Bonds Charities 1502.
On
the investigation of these Charities at Soham, no authentic copy of
Bond's Will was produced. Search was made without effect in the
registry at Sudbury, and at Doctor's Commons. However, more than a year
after the inquiry, several documents relating to the Charities of the
Parish were discovered in the Vicarage; and among them, a very ancient
paper endorsed '' Bond's Will, '' of which a copy is annexed.
This
is the last Will of me, Richard Bond, of Soham, in the County of
Cambridge, of this underwritten indented, made the 20th Day of
September, the year of our Lord God a Thousand Five Hundred and Two, of
all my Lands, Tenements, Rents, Services, Meadows, Feeding places,
Pastures, and Closures, with the liberty of two folds, the which I, or
any other man to mine use, hath within the said Town divided in four
parties, as hereunder written parcellye it appeareth.
First, I will
that, immediately after my decease, my Wife have all the said Lands and
Tenements for term of her life; and after her decease, I will that mine
Executors take and perceive all the rents, services, issues and
profits, of all the Lands, Pastures, and Closures, with the liberty of
two folds, by lease, to farm, occupation, manuring of the same, to the
best avail and profit, that may come thereof, of the which the said
Executors during their lives, and of each of them, shall receive, take,
and retain in their own hands, 40s. of good and lawful money to the
comfort and relief of the persons that shall be charged more with any
15th, called the tax or tallage, to be had and gathered in the said
Town of Soham, the Lordship of Netherhall Barway, Henney, and Fordham
excepted; and if the said Executors be negligent, and will not perform
this my last Will, then I will, that my feffors shall see it performed,
and do call the said Executors before the ordinary to punish them as
breakers of my last Will for non-performing of the same, and that the
charge of that ( be ) borne of the issues and profits of my said lands.
Moreover,
I will, incontinent after my decease and my Wife's that mine Executors
receive, take, and retain, in their own hands, 40s.; and the next year
after that, 40s.; and the next year after that, 40s.; and the next year
after that, 40s.; except that is afore except, and when they have
received £8. of four year, then I will, that the next year following be
disposed and laid in the reparation of the Church in Soham, 40s.; and
then I will, the next year following after that, be disposed and laid
in the reparations of '' they hye,'' 40s.; and upon that so
done,
I will, that mine Executors receive, take and retain in their own
hands, for four years, £8.; and then after that so done, I will have
disposed and laid 40s. in the Church of Soham; and the next year after
that, I will have disposed and laid in the reparation of the Highway,
other 40.; and so to continue, under the same form, for evermore,
perpetually, without end; and if so be that the 15th, called the tax,
fall so often that the Church and Highway may not be served, then I
will, that the Church and Highway tarry till it may be performed, and
thus to endure perpetually, withouten end, as it is afore rehearsed,
for ever. I will, that the 15th, called the tax, be ever paid
perpetually; and for the contentation, performation, and the payment of
the same, Richard Bond, by divine permission, hath limited
and
assigned one Close, being and situated at the Mereside, between the
Close of John Norfolk on the North, and the Messuage and
Close of
Edward Bestney on the South, the West end whereof abutts upon the
Common, near the Mere; and likewise another Close at Cotelondes,
between the Close of Thomas Bestney, junior, on the North, and a
certain Slade called Baromslade on the South; the West head abuts upon
the Highway, leading from Soham to Fordham, and also 16½a. and ½r. Land
and Meadow, particularly lying in the Town and Field of Soham and
Fordham, whereof --
| A. | R. | P. | |
| 1 | 0 | 0 | in - - ditch, next the Land of Robert Smith, sometime John Watey, on the East. |
| 0 | 2 | 0 | in the same field, next the Land of William Thornton, on the East, and reacheth cross the path called Wicken-way. |
| 0 | 2 | 0 | in the same firld, next the Land of Helen Pecke, late Thomas Reves, Eastward. |
| 0 | 2 | 0 | in Burwell Hale, next the Land of the King, on the West. |
| 0 | 2 | 0 | on the Downe, next the Land of William Thornton, West. |
| 0 | 2 | 0 | in the same field, next the Land of Thomas Godfrey, West. |
| 0 | 2 | 0 | in the same field, next the Land of Thomas Derby, West. |
| 0 | 3 | 0 | in the same field, next the Land of Richard Wethy, West. |
| 1 | 0 | 0 | in East field, at Clypsall-gate, next the Land of William Macre, sen., on the South. |
