Source: https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/staffs/vol3/pp260-267
Timestamp: 2019-04-25 23:51:00+00:00

Document:
The priory of St. Thomas the Martyr on the north bank of the Sow two miles east of Stafford was founded about 1174 by Gerard fitz Brian, who was evidently a burgess of Stafford. (fn. 1) Gerard's foundation charter (fn. 2) shows that he had obtained some canons from Darley Abbey in Derbyshire and provided them with a site on land which he held from the bishop. Gerard stipulated that the house should be independent of any other and that he should be its patron and protector. The charter cannot be later than 1175 since it was witnessed by Ralph, Archdeacon of Stafford, who ceased to hold office in that year; (fn. 3) it cannot be much earlier since St. Thomas of Canterbury, to whom the priory was dedicated, was canonized in 1173.
Gerard's original gift consisted of almost 70 acres called Sheepwash Meadow and as much of the River Sow as belonged to it. (fn. 4) The only land, apart from this, which Gerard gave the priory was some property in Stafford subject to a yearly rent of 8s. due to his heirs. (fn. 5) It seems that, although Gerard lived for some years after the foundation of St. Thomas's and continued to take an interest in it, (fn. 6) he did not finish what he had begun. His foundation was completed by Bishop Richard Peche (1161-82) who referred to it in a grant as 'the church of St. Thomas the Martyr of Stafford . . . which we have founded'. (fn. 7) Later, in his confirmation of the canons' possessions, the bishop referred to the site of the priory as 'that place ... in which, by Gerard's own concession, we have founded their church'. (fn. 8) In 1182 Bishop Peche resigned his see, took the habit of a regular canon of St. Thomas's, and was buried there the same year. (fn. 9) By later chroniclers he was regarded as the founder and builder of the priory, (fn. 10) and the patronage of the house remained with his successors in the see of Coventry and Lichfield.
The bishop's first grant to the canons (fn. 11) consisted of a burgage in Lichfield; housebote, (fn. 12) haybote, and firebote from his woodland in Cannock Forest; common of pasture in his manor of Baswich; and 'the whole River Sow' from Stafford to the 'Watur Wending' (fn. 13) (evidently a grant of fishing rights) with a marshy place called 'le Kocholme' and a thicket near the confluence of the Sow and the Penk. By the time the bishop confirmed the canons' property a few years later (fn. 14) his benefactions to the priory had increased, and the canons had received from him land called 'Estmora' in Baswich on the opposite bank of the Sow from the priory, land at Orberton (in St. Mary's, Stafford), another burgage in Lichfield, and quittance of pannage in Baswich manor. Another of the bishop's gifts recorded in this confirmation is noteworthy as indicating the improving activities of the canons. The bishop had given them a meadow which had belonged to his manor of Eccleshall and which was 'often ruined by frequent flooding'; in return the canons 'by their own labour reclaimed to [the bishop's] use another meadow ... in Eccleshall better and more fertile'. The canons had by this time acquired the right to fish the River Penk as well as the Sow and had also been allowed to construct fish-ponds on the Sow and the Kingston Brook.
