The Parish of St Saviour, Southwark

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The document consists of two parchment sheets, the first containing the Bill, the second the Answer. Both are intact, and though wrinkled are legible. The lawsuit concerns the legacies of John Treherne, deceased. The executors of his will, Edward Griffin and William Iremonger, accuse one another of misbehavior with regard to Treherne's legacies. In places in the Answer, e.g. lines 53-54, the scrivener, having written some text, scraped it away and replaced it with a string of xxx. Ellipses indicate missing or unreadable text; words enclosed in {curly braces} are questionable readings.
For 'interessed' or 'specialty' as categories of possession, or for other unfamiliar terms, such as 'statute staple', see the Glossary. For John Treherne's will, the subject of this lawsuit, click here.

• The Bill of Complaint of Edward and Ann Griffin
• The Answer of William Iremonger and others

The Bill of Complaint of Edward and Ann Griffin

7 die Maii 1623

To the Right Honourable and most reverend father in God John, lord bishop of Lincoln, Lord Keeper of the Great Seal of England

[1] Humbly complaining sheweth unto your honorable lordship your daily orators Edward Griffin and Ann his wife, That whereas John Treherne, late gentleman porter of our sovereign lord king James of his majesty's gates, and [2] late dwelling in the parish of St Saviour in Southwark in the county of Surrey, now deceased, was in his lifetime lawfully seised in his demesne as of fee of and in divers messuages, lands, tenements, and hereditaments, And [3] also lawfully possessed of divers goods and chattels of very great value, And whereas divers and sundry persons did owe and were indebted unto him the said John Treherne aswell by obligations and other specialties and [4] deeds as otherwise divers and sundry great sums of money, amounting in the whole to the value of seven thousand pounds & more, And he the said John Treherne being so seised and possessed, having the said sums of [5] money so owing unto him, did by his last will and testament in writing, bearing date the four and twentieth day of July in the year of our lord God one thousand six hundred and eighteen, and in the sixteenth [6] year of the king's majesty's reign that now is, give, devise, ad bequeath divers estates of and in the said messuages, lands, tenements, and hereditaments, or some part or parts thereof, and divers and sundry great legacies as well, [7] unto the said Edward Griffin and the said Ann his wife and their children as to others, And the residue of all & singular his goods, chattels, rights, credits, and debts (after his debts paid and funeral expenses discharged and the [8] legacies in that his last will contained fully satisfied) did give, devise, and bequeath to his daughters, the said Ann Griffin and Sarah wife of William Iremonger, equally between them, part and portion like, And further by the said [9] will did make and ordain your said orator Edward Griffin and the said William Iremonger sole and only executors of his last said will and testament, thereby praying them to agree well and lovingly together and to be [10] careful in the due payment and performance of the gifts and legacies and of all other the matters and things therein contained according to his true meaning, so near as they could and as he did especially trust them and [11] as they would answer the contrary before God upon their souls, And by a codicil in writing annexed to the said will and testament, he the said John Treherne did will, devise, and declare that whereas he had devised and [12] appointed in his said last will (bearing date the foresaid four and twentieth day of July anno domini one thousand six hundred and eighteen) that his son in law the said William Iremonger and the foresaid Sarah his wife should [13] have the use and occupation of his messuage or house wherein he then dwelt until his grandchildren John Treherne and Leonard Treherne or one of them should first accomplish his age of one and twenty years allowing for [14] the same twenty pounds per annum as in his will is mentioned he did by the said codicil will and devise that your said orator Edward Griffin being his son in law and the said Ann his wife or the survivor of them should have [15] his, her, or their continuance and abode at or in the said messuage with free ingress, egress, and regress into and from the same together with the said William Iremonger and Sarah his wife until they should have parted and [16] divided the goods and estate between them remaining in his said house and elsewhere according to the true meaning of his said will, anything in his said will contained to the contrary notwithstanding, as in and by the [17] writing of the said will and codicil whereunto reference be had, it doth and may at large appear. And after the said John Treherne the testator, on or about the two and twentieth day of October in the said year of our lord [18] God one thousand six hundred and eighteen, died. And after his death your said orators Edward Griffin and Ann his wife entered into the said messuage wherein the said John Treherne the testator in his lifetime dwelt, to have their [19] continuance and abode at and in the said messuage with free ingress, egress, and regress into and from the same together with the said William Iremonger and Sarah his wife according to the true meaning of the codicil of the [20] said will, And at the time of the said entry of your said orators into the said messuage all the said writings and evidences belonging to the houses, messuages, lands, tenements, and hereditaments of the said John Treherne the testator, [21] and all the counterparts of leases whereby any annual rent or rents were or are reserved of or for the same or any of them, And all the bonds, bills, specialties, books, and notes of all and every the debts and sums of money [22] due or owing unto the said testator at the time of his death or otherwise were in the said messuage. And whereas shortly after the time of the said entry of your said orators into the said messuage it was agreed between the said William [23] Iremonger and the said Edward Griffin that (until they should have parted and divided the foresaid goods and estate left unto them by the said testator ~~left unto them by the said testator~~ between them the said William [24] Iremonger and the said Sarah his wife and your said orator and the said Ann his wife, according to the true meaning of the said will) part of all the said writings and evidences, leases, bonds, bills, and specialties should be [25] and remain in a closet within a certain chamber, called the great chamber in the said messuage, and the residue thereof in a chest and trunk within the said closet, and that for the safe keeping thereof and for the ready [26] use of both the said executors respectively whensoever they should have occasion to use them, the said William Iremonger should have the keys of the said closet and your said orators or the one of them should have the keys of the said [27] chamber and chest, whereby none of the said parties might come