A HISTORY OF NOTTINGHAMSHIRE 



t. Dunstanne day last past : And cummaund was 

 made by RycharJe Samon sonne to the sayje Thomas 

 Samon for f)d. in the weke : And theyre continuyd 

 frome the sayde day of St. Dunstane unto the As- 

 sumpcion day of owre lady last past whiche ys 

 1 2 wekes and 3 days : And soo the sayde Rycharde 

 Samon remanes in dett and owys for the burde of 

 the sayde John a Pole f)s. As appereth by sufficient 

 record : And alsoo by the wrytyng of the day of hys 

 cumming to the scole and to burde. 



Wryten by me Mr. SMYTH, Deync of 

 Notyngham and parson of Bylbrough. 



There is record of an action brought on 

 ii May 1506 by Thomas (which appears to be 

 a mistake for John) Smyth for 9*. "id. John 

 Payn, his attorney, alleged that Richard Samon 

 had placed one John Pole as a boarder (commm- 

 salem, sometimes translated at this date ' tabler,' 

 and at Winchester and at Oxford still called 

 commoner) at gd. a week for twelve weeks and 

 three days, making altogether i ox. 2d., which he 

 refused to pay. The damages were laid at 

 is. 8d. Samon was defended by Robert Hyrd, 

 his attorney. A jury was impanelled and, sad to 

 relate, the result was, ' Nihil debet per patriam,' 

 i.e. the jury found a verdict for the defendant. 

 Poor Smyth no doubt found it pleasanter to teach 

 a free school in Nottingham at a good salary 

 than to have to sue for fees at Bilborough, 

 especially as he retained his living. 



An interesting school bill 21 for a writing 

 master of this date is preserved, apropos of an 

 action brought in 1532 by John Burton against 

 the mother of William Merryman for his fees at 

 the rate of \d. to bd. a week for writing lessons 

 and yd. a week for board. 



Payd by me John Burton for William Mery- 



man, sone unto William Meryman, 



thes parcelles folowing : 

 Payd to the skrevener [scrivener] of the 



Long Rowe for techyng hym to write, /. d. 



5 wekes 26 



Payd to William Cost for teching hym to 



write, 8 wekkes 28 



Payd agayne to the skrevener of the Long 



Rowe for teching hym 8 wekkes . . 28 

 Payd to Maistur Holynhed for the techyng 



of hym 4 wekkes 16 



Payd for papyr for hym that he boughte 



hym selfe \\ 



Payd for ynke to hym that he bought . . 4^ 



Payd for a payre of shows (shoes) for him . 6 



Payd for a payre of hosse for him ... 3 



Payd for a penne knyfe and another knyfe . 2 



Payd at his firste sampyll to the skryvener . I 



Payd for ynke to the skryvener unto the 



tyme that he had spokyne with his 



fader I 



Payd for his borde for the space of 27 



wekkes at 9^. a weke 20 3 



Item lent to Elys his broder when that he 



bought hym bottes (boots) .... 9 



Summa totalis 32^. 



" By Mr. Corner in The forester, July 1888. 



John Smyth held the living of Bilborough 

 till he died, his successor being recorded as insti- 

 tuted on 20 August 1538 on a vacancy caused 

 by his death. But he does not seem to have- 

 retained the office of schoolmaster till then. 

 For on 15 July I532, 28 the freemen of the 

 eastern part of the town 'present [blank in MS.] 

 scolemaster for wylfulle murder doone to Ser 

 John Langton,' while those of the west say, ' we 

 indyte the Skolle mayster of welfulle murdar.' 

 The bill thereon founded runs : ' Let inquiry be 

 made on behalf of the Lord King if George 

 Somers late of Notingham, scolemastar, did on 

 17 June 24 Henry VIII with club and daggers 

 of malice aforethought assault John Langton, 

 chaplain, and then feloniously and wilfully 

 murder him.' The constables found a true bill,, 

 but the result does not appear. The fact that 

 the culprit is called not merely schoolmaster but 

 ' the Schoolmaster,' seems to be conclusive that 

 he was the head master of the free school. If 

 he had been usher he would have been so- 

 described, and, of course, no rival grammar 

 school was allowed in the town. 



Thomas Mellers, the eldest son of the founder, 

 by his will, 16 August 1535, added to the 

 school endowment : 23 ' Also I bequeath and giffe 

 all my lands, tenementes and hereditaments 

 within the towne and fields of Bassford, in the 

 county of Nottingham, to the use of the Free- 

 schoole lately foundyt within the sayd towne of 

 Nottingham by Dame Agnes Mellers my mother, 

 deceased, for ever : which lands, tenements, and 

 hereditaments I lately purchased of William 

 Spyssar of Lowghborow, gentilman.' The will 

 was proved 27 April the following year. A few 

 years later a further endowment was given by 

 Elizabeth Gillestrop, by will 12 April I543- 24 

 ' Item I bequyth to the seid Maior and Bur- 

 gesses of ye seid town of Nottingham for ye tyme 

 being, two stabulles sett, lying and being of tiie 

 bake syde of Rotenrowe [now Walnut Tree 

 Lane] in Nottingham affbrseid, now in the 

 severalle tenures and occupacion of Bartelmew 

 Sygrave and William Pettie, to have and to holde 

 to ye seid Maior and Burgesses and ther succes- 

 sours for evermore, to thusse, intent and main- 

 tenaunce of the Free Scole within the seid town 

 of Nottingham.' 



In spite of the ' superstitious ' provisions con- 

 tained in the Foundation Ordinance for an obit, 

 Nottingham School escaped the fate which over- 

 took so many grammar schools at the hands of 

 King Edward VI in the ' Acte for the Disso- 

 lucion of Colleges and Chantries.' This was 

 probably because the incorporated wardens were 

 laymen, and the schoolmaster and usher were 

 not necessarily priests. The school is men- 



" Borough Rec. iii, 372. 



a Test. Ebor. (Surt. Soc.), vi, 50. 



" Borcugh Rcc. iii, 394-8. 



222 



