarter Sessions,
1630 385
15. The Supplying of Bristol with Grain, 1630-1 385
16. Proceedings against Engrossers and other Offenders,
1631 386
17. Order of Somersetshire Justices Granting a Settlement
to a Labourer, 1630-1 386
18. Report of Derbyshire Justices on their Proceedings,
1631 387
19. Letter from Privy Council to Justices of Rutlandshire,
1631 390
20. Judgment in the Star Chamber against an Engrosser of
Corn, 1631 391
SECTION V
THE ENCOURAGEMENT OF INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE
1. Letters Patent granted to the Cabots by Henry VII,
1496 400
2. The Merchant Adventurers' Case for Allowing the
Export of Undressed Cloth, 1514-36 402
3. The Rise in Prices, the Encouragement of Corn growing,
and the Protection of Manufactures, c. 1549 404
4. Sir Thomas Gresham on the Fall of the Exchanges, 1558 416
5. The reasons why Bullion is Exported (_temp. Eliz._) 419
6. The Italian Merchants Explain the Foreign Exchanges,
1576 420
7. An Act Avoiding divers Foreign Wares made by Handicraftsmen
Beyond the Seas, 1562 424
8. An Act Touching Cloth Workers and Cloth Ready
Wrought to be Shipped over the Sea, 1566 426
9. Incorporation of a Joint Stock Mining Company, 1568 427
10. An Act for the Increase of Tillage, 1571 428
11. Instructions for an English Factor in Turkey, 1582 431
12. The Advantages of Colonies, 1583 434
13. Lord Burghley to Sir Christopher Hatton on the State of
Trade, 1587 438
14. A List of Patents and Monopolies, 1603 440
15. Instructions Touching the Bill for Free Trade, 1604 443
16. The Establishment of a Company to export Dyed and
Dressed Cloth in place of the Merchant Adventurers,
1616-17 454
17. Sir Julius Cæsar's proposals for Reviving the Trade in
Cloths, 1616 460
18. The Grant of a Monopoly for the Manufacture of Soap,
1623 461
19. The Statute of Monopolies, 1623-4 465
20. An Act for the Free Trade of Welsh Cloths, 1623-4 468
21. The Economic Policy of Strafford in Ireland, 1636 470
22. Revocation of Commissions, Patents and Monopolies
Granted by the Crown, 1639 472
23. Ordinance establishing an Excise, 1643 475
PART III: 1660-1846
SECTION I
INDUSTRIAL ORGANISATION AND SOCIAL CONDITIONS
1. Defoe's account of the West Riding Cloth Industry, 1724 482
2. Defoe's account of the Woollen Trade (_temp._ George II) 483
3. Defoe's account of the Corn Trade (_temp._ George II) 487
4. Defoe's account of the Coal Trade (_temp._ George II) 491
5. A description of Middlemen in the Woollen Industry, 1739 492
6. Report on the Condition of Children in Lancashire Cotton
Factories, 1796 495
7. Newcastle Coal Vend, 1771-1830 497
8. The Old Apprenticeship System in the Woollen Industry, 1806 499
9. A Petition of Cotton Weavers, 1807 500
10. Depression of Wages and its Causes in the Cotton Industry,
1812 501
11. Evidence of the Condition of Children in Factories, 1816 502
12. Change in the Cotton Industry and the Introduction
of Power Loom Weaving, 1785-1807 505
13. Evidence by Factory Workers of the Condition of
Children, 1832 510
14. Women's and Children's Labour in Mines, 1842 516
15. Description of the Condition of Manchester by John
Robertson, Surgeon, 1840 519
SECTION II
AGRICULTURE AND ENCLOSURE
1. Enclosure Proceedings in the Court of Chancery, 1671 525
2. Advice to the Stewards of Estates, 1731 526
3. Procedure for Enclosure by Private Act, 1766 528
4. Farming in Norfolk, 1771 530
5. A Petition against Enclosure, 1797 531
6. Extracts on Enclosure from the Surveys of the Board
of Agriculture, 1798-1809 532
7. Arthur Young's Criticism of Enclosure, 1801 536
8. Enclosure Consolidating Act, 1801 537
9. General Enclosure Act, 1845 541
SECTION III
GOVERNMENT REGULATION OF WAGES, CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT,
AND PUBLIC HEALTH
1. An Act against Truck, 1701 545
2. A Wages Assessment at a Warwickshire Quarter Sessions,
1738 546
3. Spitalfields Weavers Act, 1773 547
4. A Middlesex Wages Assessment under the Spitalfields
Act, 1773 551
5. Agricultural Labourers' Proposals for a Sliding Scale of
Wages, 1795 552
6. Debates on Whitbread's Minimum Wage Bill, 1795-6 554
7. Arbitration Act for the Cotton Industry, 1800 568
8. Amendment of the Arbitration Act, 1804 570
9. The First Factory Act, 1802 571
9 A. Minutes of Committee on Children in Factories 573
10. Calico Printers' Petition for Regulation, 1804 573
11. Report on Calico Printers' Petition, 1806 574
12. Cotton Weavers' Petition against the Repeal of 5 Elizabeth,