| 1 | 0 | 0 | lying at Jone's Ponds, being a head-land. |
| 0 | 2 | 0 | lying in the same field, next the Land of Andrew Bug, on the East. |
| 1 | 0 | 0 | in the same field, near the Land of William Thornton, crossing Shepherd's Path. |
| 0 | 2 | 0 | in the same field, next the Land of William Mott, of Fordham, on the North. |
| 0 | 3 | 0 | at Fordham Town's-end, next the Land of William Hawker. |
| 2 | 0 | 0 | in Fordham Field, together in one piece, next two furlongs, near the Land of William Cheesewright, on the North. |
| 0 | 2 | 0 | Meadow in Green How, next the Meadow of Isabell Faverell, East. |
| 0 | 1 | 1 | in the same field, next the Meadow of the said Isabell Faverell, on the North. |
| 0 | 1 | 0 | in Green How Hill. |
| 0 | 2 | 0 | Meadow in the same field, next the Land of the Rector of Soham, North, late Thomas Reeves. |
| 1 | 0 | 0 | Mead, in Bancroft's Hall, abutting, with the East head, upon ye Lake of Thomas Palmere, |
|
'' which
Close by the Mere side is worth 20s. by the year; and the Close at
Cotelands |
| £. | s. | d. | ||
| '' Of which there is allowed for rent to our Lord the King by the year. | 0 | 3 | 0 | |
| '' And similarly there is allowed to the fee of Tendall -- acre and a half, and half a rood of meadow. | 0 | 0 | 10 | |
| '' And there is allowed for rent at the Mere side to the fee of the Lord, late of the Earl of Worcester, by the year. | 0 | 1 | 8 | |
| '' And similarly there is allowed for rent to the Lord Bishop of Ely by the year. | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| '' And similarly there is allowed for rent of the Lordship of Tendall by the year. | 0 | 0 | 6 | |
|
'' Sum of the allowances.( This is evidently a mistake for 6s. 1d. ).............. |
0 | 11s. | 1d. | |
|
'' Sum total clear by the year. |
2 | 0 | 7.'' | |
| ( What is here included in inverted commas is in Latin only in the original ). |
I
will that mine Executors shall, during their lives, keep or do keep my
year-day solemply, with note, placebo, dirige, and messe of requiem,
such day as it shall please God me depart out this world, and in
likewise the year-day of my wife, with divine service thereto
appertaining and belonging; remembering the souls of Richard Bond and
Alice his wife, William Bugg, Thomas Bond and Anne his wife, my father
and my mother, John Dunche and Maud , his wife, my wife's father and
her mother, with all Christian souls, for which they shall receive,
take, and retain in their hands of the said lands, meadows, lesures,
and pastures, as hereunder written more plainly it appeareth, once in
the year, during withouten end, 23s. 8d. Also I will, that
whosoever occupie the said landes, meadows, pastures, and closures,
assigned to keep up my obit and my wife's, as it is afore rehearsed,
that he shall purvey and ordain 3 combs of wheat of the best to be
baken likewise as it cometh from the mill; and I will that he be
allowed in his ferm for every combe wheat after the price of the
market, whether it be dear or cheap. Also I will, that he be
allowed for the leading to the mill and fetching home of every combe,
1d.; also that he be allowed for every combe wheat, baking and sysing
of the said bread, 4d.; and after that to be distributed and dealt to
poor people and to every person that will take it. Also I
will,
to be allowed out of the same ferm for ringing, 6d.; and for offering
out of the said ferm, 6d; also for the bellman for his labour, 1d.--sum
2s. 4d; and for the contentation and performation and payment of the
same,
'' the same Richard, of the grace of God, limited
and assigned a free Close built, situate in Netherhall Croft, called
Collis Close, held by free charter of the Manor of Tendall by the
service of 20d. by the year, with half an acre of customary meadow,
called the Milking-yard, leading from Brook-lane to the said Close,
held of the fee late of the Earl of Worcester, by the service of 8d.,
as it lies between metes and bounds in Netherhall Croft, with all its
appurtenances, except always to the said Richard Bond, or his Executors
or Feoffors for the time being, the timber there growing, because the
said timber should grow till it be fit to be cut, and then be sold for
the best price, and the price thence arising by the sale should be
disposed of according to the discretion of my Executors or Feoffors for
the good of the souls of myself and friends; and if any hold the said
Close he shall have it with all reparations to the same belonging, with
underwood, top and lop, in seasonable time, without waste, thence to be
done at his own costs and expenses, except as before excepted; and in
like manner he limited and assigned to the same eight acres of land and
meadow particularly. ''
( What is here included in inverted commas above was in
Latin. A copy of the original is subjoined ).
