A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE 



a hospital or almshouse for poor men and 

 women. Apparently there was no foundation 

 charter, but the warden or ' guydor ' held the 

 house on lease from the lord of the manor.^* 

 V\'illiam Thompson, master in 151 8, then 

 obtained a fresh lease of the place to himself 

 and his wife at a rent of 2 marks.^* He was 

 succeeded in 1535 by Gregory Peryes.^* The 

 house and its property were let in 1561 at 20s. 

 a year for twenty-one years to William Smythe 

 of Newington, who at once sold his interest to 

 Robert Reve, a butcher, and by him the 

 hospital with the government of its inmates 

 was leased for 60s. a year to Thomas Jackson.^' 

 On 22 April 1568 Jackson complained to Sir 

 WilHam Cecil that Reve did not, as he had 

 promised, repair the hospital, which was in a 

 ruinous state, and that he was making un- 

 reasonable waste of the woods belonging to the 

 house.'^* The survey made ^° in consequence 

 a few days later proves the truth of his state- 

 ments : the two little rooms occupied by the 

 poor people at night let in the rain, and the 

 groves were much damaged by cattle. 



As the possessions of the hospital consisted 

 only of a few acres of pasture and wood, the poor 

 there must have maintained themselves by 

 begging ; in fact, of the eight iiunates ^^ six were 

 absent at the time of the survey ' gathering the 

 devotion of the people.' The number to be 

 received was left to the warden's decision, and 

 the surveyors drew the natural conclusion that 

 the founders^ had lately troubled themselves 

 little about the management of the place. The 

 hospital lasted but a short time longer, the 

 building ^^ in 1573 being used for a school.** 



Wardens or Governors of Hoddesdon 

 Hospital 



John Jenkinson, shortly before 1518 " 

 WilHam Thompson, occurs 1518 to 1535*" 

 Gregory Peryes, became warden in 1535 *' 



^* Survey of the hospital 29 Apr. 10 Eliz. 

 (Tregelles, Hist, of Hoddesdon, 234). 



lis Ibid. 235. 16 Ibid. 



" Ibid. 



18 Ibid. 231. 



1' The petition and survey which are at Hatfield 

 House are printed in full by Mr. Tregelles (op. cit. 

 231-4). 



^ From Jackson's petition it might be inferred 

 that there were twelve brothers and sisters, but 

 perhaps he meant that the hospital was intended for 

 that number. 



^1 To these there is no cine. The one bequest to 

 the house known is Sir William Say's in 1529 

 (P.C.C. 6 Thower), but a legacy of 6/. id. does not 

 argue great interest. 



^ It comprised a hall, kitchen, chapel and the two 

 litde rooms mentioned above. 



^ Tregelles, op. cit. 235. 



^ Ibid. « Ibid. » Ibid. 



Thomas Jackson, became warden 5 October 



1566," occurs April 1568 " 

 Thomas Thurgood, occurs 1569" 

 John Maiden ^ 



A seal of this house," in the style of the 

 15th century, i*! a pointed oval, and represents 

 two saints in a niche with heavy canopies and 

 tabernacle work at the sides. The saint on the 

 left, St. Antony, holds in his right hand a long 

 tau cross, in the other a book, while at his feet 

 is a pig ; St. Laud, wearing mitre and vest- 

 ments, holds blacksmith's pincers in his left 

 hand and a hammer in his right. In the back- 

 ground are sprays of foliage. Legend : sigillu 



OSPITALIS SANCTI ANTONI LOCI DE HODSTUN. 



Another^ of the same shape and style also 

 shows two saints under heavily canopied Gothic 

 niches. The saint on the left is again repre- 

 sented with a tau cross in his right hand and 

 a book in his left, but the pig is not shown at 

 his feet.** St. Laud,** as before, holds a 

 hammer, but in his left hand : his right is 

 raised in benediction. In the base are two 

 emblems, the anchor of St. Clement under 

 St. Antony and a horseshoe under St. Laud. 

 Legend : sigillum hospitalis sancti clement' 



LOCI DE HODDESDON. 



27. HOSPITAL OF ST. JOHN AND 

 ST. JAMES, ROYSTON 



The founder of the hospital of St. James at 

 Royston *^ was probably Richard Argentein, as 

 stated in 1547-8.*' The patronage belonged in 

 1276 to his son Giles Argentein, and continued 

 to be exercised by his descendants *' ; while the 

 house was certainly in existence in Richard's 

 time, since in 1227 Walter de Gray, Archbishop 

 of York, granted an indulgence of thirteen days 

 to all who contributed to the support of the sick 

 brothers and sisters coming to the hospital of the 

 Blessed Virgin Mary and St. James of Royston.** 



^ Tregelles, op. cit. 232. 



«« Ibid. 



^ He rented the land then (ibid. 235). 



*" He still occupied the land in 1573, when the 

 school took the place of the hospital (ibid.). 



*i B.M. Seals, Ixiv, 68. 



32 Ibid. D.C., G19. 



3' The catalogue describes the object under the 

 saint on the left as a pig, but there seems no doubt 

 (Tregelles, op. cit. 2 1 ) that it is an anchor. 



^ According to the catalogue description this is 

 St. Clement. 



'' From a survey of the parish taken in 1630 the 

 hospital was evidently situated at the corner of 

 Baldock Street and Dead Street in co. Hertford (Add. 

 MS. 5820, fol. 33, 34 d.). 



*' Chant. Cert. 20, no. 62. 



" Clutterbuck, op. cit. iii, 561. 



'* Archbf. Gray's Reg. (Surt. See.), 24 ; Cnssant, 

 Hist. ofHerU. Odsey Hund. 102. 



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