S 3 
INNS of 
fholomew’s in Smithfield, to furnilTi a certaine chaplain to 
celebrate divine fervice every day in the chapel of Pourt- 
pole without the barrs, (that being the chapel to the houfe,) 
for the foul of the faid John, and for the fouls of his an- 
ceftorsj and all the faithful deceafed, for ever.” 
About the latter end of the reign of Henry VII. viz. 
Aug. u, 1505, Edmund lord Gray of Wilton, by inden¬ 
ture of bargain and fale, palled to Hugh Denny, efq. his 
heirs and affigns, the manor of Portpoole, otherwife called 
Gray’s Inn, four meffuages, four gardens, the fite of a 
windmill, eight acres of land, ten lhillings of free rent, 
and the advowfon of the chantry of Portpoole aforefaid. 
About eight years afterwards the prior and convent of 
Shene (Richmond in Surrey), in confequence of the royal 
licence granted to them so Edw. IV. to purchafe lands 
in mortmain, became pofleffed of the premifes; and foon 
after demifed them to the Undents of the law for the an¬ 
nual rent of 61 . 13s. ^.d. at which rent they were held of 
that ynonallery till the difl'olution,. when, becoming the 
property of the crown, a grant was made by the king in 
fee-farm; and the property ftill continues veiled in the 
crown. 
In the joth of James I. the gentlemen of this houfe 
■were, together with thofe of the other inns of court, ac¬ 
tors in the great rhalk at Whitehall, given in honour of 
the marriage of the princefs Elizabeth with the Count 
Palatine. The expence incurred by the fociety for this 
entertainment was defrayed by an affeffment of 4I. each 
for the readers, the ancients 2I. 10s. the barrilters 2I. and 
the lludents 20s. 
In the reign of Elizabeth there was an order made, that 
nolaundrelfes, nor women called victuallers, Ihould thence¬ 
forth come into the gentlemen’s chambers of this fociety, 
lintels they were full forty years of age-, nor fend their 
maid-fervants, of what age l'oever, into the faid gentle¬ 
men’s chambers; upon penalty, for the firft offence, of 
him that Ihould admit of any Inch, to be put out of com¬ 
mons y for the fecond to be expelled the houfe. 
In 29 Elizabeth, for the better relief of the poor in 
Gray’s-Inn Lane, it was ordered that the third butter 
fliould be at the carrying forth from the buttery, and alfo 
at the diftribution of the alms, thrice by the week at 
Gray’s-Inn gate; to fee that due confideration be had to 
the poorer fort of aged and impotent perfons, according 
as in former time he had ufed to do. And, whereas the 
panier-man and under-cook did challenge to have a cor- 
rody of the broken bread ; it was likewife ordered, that 
for thofe days that the laid alms were given, they Ihould 
have each of them a cad of bread (three loaves apiece) in 
lieu thereof; to the end the whole broken bread, and the 
alms-balket, might go to the relief of the poor. 
The ancient buildings of Gray’s Inn are fpoken of by 
a contemporary writer as poflelfing very, little beauty or 
uniformity, being ereCted by different perfons, and the 
ftrufture of the more ancient not only very mean, but of 
fo llender capacity, fays he, that even the ancients of the 
houfe were neceflitated to lodge double; for, at a penlion 
held here 9th July, 21 Henry VIII. John Hates, then one 
of the barons of the exchequer, produced a tetter direfted 
to him from fir Thomas Nevile, which was to requeft him 
to acquaint the fociety, that he would accept of Mr. At¬ 
torney-general (viz. fir Chriftopher Hates) to be liis bed¬ 
fellow in his chamber here ; and that entry might be made 
of the fame in the book of their rules. 
The gardens, for which tl’lis inn of court is Hill cele¬ 
brated, and which are very large and beautiful, were 
planted about the 40th year of the reign of Elizabeth, at 
which period Mr. Bacon, afterwards lord Verulam, in his 
account as treafiner of the fociety, allowed the fum of 
7I. 6s. 8d. for planting elm-trees in them. Of thefe elms 
l’ome, however, died ; for at a penfion, held afterwards, 
an order was made for a prefent fupply of more young 
elms, in the places of fuch as were decayed 3 and that a 
new rail and quickfet-hedges Ihould be fet upon the up¬ 
per long walk,' at the difcretion of the fame Mr. Bacon 
COURT. 
and Mr. Wilbraham ; which, being done,' amounted to 
60I. 6s. Sd. “as by the faid Mr. Bacon’s account, allowed 
20th April, 42 Eliz. appeareth.” 
