BRAUGHING HUNDRED 



up with 

 held by 



; that 



tablish two 



her north still, between Musley Hill and High 



Road, are the buildings of the Union (super- 

 g the old workhouse in Crib Street which was 

 in 1841), and on Musky Hill are the waterworks 

 le Ware Urban District. 



Although Ware primarily owed its 

 \QUGH importance to advantages of 

 its history is closely bound 

 manor, which for a long time was 

 aful lords such as the Earls of Lei 

 to Robert dc Quincy as lord of the r 

 ;rant of a market was made in 1 1 99 {s 



lords of the manor also tried to es 

 tional markets for cattle and corn on Wednesday 

 Friday, the market days of Hertford. These 

 ; held for some time before the proceedings under 

 Warranto by Edward I, when they were probably 

 ped. 43 As in other market towns, there is early 

 : of burgage tenure in Ware. The origin of this 

 rhaps to be found in the charter of Robert Earl 

 ■eicester, 44 by which he granted to the men of 

 e that all who had received or should receive a 

 ling from his court at Ware 46 should hold that 

 ling from him and his heirs in free burgage at a 

 of Z!. This charter was confirmed by Roger de 

 icy and a royal hispex'tmus was obtained by the 

 of Ware in 144.7.* 8 The area of burgage tenure 

 ■ably corresponded with the manor of Ware Infra. 4 ' 

 doubt a great impulse to trade was given by the 

 ling of the bridge to traffic at the beginning of 



13th century, when the road through Ware 

 me the normal route to the north. It is said to 



been after this date that weavers and dyers of 

 1 began to settle in the town. 48 Various local 

 sments show that from the 13 th century Ware 

 ilways been the largest place in the hundred, 49 far 

 ivalling in importance the neighbouring borough 

 dertford, which is spoken of in 1343 as ' Hert- 



by Ware.' 5 * There is abundant evidence of 

 trade carried on at that period, chiefly in corn 



malt, 51 the River Lea forming the waterway for 

 carriage of these to London. The toll {avalagium 

 srkiam balelhrum) from the boats at Ware was 

 ted by the king to the Countess of Leicester, 



of the manor (q.v.), in 1 207, but, later, disputes 

 : between Margaret Countess of Leicester and 

 bailiffs of Hertford, who claimed the right of 

 iding ships for foreign merchants and others and 

 iking toll (Jretnm) from them, and tried to limit 

 :ountess's right to providing ships for her own 

 ;nd that of the men of her manor, merchants or 

 rs, the bailiffs taking the toll. A compromise 

 made by which the tolls from all ships laded at 



WARE 



Ware, or at any place where the king or countess 

 was entitled to the customs, were to be divided 

 between the countess and the bailiffs, reserving, how- 

 ever, free carriage to the countess for her corn, hay 

 and similar articles, and to the men of Hertford free 

 passage for their ships laded at Hertford. 62 About 

 the same date the countess granted to the canons of 

 Holy Trinity, London, free carriage of their corn by 

 ship from Ware to London at the same price as they 

 had paid in the time of her father and mother, viz. 

 \d. on a quarter of hard corn. 63 Although the term 

 'foreign merchants' used above probably only means 

 merchants from other towns, there were a number of 

 aliens (chiefly from the Low Countries) living in Ware 

 in the 15th century, 5,1 and possibly some of the malt 

 manufacturers were foreigners. 66 



The town seems to have been governed by royal 

 bailiffs in addition to the bailiffs of the manor. 68 

 Later the constables took over the administrative 

 functions of the bailiffs. 67 Although often called a 

 borough it never had any charters besides the one 

 mentioned above, neither did it send members to 

 Parliament nor appear before the itinerant justices by 

 jurors separately from the hundred. On the other 

 hand, besides the burgage tenure mentioned above, 

 there is evidence of corporate action on the part of 

 the inhabitants. 56 Certain feoffees were seised at the 

 beginning of the 1 6th century of two messuages called 

 the White Hart and the Saracen's Head for meeting 

 the common expenses of the town, such as providing 

 soldiers, paying taxes and tallages, maintaining a beacon 

 beside the Lea and the bridge over it. 59 These houses 

 had once been the property of the brotherhood of Jesus, 

 so that perhaps this brotherhood (which is treated 

 below) may have had some share in the government 

 of the town. 



Ware ceased to be called a borough after about the 

 1 6th century. In 1 849 it was placed under the con- 

 trol of a Local Board ; now by the Local Govern- 

 ment Act of 1894 it is governed by an urban 



1835, 

 also the 



3a d to London 



district council. Ware Uni 

 comprises fifteen parishes. The t 

 head of a petty sessional division. 



The position of Ware on the 1 

 brought many travellers to the town. Visits to it 

 were paid by Henry III, Edward I, Edward II, and 

 Edward III, who were probably entertained by the 

 lord of the manor. 5 " In 1238 the king issued a 

 prohibition of the tournament proposed to be held 

 at Ware on Monday after Ascension Day, G1 but in 

 1141 a tournament was held there, at which Gilbert 

 Marshal Earl of Pembroke met with injuries of 

 which he died at Hertford Priory on 27 June. 83 



BW. R. 



(Rec Com.), 



eR.no. 32;,* 



it is uncertain *hich earl this is. The 



Lobert Earl of Leicester died in 1 204.. 



Omnibus qui mansuram de curia 

 le Ware acceperunt vel accipient.' 

 lal Pat. 1446-52, p. 51. 



r ' , of the borough must have 



■c Ct. R. portf. 178, 

 1, ror an agreement by the homage 



anyone whose pigs were found 

 \% (transeuntes) into the 'borough' 

 ; sub-bailiff should pay 4,/, 

 4ssiieR. 31S, m . 6d. 

 i« also As.i« R. 336 (for gaol 



a definite 



"' For conveyan. 

 Anct. D. (P.R.O.), 

 5207, 5209 ; see al 

 p. 429. 



" Cur. Reg. R. 

 Hen. III). 



,oC7. Pa,. 1377-8., 

 9+, m. i 7 (Hil. ,o 



D. (P.R.O.), A 1083. 

 54 Cal. Pat. I4=9-j6, pp. S+S, 55', 

 575. 578, ;86. 



00 In 1339 the bailiffa received an 



Reymond Peregrini {Cal. C/ k, 1350-41,' 

 p. 13; ; see also 1323-7, p. 50). In a 

 will of 1504 is a bequest to 'the Dutch- 

 :r' (P.C.C. 4 Hol- 



ie). 



383 



^In 1338 acquittance of the fifteenth 

 s made 'to the men of the town ol 

 .W(C*/.Af. 1358-40, p. hi). 

 ''Aug. Off. Misc. Bks. xiv, fol. 127 



: I-elle 



Pate 



i t:i ; . sc 



.384; 



icre, Cal. Pat. 



281-92, pp.486, ci6 ; 1301-7, p 



s6, 127, 314; 1317-21, pp. 37, g 9 - 



545-8, p. 18 ; Cal. Close, 1302-7, 



.'.20, 239; 1343-6, p. 676. 



1,1 Cal. Pel. 1232-47, p. 236. 



tj! G.E.C. Pierage, s.v. P,mbnhr. 