Note.--
Idem Richardus, ex gratia Dei limitavit et assignavit unum clausu
edificat scituatm in Netherhall Croftis vocatum Collis Close tent de
Dno Tendall libere per cartam p servit per an 20d. cum una dimidia acra
prati custum vocata le Milking-yard ducent a Broke lane usque dict
claus tenta de feod nuper Comitis Wygorne p servici per annum
8d.
put jacet infra metas et bundas in Netherhall Croftys cum omnibus suis
ptent excepto maeremio ibidem crescente prefato Ricardo Bonde semper
aut executorib vel feoffatoribus qui pro tempore fuerint ea causa quod
dictum maeremium ad crescend quousque dictum maerem sit apt ad scindend
tunc vendatur meliori precio et precium inde pvens disponatur secundm
discretm executorm meor vel feoffator meorm p salute animae
meae
et amicorum meorum et si quis tenet dict clausum habebit cum omnibus
reparacionibus ad idem p tinentibus cum subos in stridacione et
lopacione in tempore seysone absque vasto inde faciendo sum ptibus suis
ppriis et expensis exceptis pre exceptis et similiter limitavit et
assignavit ad idem octo acras terrae et prati particulariter.
( This paper is manifestly imperfect.)
The
following statement which is in some respects more complete, has been
collected from an entry in the account-book of the Charity.
Richard
Bonde, by Will, dated 20th September 1502, directed that his Executors
should take the rents and profits of a Close, called Bonde's Close,
another, called Cote's Land, and 16½ acres of land and meadow in the
vill and field of Soham and Fordham, which they should occupy upon
lease during their lives to the best avail and profit, and retain in
their own hands 40s. for the relief of those charged with the taleage
in the said Town of Soham, the Lordship of Netherhall, Barweye, Hennye,
and Fordham excepted; and that they '' incontinent '' should retain in
their own hands 40s. for four successive years, and the year after £8.
should be so accumulated, that 40s. should be laid out in the
reparation of the Church in Soham, and the next year following 40s. for
the reparation of the Highway, and so successively '' under the same
form for evermore;'' but if the taleage fall so often that the Church
and Highway could not be served, the latter to '' tarry '' till the
former be performed, and so '' without end, '' that the tax be
perpetually paid. And he likewise directed that whosoever
should
occupy a Close in Bancroft, called Arkrowe, and 6½ acres of land and
meadow, in his Will particularly described, should purvey and ordain 4
coombe of wheat to be baked, and the bread to be distributed amongst
poor people, and to them that would take it, or else the money, by the
discretion of his Executors; the tenant to be allowed for every coombe
after the market price, for carriage to and from the Mill 1d. per
coombe, and for baking and '' sysing '' the bread 4d. per coombe.
The
legal estate was outstanding in feoffees to uses, and directions were
given that when their number should be reduced to six, six others
should be appointed, who were to be men of substance and discretion,
dwelling in Soham, so that the land should abide in feoffment for ever.