Little is known of the priory during the last century before the Dissolution. An early-15thcentury book of Augustinian observances, once belonging to St. Thomas's Priory, (fn. 104) is one of only three such English custumals to have survived. Apart from this and the records of lawsuits (fn. 105) there is no light on the internal history of the community before the visitation of 1518. (fn. 106) The community then numbered 8 including a novice; according to the subprior this was one below the complement of brethren. The officials were the subprior, precentor, and sacrist. The prior ruled the house autocratically but well. He gave the income of the priory as £140 a year, which he claimed to have increased by 20 marks a year. The house was £49 in debt but was owed £100. He stated that the standard of observance was satisfactory, and that there was daily reading of the Benedictine constitutions as well as of the Augustinian rule. (fn. 107) According to the precentor the prior relied too much on the advice of Richard Hervy, one of the brethren. (fn. 108) The truth behind this complaint may be that a few senior brethren had obtained an undue influence over the prior's conduct of business; the subprior stated that the inventory of the priory's goods was not read out before the whole convent, while the prior himself admitted that his account 'was delivered each year to the senior brethren, not before the whole convent'. A few irregularities were noted: some brethren did not sleep in the dormitory; the canons had ceased to use the refectory for meals and ate each day with the prior; (fn. 109) according to the precentor the prior's servants did not show proper respect towards the brethren, and since the last visitation the number of hunting dogs had increased. The visitor ordered the prior to render his annual account before the whole convent, to make a new inventory of the priory's goods, to take the advice of his brethren only and not that of laymen, and to secure payment of the debts owed to the priory, if necessary by process of law. The number of brethren was to be increased; three of them were to eat with the prior each day, the other five eating in the refectory. The prior's servants were to behave more suitably towards the brethren and the hunting dogs were to be removed. Another visitation in 1524 shows that some of the instructions of 1518 had not been complied with: (fn. 110) some brethren still did not sleep in the dormitory, the complaint about the neglect of the refectory was repeated, some of the servants were alleged to be dishonest, the number of brethren had not increased, and the prior did not render an account or keep an inventory. Nevertheless the prior's rule was praised by his brethren, and the visitor merely repeated his previous instruction about rendering an annual account.
1. S.H.C. viii(1), 131-2, gives some particulars of his property there. In 1968 792 deeds relating to the priory and a survey of the priory estates made in 1543 became available at the Staffs. Rec. Office (S.R.O. 938). Over a hundred of these deeds were abstracted or noted in S.H.C. viii(1), 123-201.
2. The original is in W.S.L. (S.MS. 593).
3. Le Neve, Fasti (1854 edn.), i. 570.
4. S.H.C. viii(1), 131-2. For the name (variously spelt 'Scepeswach' and 'Scepewas') and other details of the site see ibid. 134, 135; Sir T. Clifford and A. Clifford, Topographical and Historical Descrip. of the Parish of Tixall (Paris, 1817), 11, 33-34, 40; O.S. Map 1/2,500, Staffs. XXXVII. 12 and 16 (1901 edn.).
5. S.H.C. viii(1), 132. This property evidently consisted of burgages: ibid. 135-6. See also ibid. 185.
6. Gerard witnessed other early grants to the priory, one of which has been dated 1185-9: ibid. 159, 169-70, 172, 173. For a deed witnessed by his bro. Wm. see ibid. 169-70.
9. Ibid.; S.H.C. i. 108, 109; Annales Monastici (Rolls Ser.), ii. 242.
10. Dugdale, Mon. vi(1), 472; vi(3), 1242; H. Wharton, Anglia Sacra, i. 435. See also below n. 12.
12. The bishop's grant specifies housebote as 'timber for repairing their said church, the belfries, and all other buildings now built within the bounds of the priory . . . and their grange of Orberton'.
13. Near the confluence of the Penk and Sow.
14. For the rest of this para. and the following para. see ibid. 133-4.
15. In 1543 the priory possessions, then owned by Brian Fowler, still included 'two cornmills under one roof with Kingston Mill and fishings at the flood gates' and 'fishing upon Sow': 1543 survey in S.R.O. 938.
16. S.H.C. viii(1), 135-6. It was granted by Celestine III (1191-8); as it does not mention the lands in Acton Trussell and Bishton which the priory had acquired by 1194 (see below), it may be datable to the early years of Celestine's pontificate.
17. J. C. Dickinson, Origins of the Austin Canons and their Introduction into Eng. 138-42.
18. S.H.C. viii(1), 133, 135, 172-3, 192. For the probable location of the 'culturam circa Quennedale' on Tixall Heath see Clifford, Tixall, 86-87. Alan's gift was confirmed by Rob. de Stafford, the chief lord, and (for 10s.) by Hugh, Alan's son, who remitted a rent of 12d. from the Quennedale land and expressed a desire to be buried in the priory: S.H.C. viii(1), 173, 192-3.