_c._ 4, 1813 576
13. Debates on the Regulation of Apprentices, 1813-14 577
14. Resolutions of the Watchmakers on Apprenticeship, 1817 588
15. Report of the Committee on the Ribbon Weavers, 1818 590
16. The Cotton Factory Act of 1819 591
17. Oastler's First Letter on Yorkshire Slavery, 1830 592
18. Factory Act, 1833 594
19. Proposals for a Wages Board for Hand-Loom Weavers,
1834 596
20. Coal Mines Regulation Act, 1842 598
21. Debate on Factory Legislation, 1844 599
22. Factory Act, 1844 612
23. Recommendations of the Commission on the Health of
Towns, 1845 614
SECTION IV
COMBINATIONS OF WORKMEN
1. A Strike of the Journeymen Feltmakers, 1696-99 619
2. A Petition of Master Tailors against Combination among
the Journeymen, 1721 622
3. A Dispute in the Northumberland and Durham Coal
Industry, 1765 625
4. Sickness and Unemployment Benefit Clubs among the
Woolcombers, 1794 626
5. Combination Act, 1799 626
6. Combination Act, 1800 627
7. The Scottish Weavers' Strike, 1812 631
8. The Repeal of the Combination Acts, 1824 633
9. A Prosecution of Strikers under the Common Law of
Conspiracy, 1810 635
10. An Act Revising the Law affecting Combinations, 1825 636
11. The Conviction of the Dorchester Labourers, 1834 638
12. An Address of the Working Men's Association to Queen
Victoria, 1837 641
13. A Chartist Manifesto on the Sacred Month, 1839 642
14. The Rochdale Pioneers, 1844 643
SECTION V
THE RELIEF OF THE POOR
1. Settlement Law, 1662 647
2. Defoe's Pamphlet "Giving Alms no Charity," 1704 649
3. The Workhouse Test Act, 1722 650
4. Gilbert's Act, 1782 652
5. Speenhamland "Act of Parliament," 1795 655
6. The Workhouse System, 1797 657
7. Two Varieties of the Roundsman System of Relief, 1797 660
8. Another Example of the Roundsman System, 1808 660
9. A Report of the Poor Law Commission, 1834 661
10. The Poor Law Amendment Act, 1834 663
11. Outdoor Relief Prohibitory Order, 1844 664
SECTION VI
FINANCE AND FOREIGN TRADE
1. Act abolishing Tenure by Knight Service, etc., 1660 670
2. Navigation Act, 1660 670
3. Proposals for Free Exportation of Gold and Silver, 1660 671
4. An Attack on the Navigation Act, _c._ 1663 672
5. Free Coinage at the Mint Proclaimed, 1666 674
6. The East India Company and the Interlopers, 1684 675
7. Foundation of the Bank of England, 1694 676
8. The Need for the Recoinage of 1696 677
9. Speech by Sir Robert Walpole on the Salt Duties, 1732 678
10. Pitt's Sinking Fund Act, 1786 679
11. The Suspension of Cash Payments, 1797 681
12. Pitt's Speech on the Income Tax, 1798 683
13. Foreign Trade in the early Nineteenth Century, 1812 689
14. Debate on the Corn Laws, 1815 692
15. The Corn Law of 1815 697
16. Free Trade Petition, 1820 698
17. The Foundation of the Anti-Corn-Law League, 1839 701
18. The Bank Charter Act, 1844 702
19. Debate on the Corn Laws, 1846 705
PART I: 1000-1485
SECTION I
THE EARLY ENGLISH MANOR AND BOROUGH
1. Rights and Duties of All Persons [_Rectitudines singularum
personarum_], _c._ 1000--2. The form of the Domesday Inquest,
1086--3. The borough of Dover, 1086--4. The borough of Norwich,
1086--5. The borough of Wallingford, 1086--6. The customs of
Berkshire, 1086--7. Land of the Church of Worcester, 1086--8. The
manor of Rockland, 1086--9. The manor of Halesowen, 1086--10. The
manor of Havering, 1086.
The task of reconstructing the economic life of Saxon England is not
easy, and while the document translated below (No. 1) vividly analyses
the obligations and rights of the various classes of tenants and
officers on Saxon estates of the eleventh century, it raises many
difficulties and is probably only true for the more settled parts of the
country. It affords, however, clear proof of a high agricultural and
social development; and though the exact significance of specific terms,
and the status of different classes, may remain obscure, a comparison of
the _Rectitudines_ and the _Gerefa_[2] with later extents and custumals,
and with Domesday Book itself, establishes the essential continuity of
English economic life and customs, notwithstanding the shock of the
Norman Conquest.
The further study of Domesday Book will undoubtedly yield valuable
results supplementing the information derived from Saxon documents.
While it is primarily a supreme example of the defining spirit and
centralising energy of the conquering race, it is also a permanent
record of England before and at the time of the Norman invasion.
