York Historic Environment Record

The tenement was divided into a number of sub tenancies which are indicated by the Roman numerals. The transactions involving Tenement 32 have not been treated in strict chronological order but according to the particular title or tenancy to which they refer.

The tenement belonged to the fee of St Andrew's Priory, but by 1315 was held by John de Scorby, mercer (3), and by 1329 was burdened with a free rent owed to Walter de Cottingwith, girdler (zonarius) (4). The history of the sub tenancies is fairly well documented. By 1348 Roger Swanne of York had collected the titles to the tenancies of I V, VII and IX, the following year entailing all these upon St Leonard's Hospital for the endowment of his obit (14).

Areas I IX
In January 1359 the tenants in chief of this fee were the prior and convent of St Andrew, York, who had an ancient rent of 12d. a year from the tenement (1). In 1538 the priory was still owed a free rent of 12d. a year from one house in Petergate, then in the tenure of the guardians of Christ Church, or Holy Trinity, King's Court (2).

In the mid 14th century the principal tenants seem to have been the Scorby family before their title was sold to Robert de Howom. In May 1315 Tenement 32 was described as the tenement of John de Schorby, mercer (mercenarius) (3). and in May 1329 the executors of Walter de Cottingwith, girdler (zonarius) of York, granted to Henry de Scoreby, mercer, an annual rents of 10s. 8d. from the tenement held by Henry de Scoreby himself and 10s. from the tenement held by Helen de Carlton (4).

By 1359 a rent of 23s. was owed from the tenement to Robert de Howom and his heirs, who had bought the rent from John de Scorby (5). In May 1368 Robert de Howom attempted to endow a chantry at the altar of St James in Holy Trinity, Goodramgate with the tenement (6), but in October 1395 Howom admitted that he did not have possession of the tenement but only of the 23s. rent which he had purchased
from John de Scorby, bower (7). Howom gave the chantry another rent of 26s. 8d. from another unspecified tenement (8).

In fact in an inquisition held in 1367 preceding Howom's original grant, the tenement had been found to belong to St Leonard's Hospital, which had recently acquired much of the tenement as part of the endowment of Roger Swanne's obit, and it was probably the hospital who had challenged the title of Howom's chantry chaplain in the tenement (9).

Sub tenancies of Areas I IX

By 1334 the tenement had already been divided physically into a number of sub tenancies which were either held in groups or individually, and were in turn leased to their actual occupants. St Leonards acquired the majority (I V, VII and IX) in 1359 as part of the endowment of Roger Swanne's obit (Tenement 29 above).

Areas II and IV
This tenancy consisted of the north western of the two shops fronting on to Petergate, and the solar running the whole width above both the shops and a passage.

On 3 June 1333 John Broun, rector of the church of Elvington, granted the shop and solar to John de Escrick le Nayleer on the understanding that he would pay John de
Escrick the sum of 10 marks within two years and three weeks, and that this grant would then be cancelled. If he failed to pay the ten marks, John de Escrick would retain the tenancy until he was paid (10).

John de Escrick subsequently enfeoffed Thomas son of Nicholas Broun of the tenancy. On 29 April 1342 Thomas Broun granted it to Robert del Wald, potter (ollarius), to hold from 19 May 1342 for twenty years in return for a rose rent, and after that term for 100s. a year plus service due to the chief lords of the fee. Robert promised to maintain the property at his own cost for the term of twenty years (11).

For the subsequent history of this tenancy see (14) below.

Areas I, III, V, VII and IX
These tenancies consisted of the second shop in Petergate (III), the capital messuage behind it (V), and five shops fronting on to Girdlergate (VII, IX). They had
once been held by Robert de Eryum and his wife Juliana de Craven, who had occupied the capital messuage (V). It was inherited by their son John who sub leased the capital messuage to Thomas Pedyngton. The shop on Petergate, once held by Robert le Graunt, by 1333 was held of John son of Robert de Eryum by William son of Walter de Scorby (III). The two shops and solars on Glovergayl were occupied by
Hugh Grunbald (VII), and the other three shops and solars to the south were held individually by Robert le Walhis, William de Seleby, and Robert de Munkegate (IX), all five being held of John son of Robert de Eryum (12).

On 13 January 1334 John de Eryum granted all these properties to John Furbisher (le Fourbour), chaplain (12), who was a relative of his (13). (On the same day Eryum also granted Furbisher his half share of Richard de Craven's estate in a separate charter, (see Tenement 29).

John de Eryum had died by 15 September 1336. His widow, Johanna, kept all his shops in Glovergayl (VII and IX), except that held by Robert le Walssh, as her widow's dower, for an annual rent of 4s. to John Furbisher who also had the reversion of them after her death. Although Furbisher had been granted the whole of John de Eryum's estate, he at first kept the two distinct parts of it separate. The tenancies of Tenement 32 he at first leased for six years to Robert del Wald, potter. Then on 15
September 1336 he quitclaimed all of them together to Robert del Wald including the reversion of Johanna's dower (14).

On 10 January 1348 Robert del Wald quitclaimed all these tenancies including all rights of dower and areas II and IV of Tenement 32 which he had acquired separately, to Roger Swanne of York and Katherine his wife, who two years earlier had acquired the other part of John de Eryum's estate from John le Furbisher (15). Like Tenement 29 this property was later used to endow an obit for Roger Swanne in St Leonard's Hospital (see above p.00).

By 1359 most of the tenement had been acquired by St Leonard's Hospital. In that year it was found that Johanna, who had remarried but since 1355 had been the widow of William Fynche, still held VII and two parts of IX in dower. The third part of IX by 1359 owed ancient rents of 3s. 4d. to Robert de Shefeld and his heirs and 4s. 9d. to Robert de Clervaux and his heirs (5, 16).

Area VI
Between 1333 and 1359 this tenancy was described as belonging to Henry de Scorreby in the abutment clauses of deeds describing areas I V and VII (12 16). By the early 16th century it belonged to Bertram Dadeoson, alderman, who on 5 October 1513 granted an annual rent of 8d. from one empty (vastatus) tenement on the corner of Petergate and Girdlergate to Thomas Masser, chaplain of the chantry of St John of Beverley. The tenement lay between Girdlergate to the south and the land of St Leonard's Hospital to the north, and in length from Petergate to the east to the land of St Leonard's to the west behind (17).

Area VIII
Little is known about this tenancy except that between 1334 and 1348 it was held by Agnes Skarf, and that by 1359 it was held by Thomas de Stokton (13 16).

References
1 PRO, C.143/330/17
2 SC.6/4563 m. 122
3 Abutment from Tenement 31; YCA, G.1a
4 Yorks. Deeds, 1, 186. The executors were John de Beverley, citizen and mercer, and Walter de Ispania, merchant.
5 PRO, C.143/330/17
6 YCA, G.70:23
7 PRO, C.143/424/5
8 YCA, G.70:24
9 PRO, C.143/363/19
10 YML, VC 3/Vi, 317
11 YML, VC 3/Vi, 318
12 BL, Cotton MS Nero D iii, fo 134
13 BL, Cotton MS Nero D iii, fo 134
14 BL, Cotton MS Nero D iii, fo 134v
15 BL, Cotton MS Nero D iii, fo 134
16 BL, Cotton MS Nero D iii, fo 136v
17 YML, VC 3/Vi 351

Sarah Rees Jones, 1987, Property, tenure and rents: some aspects of the topography and economy of medieval York (Unpublished document). SYO1072.