to take, have, or use any of the said writings, evidences, bonds, bills, specialties, books, or notes without the notice, privity, or consent of the other of them, as in [28] law and equity was fit for them both to do. Now so it is, may it please your lordship, that upon or about Good Friday in the seventeenth year of the reign of our said now sovereign lord king James [c.28 Mar 1619], when [29] your said orators did not suspect any such matter but were both of them at the church, the said William Iremonger and the said Sarah his wife, and Francis Winton the said William Iremonger's clerk, and one Alice Porter, [30] then a sole woman and since married to one Tristram Gilsland, with others to your said orators unknown, broke or caused to be broken open the lock or door of the said chamber whereof your said orators had the key, and [31] thereby entered into the said chamber and got all the said writings, evidences, counterparts of leases, bonds, bills, specialties, books and notes being then in the said closet and trunk, and certain household stuff and other goods in the said chamber, into the hands and custody [32] of him the said William Iremonger and the said Sarah his wife or the one of them, who carried them away out of the said closet and chamber from your said orators unto some other place or places unknown to your said [33] orators, and ever since the said William Iremonger and Sarah or the one of them have retained and withheld the same, together with the use and occupation of the said messuage, from your said orators, and have ever since [34] hindered them to have their continuance and abode at or in the said messuage and to have free ingress, egress, and regress into and from the same as they ought to have had by the said will and codicil, contrary to the said [35] will and codicil, and to the foresaid agreement made between them and contrary to justice, equity, and good conscience, by reason whereof your said orators have not nor cannot have or get or come to have any custody, [36] keeping, or use of the said writings, evidences, or counterparts of leases concerning the foresaid messuages, lands, tenements, and hereditaments, or of the said bonds, bills, specialties, books and notes or any of [37] them, notwithstanding that the counterpart of one of the said leases of certain messuages and tenements in the parish of St Olave doth belong or ought to belong to your said orators only, for or in respect of the [38] rents of the said messuages and tenements in the said parish of St Olave, which by the foresaid last will and testament your said orators only are appointed to receive and take, and notwithstanding that your said orators upon [39] the matters before shewed ought likewise to have the keeping and use of all the residue of the said writings, evidences, leases, bonds, bills, specialties, books, and notes, together with the said William Iremonger and the [40] said Sarah his wife as fully and absolutely to all intents and purposes as the said William Iremonger and Sarah his wife or either of them ought to have, whereby the said complainants be defeated of the possession & custody not [41] only of the foresaid deeds and evidences which concern the estates of all the foresaid messuages, lands, tenements, and hereditaments unto them devised, but also of all the obligations, bonds, bills, [42] specialties, books, and notes whereby they are to recover the debts of the said testator, and by reason thereof your said orators were and be unable to know the residue of the estate of the said testator which is to [43] be divided between them and the said William Iremonger and the said Sarah his wife. And whereas also divers bonds and statutes were given by one Adie Sare and others to the said testator for the true and just [44] administration of the goods and chattels of his son John Treherne the younger, also deceased, the said bonds and statutes are gotten and delivered by the said William Iremonger or the said Sarah his wife or the one of them [45] or by some other for them or by their means or procurement into the said Adie Sare, whereby your said orators are unable to produce those bonds or statutes when the children of the said John Treherne the younger shall have [46] use of the same. In tender consideration whereof, and forasmuch as your said orators have no remedy by the strict course of the common laws of this realm to sue for the said bonds, bills, evidences, writings, and specialties, [47] not knowing the certain dates or contents thereof, or to compel the said William Iremonger and the said Sarah his wife to come to a division of the said testator's estate with your said orators. May it therefore please your [48] honorable lordship, the premises considered, to grant unto your said orators the king's majesty's most gracious writ of subpoena to be directed unto the said William Iremonger and Sarah his wife, Tristram Gilsland and the said [49] Alice his wife, and Francis Winton, commanding them and every of them at a certain day and under a certain pain therein by your lordship to be limited, to be and personally appear before your lordship in [50] his majesty's high Court of Chancery, then and there to answer the premises and to show and deliver upon their oaths into this honorable court a true inventory of all evidences, writings, counterparts of leases, [51] bonds, bills, specialties, books, and notes by them or any of them taken, received, or gotten, or which they or any of them have or know of touching or concerning the said John Treherne the testator's estate, and of all the [52] goods and chattels which he the said John Treherne the testator was possessed of or had right unto at the time of his death, that thereupon all the same writings, bills, bonds, counterparts of leases, [53] evidences, specialties, books and notes may be provided for, to be safely kept to the use of both the said executors in such sort as that your said orators, as well as the said William Iremonger and the said Sarah his wife, [54] may freely have access to view and see the same at their wills and pleasures, and that thereupon a perfect and true division may be had and made between them of the said testator's estate. And the one [55] moiety of the foresaid residue thereof may be delivered to your said orators and the other moiety thereof may be delivered to the said William Iremonger and the said Sarah his wife, and that counterbonds may be [56] given on both sides for bearing part of the losses that shall happen to either moiety. And that thereupon such of the said evidences as concern either moiety may be demanded by the owner of that moiety, [57] and all the other writings concerning the children of the said testator, or of your orators or the said William Iremonger, to be safely kept for them for discharge of both the said executors in time to [58] come, and further to abide and stand to such order, ~~and~~ award, doom, and judgment concerning the premises as to your honorable lordship shall seem to stand with right, equity, and good conscience. [59] And your said orators shall daily pray to God for the good estate of your lordship in all happiness to continue.

