A HISTORY OF YORKSHIRE 



bishop and earl or their heirs. The priests were 

 to be called ' fellows.' Vacancies in the pro- 

 vostry were to be filled within six days by the 

 election of one of the fellows, to be decided by 

 a majority of votes, such election always to be 

 held in the mansion-house of the fellows. The 

 college properties were to be administered by 

 the provost for the general good of the house, 

 and he was to have precedence over all his 

 brethren * in pre-eminence, priority, honour, and 

 residence,' in all offices, masses, vespers, and 

 processions, and no fellow was to intermeddle in 

 any matter without the express command of the 

 provost. They were to be a body corporate and 

 have a common seal.* The provost was to 

 choose the principal chamber for himself, and 

 allocate chambers to the others. A committee 

 of the provost and three of the brethren, who 

 were to be chosen by the provost, were to have 

 power to ordain statutes for the government of 

 the college. All infringements of those statutes, 

 &c., were to be punished by the committee, 

 who, at their discretion, might expel from the 

 college when necessary. The king also granted 

 licence for the college to purchase lands, &c., to 

 the annual value of lOO marks, with which they 

 were to recompense the dean and chapter and 

 other canons residentiary for the properties given 

 to the fellows for their dwelling-place.' The 

 site, as proposed by the grant of Edward IV, 

 was to be 'within the close of the said church in 

 any messuage or place belonging to any canon- 

 ship, or in any other place within the city.' * 

 Probably the place eventually selected included 

 Salton House. At all events when the college 

 was suppressed one of the items of annual ex- 

 penditure was, ' to the prebendarye of the pre- 

 bend of Salton for rente out of the saide college, 

 405.' ' 



The building was taken in hand at once, it 

 appears; and on 25 January 1465 a royal 

 grant was made to the provost, ' Christopher 

 Borough, and the brethren of St. William, York, 

 of all those stones called " freestone " lying within 

 the quarry of Hodlestone by the bank of the 

 River Ouse, for the better building of the col- 

 lege.' ^^ Further evidence of the building of the 

 house is to be found in a will made March 

 1466-7 by John Marshall," one of the fellows. 



^Torre's MS. (Minster), fol. 1402. 

 ' Ibid. 



'Ibid. fol. 1401. 



' Torks. Chant. Surv. (Surt. See.), 8. 

 " Pat. 4 Edw. IV. pt. ii, m. 7. 

 " He was the canon mentioned in the grant of 

 Henry VI. 



*I bequeath,' he says, 'for the building of the 

 college by the parsons my brethren of the 

 Cathedral Church, within the close of the same 

 church, newly begun, 20s. I also leave for the 

 use of the chapel of the said college, when it 

 shall have been entirely finished, my portiferium 

 cum hoses and one book of morals to be chained 

 in the said chapel.' '* 



In the 1546 survey the possessions of the col- 

 lege in York, Wilberfoss, Cleveland, Drax, 

 Kirkburn, Gowdall, Rillington, Haworth, 

 Helperthorpe, and ToUerton, amounted to 

 £22 12s. 8d. a year. The yearly outgoings 

 were £2 1 35. 6f<^., leaving a balance of 

 £ig igs. i^d. The goods were assessed at 

 £7 6x. 8d., and plate ;^I2 i8x." The 1548 

 survey gives the yearly income as £2$ js. 8i^., 

 the outgoings £2 i is. J^d., the clear remainder 

 ;^22 i6s. O^tJ., the provost being John Corney, 

 sixty-one years of age, indifferently learned, but 

 of honest conversation and qualities, with 40J. 

 as his yearly portion out of the college, besides 

 ;^8 for his chantry in the cathedral.'* Twenty- 

 seven chantries were held by fellows of the 

 college in 1546." 



There were, of course, other chantries in the 

 Minster served by the vicars choral and others, 

 and it is difficult to separate them. 



According to the 1546 survey, the college 

 was ' to be continued.' But the recommendation 

 was ignored, and in 3 Edward VI the site 

 was granted to Michael Stanhope and John 

 Belloe." 



Provosts 



Christopher Borough, occurs 1465 " 

 Thomas Fox, occurs 1528 '' 

 Thomas Fairehere, occurs 1 546 '' 

 John Corney, occurs 1548^ 



The 14th-century seal,^' a vesica 2f in. by 

 I J in., has a figure of St. William, the arch- 

 bishop, seated and blessing. Below is a lozengy 

 shield of his traditional arms. The legend is : 



s' COMMUNE COLLEGII SCI WILELMI EB0RACENSI3 



"rori Fabric R. (Surt. See), 72 n. 



" Torks. Chant. Surv. (Surt. Soc.), 6. 



"Ibid. 430. 



"Ibid. 9-25. 



" Dugdale, Mon. Angl. vi, 1475. 



"Pat. 4 Edw. IV, pt. ii, m. 7. 



"T«/. Ehor. (Surt. Soc), v, 253. 



" Yorks. Chant. Surv. (Surt. Soc), 9. 



"Ibid. 430. 



" Cat. of Seals, B.M. 4403, Ixxv, 43. 



386 