19. S.H.C. viii(1), 133, 135; it was confirmed by his overlord Wm. FitzAlan: ibid. 159. For Nic. and his family see Shaw, Staffs. i. 168; S.H.C. 1914, 114-16. Nic. was kinsman of the Nic. de Mauvesin who sold Stallington to Stone Priory: see above p. 242 and n. 42.
20. S.H.C. viii(1), 135, 172; xii(1), 271. When Eudes made this grant he stated that he had handed himself over 'living and dead' to the priory. For later benefactions by the Mutton family see ibid. 182, and below pp. 262, 263.
21. S.H.C. viii(1), 135, 181. Reynold was probably descended from a family which played a part in the foundation of Stone Priory: V.C.H. Staffs. v. 89; S.H.C. ii(1), 207-9.
22. S.H.C. viii(1), 135, 170-1. For this fam. see V.C.H. Staffs. iv. 31. Rob. was also a benefactor of Stone Priory: S.H.C. vi(1), 11.
23. S.H.C. viii(1), 135, where the donor is called Rob. de Kincester; the identification, however, is certain: ibid. 139; ibid. iv(1), 123.
24. Ibid. viii(1), 133, 135, 176-7.
25. Ibid. 133-4, 135-6; for some of the original grants of these Stafford properties see ibid. 185, 187.
26. Ibid. 135, 166-7. Geoff. Savage gave 4 virgates here. For this fam. see Dugdale, Warws. i. 228-9.
27. S.H.C. viii(1), 134, 135, 169-70. These gifts, made by Phil. de Nugent and Steph. de Davenport, were probably from the estate near Gnosall later known as Brough Hall, which was at this time in the possession of a cadet branch of the Noel fam., founders of Ranton Priory: V.C.H. Staffs. iv. 125. Phil. de Nugent also gave the priory a rent due to him from Geoff. le Mercer which may have been in this area: S.H.C. viii(1), 185 and n. 4; but see also ibid. iv(1), 279.
29. Ibid. 137-8, 147. Rob. de Brok gave the land in Bishton and witnessed one of the grants in Acton Trussell. He was dead by 1194: V.C.H. Staffs. v. 79.
31. Ibid. 142-3; V.C.H. Staffs. v. 5.
32. S.H.C. viii(1), 200. This sale was confirmed by his brother, Ernald de Orberton, by Ernald's son, Geoff., and by the Prebendary of Whitgreave of whom the land was held: ibid. 199.
34. Ibid. 198, 199. He evidently held this land of Ernald fitz Geri (alias de Orberton) who later remitted a rent of 12d. due to him from the 8 acres: ibid. 200.
37. Tax. Eccl. (Rec. Com.), 253.
38. S.H.C. viii(1), 160; V.C.H. Staffs. v. 113.
40. From Hugh Tynmore: S.H.C. viii(1), 167, 168. His grandfather had confirmed Walter de Gray's grant: ibid. 167-8.
41. Ibid. 175. Eudes also gave the priory various lands which he held of Elias de Chorlton and of the church of Chorlton; these were probably in this area of the county, but not part of his lordship of Maer. Other lands which Eudes gave the priory (ibid.) were probably near Apeton and Cowley (both in Gnosall); Eudes seems to have been acquiring interests in this area, at Woollaston, in Bradley (ibid. 200-1; iii(1), 60; ibid. N.S. xi. 15-16).
42. Eudes's grant to the priory was confirmed (for 10 marks) by the other 3 coparceners: S.H.C. viii(1), 175-6.
44. S.H.C. viii(1), 174, 175. He had acquired one quarter from his kinsman and coparcener, Wm. de Befurd: ibid. 176. And see ibid. N.S. xii. 250 (where the earlier stages in the descent seem to be conjectural).
