I think that the fact that he is listed as 'Mr' means only that he was classed
as a gentleman and does not, necessarily, mean that he was a member of the
clergy. If this had been the case, then it would have been mentioned in his
will. Probably a lot of churchyards had some sort of grazing rights for rent
attached to them as a means of extra income for the church and, also, a way of
keeping down the grass! Certainly, as it has fallen to me to cut the grass in
our churchyard in Wawne, near Beverley, for the last three years, people's
suggestion of having sheep grazing in it has not come amiss with me.
When I looked through the other e-mails about your enquiry, I was pleased to see
that I was not alone in suggesting that stained cloths were probably
wall-hangings.
In order to find out more about your Mr John Bardolphe, have you tried to see if
there is a probate inventory, or probate record, for him available anywhere?
These are invaluable documents when compiling a more complete picture of
village structure and comparative wealth. If you are lucky, there might also
have been a glossary compiled of local terms used in inventories for your area.
Fortunately for me, the village in which I live is a 'peculiar' and, therefore,
the probate inventories - of which 76 survive - are housed at the Borthwick
Institute in York. Glebe Terriers are another useful source of information.
They started to be compulsory in the late sixteenth, early seventeenth
centuries, and would tell you whether or not John Bardolphe was a member of the
clergy and, probably, if grazing cows in the churchyard was an extra source of
income for the incumbent.
Do bear in mind that, in the second half of the sixteenth, and all of the
seventeenth centuries, there was a roaring trade in land following the
dissolution of the monasteries. This enabled a new 'gentry' class to arise,
with the vital qualification of being land-owning. My own particular interest
is in one such family who rose to prominence during and after the Civil War
through the acquisition of land and, in the late seventeenth century, marrying
into the aristocracy but there are many other examples in my local area of men
becoming wealthy and influential in this period through building up landed
estates, as well as others who combined this with trade and commerce.
Sorry, gone into lecture mode. Hope some of this is helpful in your continuing
research.
Mary
Quoting Frank Clement-Lorford <[log in to unmask]>:
> Mary, I am not sure about the area, but he is listed as Mr John Bardolphe.
> His final item was a cow in the Churchyard. The fact that he is called Mr,
> and the cow on the church yard implies he was a member of the clergy and the
> rest of the property implies a certain amount of wealth.
>
> Frank
>
>
>
> Experience is the name everyone gives to their mistakes. Oscar Wilde
> 1854-1900
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: From: Local-History list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
> Behalf Of Mary Carrick
> Sent: 10 November 2005 19:19
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject:
>
> This is just an informed guess but I do know that 'painted cloths' mentioned
> in
> probate inventories for the Holderness area of Yorkshire about the same time
> were the 'poor man's tapestries'; as such they were hung on the walls as
> decoration. Do you think that 'staine cloathes' might be a local word for
> the
> same thing. You do not mention the area of the country in which the will was
> drawn up but have discovered that local terms for everyday items are just
> that
> - local - and can vary within a very small area.
>
> Mary
>
> Quoting Frank Clement-Lorford <[log in to unmask]>:
>
> > Hi, in transcribing an itemised will in 1602, items in the parlour
> included
> > 'The staine Cloathes'. Does anyone know what this is, or attempt a guess?
> >
> >
> >
> > Regards Frank
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > It is a vulgar error to suppose that America was ever discovered. It was
> > merely detected. Oscar Wilde 1854 - 1900.
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
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