THE TREASURER’S HOUSE, 
YORK, 
By FRANK GREEN. 
[These notes were mainly taken from information collected by the late 
Mr. Gray and kindly given by Mr. E. Gray to Mr. Green.] 
T HE history of this house begins with Thomas, Archbishop 
of York, who was appointed by William the Conqueror, 
in 1070. This Prelate was treasurer to the Conqueror and 
Canon of Bayeaux. He found the Minster in a state of chaos 
and the whole country laid in ruins by the Danes. Com¬ 
mencing at once to re-organize the Minster and repair the 
consequences of the neglect from which it had for so long 
suffered, he appointed a Chancellor, Treasurer, and Prebend¬ 
aries, and built suitable residences for them, at the same time 
building the magnificent Palace, which stood for so man} 7 
years on the site of the present Deanery Gardens, and of 
which the Deanery Library is the only part in existence at 
the present day. 
Queen Elizabeth’s first Archbishop, Thomas Young, whilst 
in occupation of Treasurer’s House, pulled down the Great 
Hall of this Palace, in order to sell the lead and other 
materials to provide his son George with a suitable estate. 
This act of vandalism raised a storm of indignation, the 
remark of one Sir John Harrington being recorded—he “wished 
the lead had been melted and poured down Young’s throat.” 
By a strange circumstance the lead, etc., whilst on its way to 
London for sale, was appropriated by one of the Courtiers in 
whose charge Archbishop Young had placed it. 
Radulphus was appointed the first Treasurer in 1100, and 
took up his residence in the Treasurer’s House, which must, 
as the recent excavations have proved, have been in course of 
erection for some time on the site of a still older building. 
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