Especially, perhaps, is this apparent in the detailed descriptions of
the boroughs, which at once set forth Saxon customs and illustrate the
effects of the Conquest. The extracts given below are intended to show
in brief, first, the methods both of the commissioners who conducted the
survey, and of the officials who reduced the information to a common
form;[3] second, the fiscal preoccupation of the government; third, the
origin and character of the early borough, especially manifest in the
case of Wallingford (No. 5), and fourth, the different classes of
tenants, free and unfree. Of particular interest are the following
features: the manner of levying the feudal army (No. 6), the evidence of
the looser organisation of the Eastern Counties, and the greater degree
of freedom prevailing among tenants in the Danelaw (Nos. 4 and 8), the
ample franchises that might be enjoyed by a great Saxon prelate (No. 7),
the saltpans of Worcestershire (No. 9), and the gildhall of the
burgesses of Dover (No. 3).
AUTHORITIES
The more accessible writers dealing with the subject of this section
are:--Kemble, _The Saxons in England_; Maine, _Village Communities in
the East and West_; Seebohm, _The English Village Community_;
Vinogradoff, _Villeinage in England_, _The Growth of the Manor_, and,
_English Society in the Eleventh Century_; Andrews, _The Old English
Manor_; Maitland, _Domesday Book and Beyond_; Pollock and Maitland,
_History of English Law_; Ballard, _The Domesday Boroughs_, and, _The
Domesday Inquest_; Round, _Domesday Studies_, and, _The Domesday
Manor_ (Eng. Hist. Rev. xv.); Stubbs, _Constitutional History_, and,
_Lectures on Mediæval History_; Ellis, _Introduction to Domesday
Book_; Gomme, _The Village Community_; de Coulanges, _Origin of
Property in Land_; Freeman, _The History of the Norman Conquest of
England_; Petit Dutaillis, _Studies Supplementary to Stubbs'
Constitutional History_.
Almost the whole of Domesday Book has now been translated and is
printed county by county in the Victoria County History series.
For a general survey of the Saxon period the student should refer to
Cunningham, _Growth of English Industry and Commerce, Mediæval
Times_, pp. 28-133.
1. RIGHTS AND DUTIES OF ALL Persons [_Rectitudines Singularum
Personarum_. _Cambridge_, _Corpus Christi_, 383], c. 1000.
_The Thegn's Law._--The thegn's law is that he be worthy of his
book-right,[4] and that he do three things for his land, fyrdfare,[5]
burhbote[6] and bridge-work. Also from many lands a greater land-service
arises at the king's command, such as the deer-hedge at the king's abode
and provision of warships (_scorp to fyrdscipe_)[7] and sea-ward and
head-ward[8] and fyrd-ward, almsfee and churchscot, and many other
diverse things.
_The Geneat's Service._--Geneat-service is diverse according to the
custom of the estate. On some he must pay land-gafol[9] and
grass-swine[10] yearly, and ride and carry and lead loads, work, and
feast the lord, and reap and mow and cut the deer-hedge and maintain it,
build and hedge the burh,[11] bring strange wayfarers to the tun, pay
churchscot and almsfee, keep head-ward and horse-ward, go errands far
and near whithersoever he be told.
_The Cotter's Service._--The cotter's service is according to the custom
of the estate. On some he must work for his lord each Monday throughout
the year and for three days each week in harvest. On some he works
through the whole harvest every day and reaps an acre of oats for a
day's work, and he shall have his sheaf which the reeve or lord's
servant will give him.[12] He ought not to pay land-gafol. It bents him
to have 5 acres; more, if it be the custom of the estate; and if it be
less, it is too little, because his work shall be oft required; he shall
pay his hearth-penny on Holy Thursday, as all free men should; and he
shall defend his lord's inland,[13] if he be required, from sea-ward and
the king's deer-hedge and from such things as befit his degree; and he
shall pay his churchscot at Martinmas.
_The Gebur's Services._--The gebur's services are diverse, in come
places heavy, in others moderate; on some estates he must work two days
at week-work at such work as is bidden him every week throughout the
year, and in harvest three days at week-work, and from Candlemas[14] to
Easter three. If he do carrying, he need not work while his horse is
out. He must pay on Michaelmas[15] Day 10 gafol-pence, and on
Martinmas[16] Day 23 sesters of barley and two henfowls, at Easter a
young sheep or two pence; and from Martinmas to Easter he must lie at
the lord's fold as often as his turn comes; and from the time of the
first ploughing to Martinmas he must plough an acre every week and
himself fetch the seed in the lord's barn; also 3 acres at boonwork and
2 for grass-earth[17]; if he need more grass, he shall earn it as he
shall be allowed; for his gafol-earth he shall plough 3 acres[18] and
sow it from his own barn; and he shall pay his hearth-penny; two and two
they shall feed a hunting-hound; and every gebur shall pay 6 loaves to
the lord's swineherd when he drives his herd to mast. On the same lands
where the above customs hold good, it belongs to the gebur that he be
given for his land-stock[19] 2 oxen and 1 cow and 6 sheep and 7 acres
sown on his yardland; wherefore after that year he shall do all the
customs that befit him; and he shall be given tools for his work and
vessels for his house. When death befals him, his lord shall take back
the things which he leaves.