45. S.H.C. viii(1), 174, 175.
46. Ibid. 162, 163; ibid. N.S. xii. 186.
47. S.H.C. viii(1), 162, 163. It seems likely that the lordship of Drointon was divided between the Meverell and Drengeton families: ibid. N.S. xii. 187. Eleanor, Countess of Derby, gave the priory leave to improve the waste which they held in Drointon: S.H.C. viii(1), 163; the grant was made before the death of Sir Wm. de Caverswall in or before 1293: V.C.H. Staffs. iv. 77, n. 39.
48. S.H.C. viii(1), 144-6. This was in fact an exchange; the priory gave up all its lands in Weston-under-Lizard (for which see ibid. 194) in return for this property in Newton. Hugh kept only some woodland, a moor, and a fishery in the old mill pool in Newton: ibid. 146.
50. Ibid. 143-4, 147-8, 151, 154-8, 159, 174, 183.
51. Ibid. 180; xii(1), 275. He was the grandson of Eudes de Mutton who gave land in Ingestre: see above p. 261; S.H.C. N.S. xii. 152.
52. Cal. Lib. 1245-51, 6.
53. Close R. 1254-6, 290; ibid. 1268-72, 84, 481.
54. Cal. Pat. 1247-58, 573; S.H.C. viii(1), 137.
55. Cal. Pat. 1258-66, 263.
56. Close R. 1268-72, 562.
57. Complete Peerage, iv. 198-200. For other benefactors of the priory who were opponents of Hen. III see below p. 264 and notes 72, 80.
58. S.H.C. viii(1), 178-9; V.C.H. Lancs. iv. 393.
59. S.H.C. viii(1), 153-4; ibid. 1924, pp. 155-7. The appropriation was in recognition of the canons' almsgiving and hospitality 'even beyond their resources, by reason of the stream of the needy and of guests that pours in upon them'.
60. S.H.C. viii(1), 152, 153, 169.
61. Ibid. 142; Rot. Hund. (Rec. Com.), ii. 298.
62. S.H.C. viii(1), 142 n. 2; Valor Eccl. (Rec. Com.), iii. 111.
63. Cal. Pat. 1292-1301, 146; ibid. 1317-21, 246.
64. Ibid. 1272-81, 105; Cal. Close, 1272-9, 211; ibid. 1288-96, 98.
65. Cal. Chanc. R. Var. 225; Cal. Pat. 1292-1301, 90.
66. Cal. Chart. R. 1257-1300, 272; S.H.C. viii(1), 136-7.
67. S.H.C. viii(1), 149-50. Caverswall church had been appropriated to the priory by 1291: Tax. Eccl. (Rec. Com.) 243.
68. S.H.C. viii(1), 158-9. Saer had inherited the manor from Nic. de Mauvesin, an early benefactor of the priory: Shaw, Staffs. i. 168; and see above p. 261.
69. S.H.C. viii(1), 177; ibid. v(1), 162; Reg. Epist. Fratris Johannis Peckham (Rolls Ser.), ii. 505; iii. 1072. Abp. Pecham ordered the prior to pay this pension to John's wife, presumably because the flight of her husband and the sale of his lands had left her without support. The prior was also to absolve John from the excommunication which he had incurred for neglect of his wife. See also Hibbert, Dissolution, 114-15; S.H.C. i. 318-19.
70. Reg. Epist. Peckham, i. 112-13, 127-9, 392g-392h, 3920-392p; iii. 1003, 1020.
71. Reg. Johannis Pecham (Cant. & York Soc.), i. 117-18, 193-4; S.H.C. 1911, 106-7. See also S.H.C. vi(1), 118.
72. See above p. 261. Phil., like Rob., Earl of Derby, was an opponent of Hen. III: S.H.C. viii(1), 5.
73. List of Inquisitions Ad Quod Damnum Pt. I (P.R.O. Lists and Indexes, xvii), 15; W.S.L., S.MS. 330(i), pp. 195-6; Cal. Pat. 1281-92, 234; S.H.C. viii(1), 140-1, 180-1.