Gray’s Inn at prefent confdts of two principal fquares, 
or courts, befides a third, or fmaller one, facing the prin¬ 
cipal entrance to the gardens. Of thefe, the larger court, 
which is entered from Gray’s-Inn Lane, is the handfojneft, 
the chambers being roomy and commodious, and the ex¬ 
terior of the buildings, though in no refpedt remarkable 
either for antiquity or beauty, refpeflable and uniform. 
The hall and chapel occupy the fouth fide of this larger 
court. The former is not fo fine or fpacious a room as 
that of the Middle Temple; but it exceeds both in beau¬ 
ty and fize the hall of any of the other inns of court, and 
is a well-proportioned and magnificent apartment, having 
a very elegant timber roof, little inferior to that of the 
Middle-Temple hall, and its windows being as richly de¬ 
corated with armorial bearings. The old hall was, in the 
reign of Edward VI. ceiled with fifty-four yards of wainf- 
cot, at 2S. a yard ; but, this reparation being found infuf- 
ficient to preferve it from decay, the foundations of the 
prefent hall were laid in 3 & 4 Philip and Mary. Every 
fellow of the houfe, poffeffed of a chamber, was obliged, 
under penalty of lofing it, to contribute towards this 
work,, which was finilhed in the fecond year of the reign 
of queen Elizabeth, in the tuafurerlliip of fir Gilbert Ge¬ 
rard, knight, and coll 863I. 10s. 8d. 
The prefent chapel of Gray’s Inn is a very neat little 
edifice, and appears of modern ereflion. It Hands on the 
fite of the ancient religious flrufture before defcribcd by 
the name of the chapel of Portpoole. In this ancient cha¬ 
pel was a chauntry of one chaplain, founded in the 8th 
of Edward II. to celebrate divine fervice daily for the 
foul of John the fon of Reginald de Gray, for which cer¬ 
tain lands were then granted to the prior and convent‘of 
St. Bartholomew’s in Smithfield. And, at the expence of 
the latter, divine fervice in fucceeding ages was here per¬ 
formed, on the behalf of the lludents, and other members 
of this fociety, as is evident from a decree made in the 
augmentation-court, lothNov. 33 Henry VIII. This de¬ 
cree farther exprefles, that the faid prior and convent, and 
their predeceffors, were yearly charged with the penfion 
of 7I. 13s. 4d. for the falary or ftipend of the faid chap¬ 
lain ; and that, the faid houfe of St. Bartholomew being 
then diffolved, this fociety, in recompence thereof, Ihould 
receive of the king’s liighnefs, for finding of the faid 
chaplain, during the king’s pleafure, the fum of 61. i3S.4d. 
llerling, yearly, to be paid by the hands of the treafurer 
of the faid couVt of augmentation, at the fealls of the Na¬ 
tivity of St. John Bapcilt and St. Michael the Archangel, 
by even portions. In the reign of Edward VI. on a re¬ 
formation in religion taking place, certain utenfils be¬ 
longing to the Romilh worlhip, and then in this ehapei, 
were ordered to be fold for the benefit of the fociety, viz. 
one vellment with a crofs of red velvet, a holy-water- 
llockof brafs, two candlellicks, a little bell of brafs, a velt- 
ment of lilk fpecked with gold, and a pair of organs ; which 
being accordingly fold, there then remained a chalice, a 
furplice, a bible of the largell volume, a pfalter, a book of 
fervice, an altar-cloth, a table, a lantern of glafs, and a chell. 
In 42 Eliz. (11 February,) it was ordered, that all gen¬ 
tlemen of this fociety Ihould ufually and rdgularly fre¬ 
quent the chapel as well at fervice as fermons, and every 
term yearly receive the communion, if they be in com¬ 
mons, or lie in the houfe, upon pain for every default in 
receiving the communion to forfeit 3s. 4d. and, if not once 
every year, thep. to be expelled. In 21 Jac. (30 Ocl.) 
there was an order, that all women Ihould be barred from 
the chapel at fermons, and all perfons Itrangers, but fuch 
as were brought in by fome of the fociety ; as alfo that 
all gentlemen Ihould go out of the chapel bare-headed, in 
a decent manner. Women and boys were not fufrered to 
come within any part of the chapel, at any time ; “ ncr 
any ftranger before the bell hath done ringing, except he 
be brought in by a reader or gentleman of the houfe.” 
