RELIGIOUS HOUSES 



chosen by the provost for his ability to teach 



* grammar, poetry, and rhetoric' " The second 

 fellow was to teach song, especially ' plain ' and 



* broken,' and they were to have stipends of j^io 

 and 10 marks respectively. 



The choristers were to be six poor boys from 

 the district, preference to be given to those of 

 Rotherham and Ecclesfield. They were to be 

 chosen by the provost, and instructed in grammar 

 and music till eighteen years of age, when others 

 were to be elected to take their places. Food 

 and clothing were to be supplied them amounting 

 to the value of an exhibition of about ^3 6s. Sd. 

 each.^' There was a butler and cook, each of 

 whom, besides his keep, received a yearly wage 

 of ^i 6s. 8d. 



The fellows, choristers, and servants were to 

 be paid by the provost out of the common fund. 

 The provost and fellows dined together, but 

 paid for their own victuals. In addition to their 

 stipends they were to have their barber and 

 laundry free, and the provost was to have i8s. a 

 year, while each of the fellows had 1 6s., to pro- 

 vide them cloth gowns.^' All were provided 

 with wood and coals. 



The founder distinctly stated that the chiet 

 purpose of the college was that certain prayers 

 might be said for the souls of Edward IV, Queen 

 Elizabeth, Prince Edward, and the founder.^" 

 It was also ordained that the provost, fellows, and 

 choristers, twice a week and on festivals, should 

 celebrate their masses in the chapels of Jesus and 

 St. Katharine in the parish church and their other 

 masses in the college chapel, and that on 9 April 

 each year the anniversary of the founder's parents 

 and King Edward should be celebrated, on the 

 morrow a requiem mass being sung. And after 

 the founder's death the day should be kept as his 

 anniversary, with a specified collect, and at such 

 anniversary alms were to be distributed to thirteen 

 poor people. Besides these things they were to 

 sing on all festivals in the quire of the parish 

 church at matins and vespers as well as mass, the 

 scholars being specially enjoined to attend. 



In addition to the site of the college and the 

 buildings, the founder gave for the support of the 

 college certain lands' in the counties of Hertford, 

 Essex, and Kent, and he appropriated the church 

 of Laxton in co. Nottingham. These properties 

 were of considerable value, and the exhibitions 

 of the six choristers, made contingent on the 

 funds being sufficient, were all duly established, 

 and all other expenses easily paid.^^ 



In 15 12 a friend of the founder died, Henry 

 CarnebuU, Archdeacon of York. In his will, 

 dated 1 2 July of that year, he founded a chantry 

 in Rotherham Parish Church, leaving certain 

 properties to the college for its endowment, the 



" Torre's MS. (York), fol. 1106. 



" Torh. Chant. Surv. (Surt. See), 382. 



" Torre's MS. (York), fol. 1 105. 



'» Ibid. »' Ibid. 



chantry priest to have 10 marks yearly if the 

 endowment sufficed. It did suffice, and the 

 chantry continued until the Suppression. Carne- 

 buU also bequeathed £i\.o to the provost, Mag. 

 Robert Cutler, ^^ and in addition to this Rother- 

 ham chantry he also founded the ' Name of 

 Jesus ' chantry in York Minster, which was to 

 be in the patronage of the Provost of Rother- 

 ham.^' 



Ten years later another legacy was made to 

 the provost by Thomas Reirsby, whose will was 

 made 2 August 1522. He left the residue of 

 his goods to be ' at the disposicion of Robert 

 Nevile, Provost of the College of Jhesu in 

 Rotherham.' ^* Three years afterwards this same 

 provost was the recipient of a personal legacy 

 under the will of Sir Thomas Swift, 4 February 

 1524-5 : 'my best gowne cremysyn furryd with 

 mattrons, my best surples, a booke of blake 

 velvett with ... of silver and gilt, a girdle 

 harneshed with silver and gilt having a flower on 

 the bucle and a other in the pendent.' ^^ Neville 

 was still provost in 1536, the three fellows then 

 being William Drapour, master of the grammar 

 school, William Simmes, master of the music 

 school, and John Addy, master of the writing 

 school.^^ 



The Chantry Certificate of 1546 gives minute 

 particulars of the college revenues and outgoings. 

 The college with its garden and orchard, 2 acres 

 in extent, were ' inverounde with a brick walle,' ^' 

 and together with the house in which the three 

 schools were kept were valued at ^^3 6s. 8d. per 

 annum, and the college properties in various 

 counties brought up the total annual revenue to 

 ;^I27 Js. J^d. The outgoings, including 

 £6 13J. 4^. for ' hys stypende ' to Thomas 

 Bayschaw (evidently the CarnebuU cantarist), 

 amounted to ;{[20 2s. i^d. yearly, leaving a clear 

 sum ultimately available for annexation of 

 £,ioj 5j. lod. (sic) per annum.^^ Out of this 

 balance there was to be paid to the 



Provost, ' Robert Busshoppe, 



of Hull"' 14 



Grammar-school master . . 10 



Song-school master ... j 



Writing-school master ... 6 



6 choristers 21 



13 dinners to poor .... o 



13 pennies to poor ... o 



Total 



£ s- d. 



4 

 19 

 12 



6 



9 

 2 

 I 



60 15 



" Test. Ebor. (Surt. Soc), v. 29-32. 



^ Fabric R. ofTork Minster (Surt. Soc), 304. 



" Test. Ebor. (Surt. Soc), v, 152. 



» Ibid. 197. 



'' Valor Eccl. (Rec Com.), v, 44-5. 



" The college also was of ' brike ' (Leland). 



'* rorks. Chant. Surv. (Surt. Soc), 204. 



*' The punctuation is faulty ; it should have been 

 'Robert, Bishop of HuU.' He had been also the 

 Prior of Guisborough. 



373 