Towards
the end of the reign of Queen Elizabeth, a bill in Chancery was filed
by several inhabitants of Soham, on behalf of themselves and others,
against Edward Barnes, Richard Settmon, and William Williamson,
respecting this Charity, and that of Wright's hereafter
mentioned. The decree in the suit, which was made 11th May,
43
Elizabeth, is not in any way material, as it merely directed an account
against the defendants; but in the allegations in the bill, which are
recited at considerable length, it is stated that Bond, by his Will,
devised and bequeathed several sums of money, to be yearly paid by his
Executors, and after their deaths by his feoffees, out of his said
lands, to divers godly and charitable uses; viz. towards the payment of
the tax, which after that time should be imposed upon the inhabitants
of Soham, and for the reparation of the Church and Highways, the relief
of the poor there, and to such other uses as in the said Will
mentioned; and that he further ordained in the said Will that, after
his death and that of his wife, one Robert Alwyn, and Agnes his wife,
should have a parcel of ground called Sparks, then a tenement with two
houses thereto laid and set, with the garden thereof, in
Soham,
during their lives; and after their decease, the same to remain to his
Executors or feoffees at that time living, to be let or sold to their
most profit by their discretion. It is further collected,
that he
appointed Thomas Peachie, John Gort, and Thomas Thompson, his
Executors, and directed that, after his decease, and that of all his
Executors, the three first feoffees named in his deed of
feoffment, ( The deed referred to is probably the feoffment to the use
of his Will ), and so continually the three feoffees first to
be
named in every deed of feoffment, which should afterwards be made of
the said land and premises, should have in charge to do, or execute,
and perform any article and clause as the said Executors should have
done; and appointed that there should be for ever more
continually enfeoffed in the premises, for the execution and
performance of the said uses, 12 men at the least, of the
most
substance and discretion, dwellers within the Town of Soham; and that
when it should happen six of the said twelve decease, that then the six
residue of the sid twelve being alive, should, of all the
premises, with their appurtenances, enfeoff a Priest, or two other
secular men, in fee simple, to the intent that they should immediately
enfeoff the said six men and six other men with them, dwellers within
the said Town of Soham, of value and substance as before rehearsed ;
and the same to perform and fulfil the premises in everything, and so
the said lands to continue and abide in feoffment for ever.
The
decree is in many parts defaced. It is, however, collected
from
the allegations there recited, as far as they can be deciphered, that
the intention of the testator was to vest the management in the three
senior Trustees, but as this cannot be ascertained with certainty it
appears far preferable to leave it in the body of Trustees at large.
The
earliest conveyance to new Trustees produced was an indenture, dated
4th April 1711, whereby Luke Staples and another, therein described as
surviving feoffees of the lands, tenements, and hereditaments of
Richard Bond, to the use and performance of his Will, enfeoffed Luke
Norfolk and another, of all the lands, with their appurtenances, which
were of Richard Bond, to hold to them and their heirs, upon condition
that they should immediately, upon request, re-enfeoff themselves and
10 others, inhabitants of Soham, to the use and behoof of the
performance, fulfilling, and accomplishment of the Will of the said
Richard Bond.
The re-infeoffment was not produced.
By divers
mesne conveyances, and ultimately by indenture of feoffment, dated 12th
March 1830, such part of the premises as were freehold became vested in
William Wilkin, John Slack, Ralph Eden,
Ellis
Staples, Julius Caesar Martin, William
Jugg, John
Hatch, Robert Fyson, James Archer,
William
Staples, Thomas Brown Whiting, and Sysar Fyson, and
their
heirs, on the trusts of the Will.
Besides the freehold property,
there is an ancient copyhold house, with a small slip of land attached
to it, called the Hempland, referred to before in the report of the
Soham Moor Charities, which all the admissions declare to be held upon
the trusts of Bond's Will.
Sixteen acres of Fen land, forming
one-third part of the Town lot, ( see Peachey's Charity,
already
mentioned, ) were awarded to the Trustees, in respect of common rights
appendant to this house, by a decree of the Commissioners of the
Bedford Level. The whole is reputed copy-hold of the Manor of
Soham and Fordham, though it may be doubted, on the authority of Doe
Davidson, 2 M. & S., whether the allotment is not freehold.
At a
Court, holden 14th July 1819, William Wilkin, John
Slack,
Ralph Eden, William Jugg, James Palmer,
Robert
Horsley, Ellis Staples, jun., and Edward Staples,
were
admitted to the copyhold premises, on payment of a fine of
£50.