This land-law holds good on some lands, but, as I have said before, in
some places it is heavier, in others lighter, for all land-customs are
not alike. On some lands the gebur must pay honey-gafol, on some
meat-gafol, on some ale-gafol. Let him who keeps the shire take heed
that he knows what are the ancient uses of the land and what the custom
of the people.
_Of those who keep the Bees._--It belongs to the bee-churl, if he keep
the gafol-hives, that he give as is customary on the estate. Among us it
is customary that he give 5 sesters of honey for gafol; on some estates
more gafol is wont to be rendered. Also he must be oft ready for many
works at the lord's will, besides boon-ploughing and bedrips[20] and
meadow-mowing; and if he be well landed[21], he must have a horse that
he may lend it to the lord for carrying or drive it himself
whithersoever he be told; and many things a man so placed must do; I
cannot now tell all. When death befals him, the lord shall have back the
things which he leaves, save what is free.
_Of the Swineherd._--It belongs to the gafol-paying swineherd that he
give of his slaughter according to the custom of the estate. On many
estates the custom is that he give every year 15 swine for sticking, 10
old and 5 young, and have himself what he breeds beyond that. To many
estates a heavier swine-service belongs. Let the swineherd take heed
also that after sticking he prepare and singe well his slaughtered
swine; then is he right worthy of the entrails, and, as I said before of
the bee-keeper, he must be oft ready for any work, and have a horse for
his lord's need. The unfree swineherd and the unfree bee-keeper, after
death, shall be worthy of one same law.
_Of the Serf-Swineherd._--To the serf swineherd who keeps the inherd[22]
belong a sucking-pig from the sty and the entrails when he has prepared
bacon, and further the customs which befit the unfree.
_Of Men's Board_.--To a bondservant (_esne_) belong for board 12 pounds
of good corn and 2 sheep-carcases and a good meat-cow, and wood,
according to the custom of the estate.
_Of Women's Board._--To unfree women belong 8 pounds of corn for food,
one sheep or 3d. for winter fare, one sester of beans for Lent fare, in
summer whey or 1d.
To all serfs belong a mid-Winter feast and an Easter feast, a
ploughacre[23] and a harvest handful,[24] besides their needful dues.
_Of Followers._[25]--It belongs to the follower that in 12 months he
earn two acres, the one sown and the other unsown; he shall sow them
himself, and his board and provision of shoes and gloves belong to him;
if he may earn more, it shall be to his own behoof.
_Of the Sower._--It belongs to the sower that he have a basketful of
every kind of seed when he have well sown each sowing throughout the
year.
_Of the Ox-herd._--The ox-herd may pasture 2 oxen or more with the
lord's herd in the common pastures by witness of his ealdorman[26]; and
thereby may earn shoes and gloves for himself; and his meat-cow may go
with the lord's oxen.
_Of the Cow-herd._--It belongs to the cow-herd that he have an old cow's
milk for seven days after she has newly calved, and the beestings[27]
for fourteen nights; and his meat-cow shall go with the lord's cow.
_Of Sheep-herds._--The sheep-herd's right is that he have 12 nights'
manure at mid-Winter and 1 lamb of the year's increase, and the fleece
of 1 bellwether and the milk of his flock for seven nights after the
equinox and a bowlful of whey or buttermilk all the summer.
_Of the Goat-herd._--To the goat-herd belongs his herd's milk after
Martinmas Day and before that his share of whey and one kid of the
year's increase, if he have well cared for his herd.
_Of the Cheese-maker._--To the cheese-maker belong 100 cheeses, and that
she make butter of the wring-whey[28] for the lord's table; and she
shall have for herself all the buttermilk save the herd's share.
_Of the Barn-keeper._--To the barn-keeper belong the corn-droppings in
harvest at the barn-door, if his ealdorman give it him and he faithfully
earn it.
_Of the Beadle._--It belongs to the beadle that for his office he be
freeer from work than another man, for that he must be oft ready; also
to him belongs a strip of land for his toil.
_Of the Woodward._--To the woodward belongs every windfall-tree.
_Of the Hayward._--To the hayward it belongs that his toil be rewarded
with land at the ends of the fields that lie by the pasture meadow; for
he may expect that if he first neglects this, to his charge will be laid
damage to the crops; and if a strip of land be allowed to him, this
shall be by folk-right next the pasture meadow, for that if out of sloth
he neglect his lord, his own land shall not be well defended, if it be
found so; but if he defend well all that he shall hold, then shall he be
right worthy of a good reward.
Land-laws are diverse, as I said before, nor do we fix for all places
these customs that we have before spoken of, but we shew forth what is
accustomed there where it is known to us; if we learn aught better, that
will we gladly cherish and keep, according to the customs of the place
where we shall then dwell; for gladly should he learn the law among the
people, who wishes not himself to lose honour in the country.
Folk-customs are many; in some places there belong to the people
winter-feast, Easter-feast, boon-feast for harvest, a drinking feast for
ploughing, rick-meat,[29] mowing reward, a wainstick at wood-loading, a
stack-cup[30] at corn-loading, and many things that I cannot number. But
this is a reminder for men, yea, all that I have set forth above.[31]
[Footnote 2: _See_ Cunningham, _Growth of English Industry and
Commerce_, i., 570-576.]