74. V.C.H. Staffs. iv. 82. In 1296 the canons surrendered all their title to any estate in Reule to Isabel de Mutton's husband, Phil. de Chetwynd.
75. Ibid. 117; S.H.C. viii(1), 142; H. E. Chetwynd-Stapylton, The Chetwynds of Ingestre, 46-48. Another gift of Phil.'s, of 4 virgates at Alton, made in 1288 (Cal. Close, 1279-88, 516), seems to have been ineffective.
76. Tax. Eccl. 242, 243, 253. This figure includes the appropriated church of Audlem (£10), although this is not noted as belonging to the priory: ibid. 248.
77. Valor Eccl. iii. 111.
78. Plac. de Quo Warr. (Rec. Com.), 709; S.H.C. vi(1), 243.
79. S.H.C. viii(1), 180; xii(1), 275. For Phil.'s gifts see above p. 262.
80. S.H.C. viii(1), 183. Although he is stated (ibid. n. 4) to have been 'a considerable benefactor' to the priory, it is not clear what property the priory acquired from him. His father, Thos., may have given some Stafford burgages: ibid. 184; xii(1), 312. Giles, like Rob., Earl of Derby, was an opponent of Hen. III: ibid. viii(1), 5; iv(1), 160, 165.
81. Ibid. 1911, 166-7; ibid. viii(1), 187-8; W.S.L., S.MS. 412.
82. S.H.C. viii(1), 129 n. 3.
83. J. C. Russell, 'The Clerical Population of Medieval Eng.' Traditio, ii. 200 (which, however, omits the prior in 1381: see E 179/15/8b); see below n. 95.
84. Cal. Close, 1313-18, 447.
86. Reg. Johannis Pecham, i. 143.
87. S.H.C. viii(1), 148-9, where it is wrongly dated; the grant must have been made between the knighting of Geoff. (c. 1290-2) and his death (by 1306): ibid. N.S. i. 40, 41.
88. Cal. Pat. 1334-8, 122.
89. Ibid. 1345-8, 353; S.H.C. viii(1), 171-2.
90. Cal. Pat. 1381-5, 297; S.H.C. viii(1), 185 (which incorrectly gives Coton instead of Acton: C 66/316, m. 38).
91. For the original grants of some of these properties see S.H.C. viii(1), 139-40, 193-4.
92. Cal. Pat. 1401-5, 402.
93. List of Inquisitions Ad Quod Damnum Pt. II (P.R.O. Lists and Indexes, xxii), 461; Cal. Pat. 1350-4, 187; S.H.C. viii(1), 149.
94. S.H.C. i. 283. Northburgh endowed a vicarage in the church; this endowment was reconstituted by Bp. Burghill in 1406: Lich. Dioc. Regy., B/A/1/7, f. 189v.
95. S.H.C. viii(1), 105-6; Lich. Dioc. Regy., B/A/1/6, f. 75v.; S.H.C. 1924, p. 364. Ferrers's gift implies that the community normally numbered 12; it was witnessed, however, by the prior and only 10 canons. If the size of the community increased, the sum paid from Weston was to be raised proportionately.
96. Lich. Dioc. Regy., B/A/1/3, f. no; S.H.C. 1914, 127-9; see below p. 267.
97. Cal. Papal Regs. v. 406.
98. For the 1404 grant of lands in Salt and Enson and in Stafford see above. For another small acquisition see Cal. Close, 1405-9, 31.
99. Lich. Dioc. Regy., B/A/1/7, ff. 194v., 205; Cal. Pat. 1405-8, 445. S.H.C. viii(1), 143 (followed by V.C.H. Staffs. v. 7), wrongly dates this grant to 1407.
100. J. H. Wylie, Hist. of Eng. under Henry the Fourth, iv. 201, 291.
101. Cal. Pat. 1408-13, 269.
102. Ibid. 1413-16, 290-1; List of Inquisitions Ad Quod Damnum Pt. II, p. 462; W.S.L., S.MS. 329(i), pp. 227-9; S.H.C. viii(1), 181, 182.