The house is in wretched condition, and inhabited, rent free, by two
parish widows and a man, who is in occasional receipt of
relief.
The lands now belonging to Bond's Charities consist of the parcels
included in the subjoined rental.
| Quantity |
Tenant |
Rent |
Term |
|||||||
| A. | R. | P. | £. | S. | D. | |||||
|
I |
||||||||||
| Close of pasture | 6 | 1 | 22 |
F.
Bartell... |
14 | 6 | 0 | Six years from Michaelmas 1831. | ||
| Arable open field | 10 | 3 | 0 |
Edward Staples |
22 | 0 | 0 | Six years from Michaelmas 1831. | ||
| Allotment in Fordham | 3 | 0 | 0 |
W. Malden |
4 | 4 | 0 | Six years from Michaelmas 1831. | ||
| Part of a close of pasture | 2 | 0 | 0 |
Rev. H. Tasker, Vicar |
5 | 0 | 0 | Six years from Michaelmas 1831. | ||
| 22 | 0 | 22 |
£ |
45 | 10 | 0 | ||||
|
II |
||||||||||
| In the open field | 4 | 2 | 0 |
Edward Smith |
13 | 5 | 0 | Six years from Michaelmas 1831. | ||
| In the open field | 5 | 2 | 16 |
Giles Clark & Son |
10 | 10 | 0 | Six years from Michaelmas 1831. | ||
| In the open field | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Edward Staples |
2 | 2 | 0 | Six years from Michaelmas 1831. | ||
| 11 | 0 | 16 |
£ |
25 | 17 | 0 | ||||
|
III |
||||||||||
| Hempland | Trustees of the School | 1 | 0 | 0 | Yearly | |||||
| One-third of the Town lot | 16 | 0 | 0 |
Joel Chambers |
16 | 13 | 4 | Ten years from Michaelmas 1834 | ||
|
£ |
17 | 13 | 4 | |||||||
The
lands comprised in the first division of the rental are reputed to be
the Church and Highway estate. With the exception of the
allotment in Fordham, made under the Inclosure Act for that Parish,
they correspond with a terrier of 1609.
The first parcel is subject to a small quit-rent, and the allotment in
Fordham is tithe free.
The
second division is supposed to be the estate devised for the purchase
of bread. There is some variation between the terrier of
1609,
and another made in 1723, but the present amount of the property
appears to tally very closely with the Will.
The third division is the copyhold. It has for many years
been reputed to belong to the Church.
It
does not appear that any part of the property can be identified with
Sparke's mentioned in the proceedings in Chancery. In the
Will,
the customary half acre called the Milking Yard, is stated to be held
of the manor or fee, late of the Earl of Wygorne, or
Worcester. There is still a Manor in the Parish called
Netherhall
Wygorne; but the Hempland, with the allotment made to it, which is the
only copyhold subject to the trusts of Bond's Will, is held of the
Manor of Soham and Fordham.
The agreements provide for the proper
cultivation of the land. Some complaints on this head were
made
on the Inquiry. They appear, however, to have no foundation,
and
the land seems to be well managed, and the rents fair and regularly
paid. The clear produce of the bread estate, after deducting
small outgoings, and a portion of the Schoolmaster's salary for keeping
the accounts, has varied from £20. to £24., and is distributed at the
discretion of the Trustees, among poor persons, many of whom are in
receipt of relief, in small sums proportioned to their families, with a
preference to those who have pressed least heavily on the Parish.
After
similar deductions, and 19s. for a dinner, the rents of the land
comprised in the first and third parts of the rental are paid, the
latter yearly to the Churchwardens, and the former to the Churchwardens
and Surveyors of the Highways in alternate years.
The sums received
by the Churchwardens have been carried into general account.
Besides the usual expenses of the Church, payments are made by them
occasionally for other purposes, and about the year 1828, the sum of
£9. was paid for the destruction of sparrows. The appointment
of
new Trustees of the freehold part of Bond's Charities has for many
years past been made by double conveyance by lease and release, a
practice which can answer no end but augmenting the bill of the
Solicitor.