[Footnote 3: _cf._ _Dialogus de Scaccario_: "Finally, that nothing might
be thought lacking, he brought the whole of his far-seeing measures to
completion by despatching from his side his wisest men in circuit
throughout the realm. The latter made a careful survey of the whole
land, in woods and pastures and meadows and arable lands also, which was
reduced to a common phraseology and compiled into a book, that every man
might be content with his own right and not encroach with impunity on
that of another."]
[Footnote 4: The right conferred by his book or charter.]
[Footnote 5: Military service.]
[Footnote 6: Repair of the king's castles or boroughs.]
[Footnote 7: Reading with Leo _fyrdscipe_ for _frithscipe_. For the
difficult word "_scorp_" cf. Pat. 9 John m. 3. _Rex omnibus scurmannis
et marinellis et mercatoribus Anglie per mare itinerantibus. Sciatis nos
misisse Alanum ... et alios fideles nostros scurimannos ... ad omnes
naves quas invenerint per mare arrestandas._]
[Footnote 8: Guard of the king's person.]
[Footnote 9: Rent or tribute. Gafol is sometimes a tax payable to the
king, and sometimes a rent or dues payable to the lord.]
[Footnote 10: Payment for pasturing swine.]
[Footnote 11: The lord's house.]
[Footnote 12: This clause appears only in the Latin version.]
[Footnote 13: _i.e._, Acquit his lord's inland or demesne.]
[Footnote 14: February 2.]
[Footnote 15: September 29.]
[Footnote 16: November 11.]
[Footnote 17: Pasture-land.]
[Footnote 18: _i.e._, He must plough 3 acres as his rent (gafol).]
[Footnote 19: Outfit.]
[Footnote 20: Reaping at the lord's command.]
[Footnote 21: If he have good land, good, that is, either in quality or
quantity or both.]
[Footnote 22: The lord's herd.]
[Footnote 23: An acre for ploughing.]
[Footnote 24: A sheaf from each acre in harvest.]
[Footnote 25: A free but landless retainer.]
[Footnote 26: The reeve (gerefa).]
[Footnote 27: The first milk of a milch-cow after calving.]
[Footnote 28: The residue after the last pressing of the cheese.]
2. THE FORM OF THE DOMESDAY INQUEST [_Inquisitio Eliensis, Domesday
Book, Additamenta, p. 497_], 1086.
Here below is written the inquest of the lands, in what manner the
King's barons enquire, to wit, by the oath of the sheriff of the shire,
and of all the barons and their Frenchmen and of the whole hundred, of
the priest, the reeve, six villeins of each town. Then how the manor is
named; who held it in the time of King Edward; who holds it now; how
many hides; how many ploughs on the demesne, and how many of the men;
how many villeins; how many cotters; how many serfs; how many freemen;
how many socmen; how much wood; how much meadow; how many pastures; how
many mills; how many fishponds; how much has been added or taken away;
how much it was worth altogether; and how much now; how much each
freeman or socman there had or has. All this for three periods; to wit,
in the time of King Edward; and when King William granted it; and as it
is now; and if more can be had therefrom than is had.
[Footnote 29: A feast on the completion of the hayrick.]
[Footnote 30: Probably a feast at the completion of corn-stacking.]
[Footnote 31: The best printed text is in Liebermann, _Die Gesetze der
Angelsachsen,_ I. 444.]
3. THE BOROUGH OF DOVER [_Domesday Book, I, 1_], 1086.
Dover in the time of King Edward rendered 18l., of which money King
Edward had two parts and Earl Godwin the third. On the contrary the
canons of St. Martin had another moiety.[32] The burgesses gave twenty
ships to the King once a year for fifteen days and in each ship were
twenty-one men. This they did for that he had fully granted to them sac
and soc.[33] When the King's messengers came there, they gave for the
passage of a horse 3d. in winter and 2d. in summer. The burgesses,
however, found a pilot and one other assistant, and if need were for
more, it was hired from the messenger's own money.
From the feast of St. Michael[34] to the feast of St. Andrew[35] the
King's truce (that is, peace) was in the town. If any man broke it, the
King's reeve received therefor common amends.
Whosoever, dwelling in the town continually, rendered custom to the
King, was quit of toll throughout all England.
All these customs were there when King William came to England.
Upon his very first coming to England the town was burned, and therefore
the value thereof could not be computed, how much it was worth when the
Bishop of Bayeux received it. Now it is valued at 40l., and yet the
reeve renders therefrom 54l., that is, to the King 24l. of pence which
are twenty in the ounce (_ora_)[36] and to the Earl 30l. by tale.
In Dover there are 29 messuages, from which the King has lost the
custom. Of these Robert of Romney has two, Ralph de Curbespine three,
William son of Tedald one, William son of Oger one, William son of
Tedold and Robert Niger six, William son of Goisfrid three, in which was
the gildhall of the burgesses, Hugh de Montfort one house, Durand one,
Ranulf de Columbels one, Wadard six, the son of Modbert one. And all
these of these houses avow the Bishop of Bayeux as their protector,
donor and grantor.