104. Cambridge Univ. Libr., Add. MS. 3572. It has affinities with an imperfect custumal from Llanthony (Glos.), now at Corpus Christi Coll., Oxford (MS. 38, ff. 1-225).
105. S.H.C. N.S. iii. 212-13, 220; N.S. iv. 148; C 1/443/31; Req. 2/11/57.
106. Lich. Dioc. Regy., B/V/1/1, p. 26.
108. The precentor alleged that Hervy's brother had obtained an unduly advantageous farm from the priory.
109. One of the brethren, however, alleged that this was done by order of the bishop.
110. Ibid. p. 53 (2nd nos.).
111. Valor Eccl. (Rec. Com.), iii. 110-12.
114. Valor Eccl. iii. 110.
115. L. & P. Hen. VIII, x, p. 316; S.P. 1/103, f. 194.
116. L. & P. Hen. VIII, x, p. 491.
117. Ibid. xii(2), p. 166.
118. Ibid. xiii(2), p. 177.
119. Ibid. xii(2), p. 225. The prior also informed Cromwell that the canons had given Mr. Leyke, a Derbyshire gentleman, a 50-year lease of Audlem church as Cromwell had evidently requested. They had received only 6s. 8d. from Leyke for the lease, whereas from one of the king's servants they might have had 40 marks.
120. Ibid. xiii(2), p. 285. For other efforts by Bp. Lee and his brother to provide for their orphaned Fowler nephews and nieces see below p. 282; J. L. Hobbs, 'Some Letters of Wm. Fowler, Steward of Shrewsbury, 1593-1595', Trans. Shropshire Arch. Soc. lvi. 273-4.
121. L. & P. Hen. VIII, xiii(2), p. 245.
122. Hibbert, Dissolution, 172, 232-3, 235.
123. G. Ormerod, Hist. of the County Palatine and City of Chester (1882 edn.), iii. 470.
125. Ibid. 234. A fine chalice and paten, dating from c. 1530 and now in the V. and A. Museum, may have belonged to St. Thomas's. They were discovered during the demolition of Pillaton Hall in the later 18th century; other items of plate are known to have been mortgaged by the priory to the Littletons, who held Pillaton from the early 16th century. See 31 st Ann. Rep. of the Pilgrim Trust (1961), p. 36; Hibbert, Dissolution, 234; V.C.H. Staffs. v. 119.
126. Hibbert, Dissolution, 234. The lead was surveyed again by the Court of Augmentations early in 1539: L. & P. Hen. VIII, xii(1), p. 362. This letter is wrongly dated as 1537; it was written after the surrender of St. Thomas's in Oct. 1538.
128. C 142/69/119; V.C.H. Staffs. v. 5; S.H.C. iii(2), 78-80.
129. J. C. Dickinson, 'The Priory of St. Thomas by Stafford', T.O.S.S. 1963-5, 5.
131. Ibid. 6-7. For a plan of part of the site, showing the position of this wall, and for an elevation showing the wall with its respond and aumbry see T.N.S.F.C. 1879, plates 1 and 2 between pp. 40 and 41; these plates are based on a more detailed sketch by Chas. Lynam in W.S.L. 110/38. A chapel of St. John the Baptist 'prope cancellum ecclesie conventualis' is mentioned in 1478: Lich. Dioc. Regy., B/A/1/12, f. 51.
134. Ibid. 7-9. The position of the cemetery, to the east of the eastern range, was indicated in 1965 when a number of burials were uncovered during the construction of a cesspit: inf. from Staffs. County Planning and Development Officer (1968).
135. T.O.S.S. 1963-5, 4-6. Mill Farm occupies the site of the priory mill.
136. Dugdale, Mon. iv. 221-2; B.M., Harl. MS. 3868, ff. 6v.-7; S.H.C. iv(1), 267 (for dating of which see V.C.H. Essex, ii. 170; Cartulary of Darley Abbey, ed. R. R. Darlington, p. lxxx).
