RELIGIOUS HOUSES 



Dius, qui caritatis, or 'Omnipotens sempiterne 

 qui vivorum simul et mortuorum.' 



They were also to say daily, without note, in 

 common in the quire of the chapel of the house, 

 the seven penitential psalms, and fifteen psalms 

 with the litany, in quire or not, for the good 

 estate of the founders. After the death of the 

 founders the obit of each was to be kept yearly 

 and their exequies and masses said solemnly, with 

 note and principal vestments. The master, 

 chaplains, clerks, poor persons, and servants on 

 these obit days were each to receive 6^. ^d. in 

 money in the name of a pittance. Each poor 

 person at the beginning of every ordinary day 

 was to say the Paternoster thrice in honour of 

 the Holy Trinity. 



The master was to be nominated to the arch- 

 bishop by the Prior of St. Oswald's within 

 fifteen days of each vacancy for institution, or 

 failing this the archbishop was to collate pro hac 

 vice. The master was to appoint the chaplains 

 within fifteen days, or be fined 6j. 8^. The 

 chaplains were to dine in the hall, and pay 6oi. 

 for food and drink. A chest was to be provided 

 with two keys for the jewels and valuables of 

 the house, one key to be kept by the Prior of St. 

 Oswald's, the other by the master. The master 

 was to have a seal of office appointed for him, 

 with a rose and the image of the Holy Trinity 

 engraved in the seal, and this seal was to be 

 kept in the chest. No leases were to be made 

 and sealed by the prior and master for longer 

 periods than fifty years, and corrodies were not 

 to be granted. 



The master and chaplains were each to have 

 vestitum talarem honestum, &c., and when they 

 attended the accustomed divine hours in the 

 quire were to have a white almuce, on which, in 

 memory of the founders, was to be a red rose 

 containing on it the image of the Holy Trinity. 

 On the death of the founders the master was to 

 take a corporal oath on the gospels before the 

 Prior of St. Oswald to render a faithful account 

 yearly to the prior. He was to hold no other 

 preferment, but was to reside continually, except 

 for reasonable causes approved by the prior, who 

 was to supervise the house and correct abuses, 

 and was himself to examine the accounts annually, 

 and receive 40J. from the master. 



The lands in London, with which the house 

 was to be endowed on the deaths of the founders, 

 were to be in charge of the Mayor of London, 

 who also was to receive 40^. a year, as well as 

 the collectors of the rents. 



According to Leland, Sir Robert Knolles 

 originally contemplated founding the house in 

 Norfolk, but was persuaded by his wife to place 

 it in Pontefract, where she was born. 



Further ordinances as to the internal manage- 

 ment of the house were confirmed by Arch- 

 bishop Scrope at Cawood on 5 October 1 404.'' 



'York Archiepis. Reg. Scrope, fol. 45. 



In 1535 °° Thomas Hutchon was still master, 

 receiving ^^13 6i. id. as his stipend, and the six 

 confratres each received ^^6 13J. /^d. 



There were six poor men each receiving 

 54*- 8^., and six poor women each receiving 

 53^' 4'^-> and also three women servants re- 

 ceiving 65J. 4^. each. There was also Robert 

 Harrison, a layman, who held the office of 

 sacrist and was paid 66j. 815?. 



In the chantry certificates °' it is reported 

 that the ' hole necessitie ' of the house was 

 ' the maintenance of hospitalitie, Goddes service 

 daly, and the releif of pore people, and the 

 kepynge of the forsayde xiiij poore folkes iij 

 servantes and iij children,' which was all duly 

 observed. The ' goods ' of the house were 

 valued at j^ 53 6f. 5^. and the plate at ^^24 12s. gd. 

 Thomas flewet was then master. 



In 1563 Queen Elizabeth continued the 

 almshouse section of the foundation, in which 

 were maintained fifteen aged people, whereof 

 two were servants to the rest, each of whom was 

 to receive j^2 13^. ^.d. yearly, and the mayor 

 and chief burgesses of Pontefract were to place 

 aged, impotent, and needy fit persons in the 

 almshouse.'' 



Later benefactions have been made to the 

 hospital, which is still in existence. In 1838 

 the hospital consisted of one large common 

 room, and sixteen sleeping-rooms for seven men 

 and nine women. Two of the latter were con- 

 sidered as servants to the almspeople. All the 

 inmates were appointed by the corporation 

 according to the grant of Queen Elizabeth. The 

 overseers of the poor received all the revenues, 

 giving each inmate 2s. 6d. a week and a supply 

 of coals yearly.'' 



Masters 



John Stedeman,^"" alias de Neuthorp, 1385,^ 

 resigned 1410^ 



''ra/or Eccl. (Rec. Com.), v, 68. 



^^ Torks. Chant. Surv. (Surt. See), ii, 327. 



"'Boothroyd, Hist, of Pontefract, 390. 



"White, Hist. Gaz. and Dir. of the W. R. ofTorks. 

 1838, ii, 281. The hospitals and almshouses of 

 Pontefract have been amalgamated under a scheme of 

 the Charity Commissioners, and are now under one 

 body of trustees. The scheme provided that the 

 occupants of the houses were to have 6s. a week, 

 or married couples 10/., but at present the funds 

 only permit payment of 5/. and 9/. respectively. 

 Some of the houses, e.g. St. Nicholas's Hospital, are 

 let, some at nominal rents to deserving poor, and 

 others at rack rents. When there is a vacancy of a 

 house at a nominal rent, or a pension, the trustees 

 invite applications, it being a sine qua non that the 

 applicant should never have received parochial relief. 

 This combination includes certain charities founded 

 after the Reformation, as well as the mediaeval hos- 

 pitals, &c. — From information received from Mr. J. 

 Eyre Poppleton, solicitor, Pontefract. 



'"» York Archiepis. Reg. Alex. Nevill, fol. 97. 



' Ibid. Bowett, fol. 94. ' Ibid. 



319 