Of the messuage which Ranulf de Columbels holds, which belonged to an
exile (that is, an outlaw), they agree that half the land is the King's,
and Ranulf himself has both. Humphrey the Bandylegged (_Loripes_) holds
one messuage wherefrom half the forfeiture was the King's. Roger de
Ostreham made a house over the King's water and has held hitherto the
King's custom. And the house was not there in the time of King Edward.
At the entry of the port of Dover there is a mill which by great
disturbance of the sea shatters almost all ships, and does the greatest
damage to the King and the men; and it was not there in the time of King
Edward. Touching this the nephew of Herbert says that the Bishop of
Bayeux granted to his uncle Herbert son of Ivo that it should be made.
[Footnote 32: There was clearly a difference of opinion.]
[Footnote 33: Rights and profits of jurisdiction.]
[Footnote 34: September 29.]
[Footnote 35: November 30.]
[Footnote 36: _cf_. Fleta ii. 12: "_Viginti denarii faciunt unciam_."]
4. THE BOROUGH OF NORWICH [_Domesday Book, II_, 116], 1086.
In Norwich there were in the time of King Edward 1320 burgesses. Of whom
one was so much the King's own (_dominicus_) that he could not withdraw
nor do homage without his licence; whose name was Edstan. He had 18
acres of land and 12 of meadow and 2 churches in the borough and a sixth
part of a third; and to one church pertained a messuage in the borough
and 6 acres of meadow. This borough Roger Bigot holds of the King's
gift. And of 1238 burgesses the King and the Earl had soc and sac[37]
and custom; and over 50 Stigand had soc and sac and commendation[38];
and over 32 Harold had soc and sac and commendation; of whom one was so
much his own (_dominicus_) that he could not withdraw nor do homage
without his licence. In all they all had 80 acres of land and 20 acres
and a half of meadow; and of these one was a woman, Stigand's sister,
with 32 acres of land; and between them all they had half a mill and the
fourth part of a mill, and still have; and in addition they had 12 acres
and a half of meadow which Wihenoc took from them; now Rainald son of
Ivo has the same; and in addition 2 acres of meadow which belonged to
the church of All Saints; these also Wihenoc took, and now Rainald has
them. There is also in the borough a church of St. Martin which Stigand
held in the time of King Edward, and 12 acres of land; William de
Noiers has it now as part of the fee of Stigand. Stigand also held a
church of St. Michael, to which belong 112 acres of land and 6 of meadow
and 1 plough. This Bishop William holds, but not of the bishopric. And
the burgesses held 15 churches to which belonged in almoin 181 acres of
land and meadow. And in the time of King Edward 12 burgesses held the
church of Holy Trinity; now the bishop holds it of the gift of King
William. The King and the Earl had 180 acres of land. The Abbot has a
moiety of the church of St. Lawrence and one house of St. Edmund. This
was all in the time of King Edward. Now there are in the borough 665
English burgesses and they render the customs; and 480 bordiers who
owing to poverty render no custom. And on that land which Stigand held
in the time of King Edward there dwell now 39 burgesses of those above;
and on the same land there are 9 messuages empty. And on that land of
which Harold had the soke there are 15 burgesses and 17 empty messuages
which are in the occupation of the castle. And in the borough are 190
empty messuages in that part which was in the soke of the King and Earl,
and 81 in the occupation of the castle. In the borough are further 50
houses from which the King has not his custom.... And in the borough the
burgesses hold 43 chapels. And the whole of this town rendered in the
time of King Edward 20l. to the King and to the Earl 10l. and besides
this 21s. 4d. for allowances and 6 quarts of honey and 1 bear and 6 dogs
for bear-[baiting]. And now 70l. king's weight and 100s. by tale as
gersum to the Queen and 1 goshawk and 20l. blanch to the Earl and 20s.
by tale as gersum to Godric.... Of the burgesses who dwelt in Norwich 22
have gone away and dwell in Beccles, a town of the abbot of St. Edmund,
and 6 in Humbleyard hundred, and have left the borough, and in King's
Thorpe 1, and on the land of Roger Bigot 1, and under W. de Noies 1, and
Richard de Sent Cler 1. Those fleeing and the others remaining are
altogether ruined, partly owing to the forfeitures of Earl Ralph, partly
owing to a fire, partly owing to the King's geld, partly through
Waleram.
In this borough if the bishop wishes he can have one moneyer....
_Land of the Burgesses._--In the hundred of Humbleyard always 80 acres
and 14 bordiers and 1 plough and 3 acres of meadow; and they are worth
13s. 4d.
_The French of Norwich._--In the new borough are 36 burgesses and 6
Englishmen and of yearly custom each one rendered 1d. besides
forfeitures; of all this the King had two parts and the Earl the third.
Now there are 41 French burgesses on the demesne of the King and the
Earl, and Roger Bigot has 50, and Ralph de Bella Fago 14, and Hermer 8,
and Robert the crossbowman 5, and Fulcher, the abbot's man, 1, and Isac
1, and Ralph Visus Lupi 1, and in the Earl's bakehouse Robert Blund has
3, and Wimer has 1 ruined messuage.
