A HISTORY OF DORSET 



Man, vicar of Sturminster Marshall, was warden 

 of this hospital." 



As far as its internal management is concerned 

 a royal writ was issued, 1 8 November, 1359, 

 directing the eschcator of the county to make 

 inquiry into the truth of the report that certain 

 lands and rents pertaining to the hospital of St. 

 John of Dorchester ' of our patronage ' had been 

 granted away by former custodians to the great 

 waste and destruction of the house, so that various 

 services and almsgiving, established for the souls 

 of the king's progenitors, had ceased and been 

 withdrawn ; a jury should be empanelled to 

 ascertain what lands and rents formerly belonged 

 to the house, what had been alienated away, and 

 by whom it had been done.*' The return, made 

 the following month, stated that the hospital 

 formerly possessed seventeen messuages in the 

 town of Dorchester which produced a yearly 

 rent of £j 6s. ^.d., a water-mill, 96 acres of 

 a-able land, and 7 acres of meadow in Fording- 

 ton, two cottages, 5 acres of land and meadow in 

 Puddletown with appurtenances, and that Richard 

 Creyk, late master, eight years ago alienated 

 one messuage to Richard Tannere, chaplain, for 

 the annual rent of ijs. for the term of his life. 

 Since that time the present warden, Simon 

 de Brantingham, had made further alienations, 

 and had not only conveyed away land but 

 carried oiF the goods and chattels of the house, 

 including linen [naperia) and bedding.'" In 

 the course of these proceedings the said Simon 

 seems to have been either deposed or suspended, 

 for the following year the patent rolls, under 

 date of 6 July, 1360, record that Edward III 

 granted to his beloved clerk, Thomas de Brant- 

 ingham, the life custody of the hospital of 

 St. John Baptist, Dorchester, vacant and in his 

 gift." 



In March, 1451, Henry VI made a grant of 

 the hospital (vulgarly called ' Sayntjohneshous ') 

 with all its emoluments to the provost and 

 college of Eton, his deed reciting that whereas 

 the custody was then in the hands of William 

 Man, vicar of Sturminster Marshall, the present 

 grant should not hold good until by the death 

 or cession of the said incumbent the hospital 

 should next come into the king's hands. °^ 

 Whether this grant ever took effect it is diffi- 

 cult to say, for though it was confirmed by 

 Edward IV in 1467," and again in 1473," 

 the crown continued to appoint as the cus- 



" Pat. 29 Hen. VI, pt. i, m. 8. 



" Inq. p.m. 33 Edw. Ill (2nd Nos.), 88. 



" Ibid. 



'" Pat. 34 Edw. Ill, pt. 2, m. 23. This may be 

 an error of the scribe and refer to Simon, or it may 

 be mere coincidence for two wardens to have the same 

 name. 



'' Ibid. 29 Hen. VI, pt. I, m. 8. 



'' Ibid. 7 Edw. IV, pt. 3, m. 13. 



" Ibid. 13 Edw. I\', pt. I, m. 10. 



tody fell vacant,'^ and in the first year of his 

 reign Richard III bestowed the hospital, ' lately 

 occupied by a priest and of our disposal,' on the 

 Friars Minor of Dorchester." The Act of Re- 

 sumption passed on the accession of Henry VII 

 ordained that it should not be prejudicial ' to 

 anygraunte or letters patents made by King Ed- 

 ward IV, late king of England, to Maister 

 Richard Hill, now dean of the king's chapell, of 

 and for the free chapell of Seynt John's in Dor- 

 chester.' " 



The Valor of 1535 gives this house a clear 

 income of £2> 4*- Antony Wcldon was then 

 ' rector ' or incumbent.*' By the Chantry Com- 

 missioners it was valued at ^<) 13J. 2d., out of 

 which 42X. 8i. was deducted in 'rents resolute,' 

 leaving a balance of ^7 los. 6(/." The whole 

 amount was received by the last incumbent, 

 Edward Weldon, ' towards his exhibition at the 

 University of Oxford by virtue of king's letters 

 patent dated 4 August 32 Henry VIII' (1540).^ 

 On the confiscation of colleges and chantries he 

 was assigned a pension of ;^6.*^ 



Wardens of Dorchester Hospital'' 



Martin de Ixnyngge, appointed 1334^' 

 Robert Creyk, appointed 135 1 " 

 Simon de Brantingham, appointed 1354^' 

 Thomas de Brantingham, appointed 1360*' 

 Roger de Stoke, appointed 1370 ^' 

 Thomas de Brounflet, appointed 1376** 



" Edward IV in the first year of his reign, 2 1 

 Feb. 1462, appointed William Brown to the custody 

 (ibid. I Edw. IV, pt. 5, m. 18). Henry VI on his 

 brief return to power in 1470, without reference to 

 his former grant, ratified the estate of the said William 

 as master or warden of St. John Baptist, Dorchester, 

 as well as master of the house or chapel called ' le priory 

 hermitage' by Dorchester (ibid. 49 Hen. VI, m. 12). 

 Edward IV, after granting the reversion of the house, 

 when it should ne.xt come into the king's hand, in 

 frankalmoign to William Westbury, the provost and 

 college of Eton, March, 1473, in November of the 

 same year committed the custody to Master Oliver 

 Kyng, one of the clerks of the Signet (ibid. 1 3 Edw. 

 IV, pt. I, m. 10 and 2), the letters patent for the 

 last being exchanged in November, 1477, in fn'our 

 of Rich.ird Hill (ibid. 17 Edw. IV, pt. 2, m. 29). 



'' Harl. MS. 433, 1603, fol. 131. 



" Pari. R. (Rec. Com.), vi, 367. 



" Valor EccL (Rec. Com.), i, 243. 



"Chant. Cert. 16, No. 2. 



" Ibid. 1484. The clear income was estimated 

 again at [j 1 5/. ^d. ; ibid. 



" B. Willis, Hist, of Mitred Abbeys, ii, 72. 



" The following list of wardens is taken, with 

 some additional names and corrections, from that sup- 

 plied by Hutchins from B. Willis, Hist, of Dorset, 

 ii, 416. 



« Pat. 8 Edw. Ill, pt. i,m. 14. 



" Hutchins, Hist, of Dorset, ii, 416. " Ibid. 



** Pat. 34 Edw. in, pt. 2, m. 23. 



" Hutchins, Hist, of Dorset, ii, 416. 



" Pat. 50 Edw. Ill, pt. 2, m. 5. 



102 