138. S.H.C. 1924, p. 67; iii(1), 166-7.
139. Cur. Reg. R. ii. 223, 229, 233.
140. S.H.C. viii(1), 161-2; iv(1), 220, 224-5; xii(1), 275; Chetwynd-Stapylton, Chetwynds of Ingestre, 47.
143. S.H.C. 1911, 30-31; viii(1), 149.
144. Ibid. vii(1), 34, 134; S.R.O. 938/7931, deed of 1294.
145. S.H.C. viii(1), 153,188-9; Lich. Dioc. Regy., B/A/1/2, f. 171v.
146. Lich. Dioc. Regy., B/A/1/2, ff. 171v.-172v., 178v. He was subprior.
147. Ibid. f. 178v.; S.R.O. 938/7963. He was a canon of St. Thomas's. In 1355, when he was allowed to choose a confessor to give him plenary remission at the hour of death, he was simply described as a canon of St. Thomas's: Cal. Papal Regs. iii. 580.
148. Lich. Dioc. Regy., B/A/1/4, f. 57, where it appears that there had been a double election; the bishop quashed that of Rob. of Hilderstone and confirmed that of Ric. de Mere. Both were canons of St. Thomas's.
149. S.R.O. 938/7910, deed of 1374; S.H.C. viii(1), 183, 196.
150. Lich. Dioc. Regy., B/A/1/7, ff. 60v., 73. He was a canon of St. Thomas's.
151. Ibid. f. 73; S.H.C. viii(1), 188; S.R.O. 938/7930, deed of 1419; /7922, deed of 1445. He was a canon of St. Thomas's.
152. Lich. Dioc. Regy., B/A/1/10, f. 14; ibid./12, f. 51. He was a canon of St. Thomas's. In 1469 he was admitted to the Lichfield Guild: Harwood, Lichfield, 405. After his resignation he may have become Master of St. John's Hospital, Stafford: Cal. Papal Regs. xi. 565; see below p. 293.
153. Lich. Dioc. Regy., B/A/1/12, ff. 51, 172. He was a canon of St. Thomas's. In 1485 he was admitted to the Lichfield Guild: Harwood, Lichfield, 408. According to S.H.C. viii(1), 130, Chedull was succeeded by Wm. Smith who became prior in 1494, but no contemporary evidence for him has been found; the source cited (B.M. Add. MS. 5828, f. 90v.; Add. MS. 5846, f. 112) forms part of the collections of the 18th-cent. antiquary, the Revd. Wm. Cole, who was himself doubtful about the existence of this prior.
154. Harwood, Lichfield, 411 (his admission to the Lichfield Guild), 414.
155. S.R.O. 938/7902, deed of 1534; see above p. 266. In 1535 the bailiff of the priory's Coton and Stafford estates was Edw. Whythell (Valor Eccl. iii. 111; Hibbert, Dissolution, 235); he also held certain small properties on lease from the priory in these places (1543 survey in S.R.O. 938). Ric. and Harry Whittall (or Whytell) also held some priory property on lease (ibid.). Ric. and Kath. Whytell (or Whyttyll) received rewards at the surrender as servants of the priory (Hibbert, Dissolution, 233). All were presumably the prior's kin.
156. W. de G. Birch, Cat. of Seals in B.M. i, pp. 753-4. Other, more fragmentary, impressions of this seal are attached to E 326/8503, and to S.R.O., D.593/B/1/23/8/1/8 (calendared in S.H.C. xi. 327, and to be dated in or before 1293 when Sir Wm. de Caverswall, one of the witnesses, was dead: see above p. 262 n. 47).
157. B.M. Seal Cast lxxii. 41. Another fine impression is attached to E 329/373 (dated 1435).

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 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 V. 
 v. 
 v.