All this land of the burgesses was on the demesne of Earl Ralph and he
granted it to the King in common to make the borough between himself and
the King, as the sheriff testifies. And all those lands as well of the
knights as of the burgesses render to the King his custom. There is also
in the new borough a church which Earl Ralph made, and he gave it to his
chaplains. Now a priest of the sheriff, by name Wala, holds it of the
King's gift, and it is worth 60s. And so long as Robert Blund held the
county, he had therefrom each year 1 ounce of gold.
[Footnote 37: _i.e._, Rights of jurisdiction.]
[Footnote 38: _i.e._, Feudal lordship.]
5. THE BOROUGH OF WALLINGFORD [_Domesday Book, I_, 56], 1086.
In the borough of Wallingford King Edward had 8 virgates of land, and in
these there were 276 haws[39] rendering 11l. of rent (_gablo_), and
those who dwelt there did service for the King with horses or by water
as far as Blewbury, Reading, Sutton, Bensington, and to those doing this
service the reeve gave hire or corrody not from the king's revenue
(_censu_) but from his own.
Now there are in the borough all customs as there were before. But of
the haws there are thirteen less; for the castle eight have been
destroyed, and the moneyer has one quit so long as he makes money. Saulf
of Oxford has one, the son of Alsi of Farringdon one, which the King
gave him, as he says. Humphrey Visdelew has one, for which he claims the
King to warranty. Nigel holds one of Henry by inheritance from Soarding,
but the burgesses testify that the latter never had it. From these
thirteen the King has no custom; and further William de Warenne has one
haw from which the King has no custom. Moreover there are 22 messuages
of Frenchmen rendering 6s. 5d.
King Edward had 15 acres in which housecarles dwelt. Miles Crispin holds
them, they know not how. One of these belongs to[40] (_jacet in_)
Wittenham, a manor of Walter Giffard.
Bishop Walchelin has 27 haws rendering 25s. and they are valued in
Brightwell, his manor.
The abbot of Abingdon has 2 acres on which are 7 messuages rendering
4s., and they pertain to Oxford.
Miles has 20 messuages rendering 12s. 10d., and they belong to (_jacent
in_) Newnham, and also one acre on which there are 6 haws rendering 18d.
In Hazeley he has 6 messuages rendering 44d. In Stoke one messuage
rendering 12d. In Chalgrove one messuage rendering 4d. In Sutton one
acre on which there are 6 messuages rendering 12d., and in Bray one acre
and 11 messuages rendering 3s. there. All this land pertains to
Oxfordshire; nevertheless it is in Wallingford....
Alwold and Godric have the rent (_gablum_) of their houses and bloodwite
if blood is shed there, if the man should be received within them before
he be claimed by the King's reeve, except on Saturday owing to the
market, because then the King has the forfeiture; and they have the fine
for adultery and theft in their houses; but other forfeitures are the
King's.
In the time of King Edward the borough was worth 30l. and afterwards
40l.; now 60l. And yet it renders of farm 80l. by tale. What pertains to
Adbrei is worth 7s. and the land of Miles Moli 24s. What the abbot of
Abingdon has is worth 8s. What Roger de Laci has, 7s. What Rainald has,
4s.
The underwritten thegns of Oxfordshire had land in Wallingford.
Archbishop Lanfranc, 4 houses pertaining to Newington rendering 6s.
Bishop Remigius, one house pertaining to Dorchester rendering 12d. The
abbot of St. Alban one house rendering 4s. Abbot R. one house in Ewelme
rendering 3s.
Earl Hugh, one house in Pyrton rendering 3s.
Walter Giffard, 3 houses in Caversham rendering 2s.
Roger de Olgi, 2 houses in Watlington rendering 2s. and one house in
Perie rendering 2s.
Ilbert de Lacy and Roger son of Seifrid and Orgar, 3 houses rendering
4s.
Hugh de Bolebec 3 houses in Crem rendering 3s.
Hugh Grando de Scoca, one house rendering 12d.
Drogo, in Shirburne and in Weston, 3 houses rendering 4s.
Robert Armenteres, in Ewelme, one house rendering 12d.
Wazo, one house in Ewelme rendering 3s.
[Footnote 39: _i.e._, Houses.]
[Footnote 40: Or, "is valued in."]
6. CUSTOMS OF BERKSHIRE [_Domesday Book, I_, 56], 1086.
When geld was given in the time of King Edward in common throughout the
whole of Berkshire, a hide gave 3-1/2d. before Christmas and as much at
Whitsuntide. If the King sent an army anywhere, from 5 hides went one
knight only, and for his food or wages 4s. were given to him from each
hide for two months. This money, however, was not sent to the King, but
was given to the knights. If anyone summoned for military service went
not, he forfeited to the King the whole of his land. And if anyone
stayed behind and promised to send another in his place, and yet he who
was to be sent stayed behind, his lord was quit for 50s. A thegn or
knight of the King's own (_dominicus_) left to the King at death for
relief all his arms and one horse with a saddle and one without a
saddle. And if he had hounds or hawks, they were presented to the King,
that he might receive them if he would. If anyone killed a man having
the King's peace, he forfeited to the King both his body and all his
substance. He who broke into a city by night made amends in 100s. to the
King, not to the sheriff. He who was warned to beat the woods for
hunting and went not, made amends to the King in 50s.
7. LAND OF THE CHURCH OF WORCESTER [_Domesday Book, I_, 172_b_], 1086.
The church of St. Mary of Worcester has a hundred which is called
Oswaldslaw, in which lie 300 hides, wherefrom the bishop of that church,
by a constitution of ancient times, has all the profits of the sokes and
all the customs belonging thereto for his own board and for the king's
service and his own, so that no sheriff can have any plaint there,
neither in any plea nor in any cause whatsoever. This the whole county
testifies. These aforesaid 300 hides were of the demesne itself of the
church, and if anything thereof had been in any wise demised or granted
to any man soever, to serve the bishop therewith, he who held the land
granted to him could not retain for himself any custom at all therefrom,
save through the bishop, nor could he retain the land save until the
completed term which they had determined between themselves, nor could
he go anywhither with that land.
8. THE MANOR OF ROCKLAND, CO. NORFOLK [_Domesday Book, II_, 164, 164
_b_], 1086.
In Rockland Simon holds 3 carucates of land which one freeman, Brode,
held in the time of King Edward. Then as now 2 villeins and 12
bordiers.[41] Then 4 serfs, now 1, and 8 acres of meadow; then as now 2
ploughs on the demesne and 1 plough among the men. Wood for 6 swine.
Then 4 rounceys,[42] now none. Then 8 beasts, now 5. Then 30 swine, now
15. Then 100 sheep, and now likewise. And in the same [town] the same
Simon holds 6 freemen and a half, whom the same Brode had in
commendation only; 70 acres of land and 4 acres of meadow; then as now 1
plough and a half. Of these 6 freemen and a half the soke was in the
King's [manor of] Buckenham in the time of King Edward, and afterwards,
until William de Warenne had it. Then and always they were worth 3l.
10s.
After this there were added to this land 9 freemen and a half, 1
carucate of land, 54 acres, this is in demesne; then as now 9 bordiers
and 8 acres of meadow; then as now 6 ploughs, and 2 half mills. The
whole of this is [reckoned] for one manor of Lewes and is worth 3l. 11s.
Of four and a half of the 9 freemen the soke and commendation was in the
King's [manor of] Buckenham in the time of King Edward, and afterwards,
until William de Warenne had it, and the whole was delivered in the time
of Earl Ralph. The whole is 1 league in length and a half in breadth,
and [pays] 15d. of geld.
[Footnote 41: Cotters.]
[Footnote 42: Horses.]
9. THE MANOR OF HALESOWEN, CO. WORCESTER [_Domesday Book, I_, 176],
1086.
Earl Roger holds of the King one manor, Halesowen. There are 10 hides
there. On the demesne there are 4 ploughs and 36 villeins and 18
bordiers, 4 "radmans" and a church with 2 priests. Among them all they
have 41-1/2 ploughs. There are there 8 serfs and 2 bondwomen. Of this
land Roger Venator holds of the Earl one hide and a half, and there he
has one plough and 6 villeins, and 5 bordiers with 5 ploughs. It is
worth 25s. In the time of King Edward this manor was worth 24l. Now 15l.
Olwin held and had in Droitwich a saltpan worth 4s. and in Worcester a
house worth 12d.
The same Earl holds Salwarpe, and Urso of him. Elwin Cilt held it. There
are 5 hides there. On the demesne there is one plough and 6 villeins,
and 5 bordiers with 7 ploughs. There are there 3 serfs and 3 bondwomen
and a mill worth 10s. and 5 saltpans worth 60s. Half a league of wood
and a park there. In the time of King Edward it was worth 100s. Now 6l.
There can be two ploughs more there.
10. THE MANOR OF HAVERING, CO. ESSEX [_Domesday Book, II_, 2 _b_], 1086.
_Hundred of Bintree._--Harold held Havering in the time of King Edward
for one manor and for 10 hides. Then 41 villeins, now 40. Then as now 41
bordiers and 6 serfs and 2 ploughs on the demesne. Then 41 ploughs among
the men, now 40. Wood for 500 swine, 100 acres of meadow; now one mill,
two rounceys and 10 beasts and 160 swine and 269 sheep. To this manor
belonged 4 freemen with 4 hides in the time of King Edward, rendering
custom. Now Robert son of Corbutio holds 3 hides, and Hugh de Monte
Forti the fourth hide, and they have not rendered custom since they have
had them. And further the same Robert holds 4 hides and a half which one
freeman held at this manor in the time of King Edward; the freeman held
also a soke of 30 acres, rendering custom; and now John son of Galeram
holds it. And this manor in the time of King Edward was worth 36l., now
40l. And Peter the sheriff received therefrom 80l. of rent and 10l. of
gersom.[43] To this manor pertain 20 acres lying in Lochetun, which
Harold's reeve held in the time of King Edward; now the King's reeve
holds the same, and they are worth 40d.
[Footnote 43: _i.e._, Fine.]