The Answer of William Iremonger

Jurati 29 Maii 1623

The joint & several answers of William Iremonger & Sarah his wife, Francis Winton, Tristram Gisland & Alice his wife, defendants, to the Bill of Complaint of Edward Griffin and Ann his wife, complainants

[1] The said defendants, saving to themselves now & at all times hereafter the advantage & exception to the incertainties & insufficiency of the said Bill of Complaint, for answer unto so much thereof as doth concern these defendants or every of them [2] to make answer unto, they & every of them say as followeth. And first the said William Iremonger & Sara his wife for themselves severally say that they take it to be true that the said John Treherne, deceased, named in the said [3] Bill, was seised of the lands & tenements in the said Bill mentioned, & that he was possessed or interessed of a personal estate in goods & chattels to the value of four hundred pounds or thereabouts. But these defendants say that his debts, as these [4] defendants take it, were not of so great a value as seven thousand pounds, as is mentioned in the Bill, for these defendants do say that the principal debts due to the said John Treherne did not, to their knowledge, in the whole amount to above the [5] sum of four thousand two hundred & sixty pounds. And these defendants do also acknowledge it to be true that the said John Treherne, before his death, did make his last will & testament in writing & did thereby give and bequeath divers several [6] legacies & bequests to divers persons, as in the said Bill is declared, & thereby made the said Edward Griffin & William Iremonger his executors. And they further say that the said testator before his death, by the [7] motion & procurement of the said complainants, or one of them, as these defendants do believe & doubt not to prove, did cause the said codicil mentioned in the Bill to be made, he the said testator being weak & feeble. And [8] afterward died, as in the said Bill is also alleged. And further these defendants say that the said Ann the wife of the said Edward Griffin, one of the complainants, at the time of the said testator's death was in the said [9] messuage mentioned in the said Bill, & did there attend the said testator her father until the time of his death. And the said William Iremonger & Sara his wife do further say that they did permit & suffer [10] the said complainants to have their abode with these defendants in the said messuage after the death of the said testator so long as the said complainants thought good, which was until the feast of Easter or near thereabouts in the [11] fourteenth year of his majesty's reign [c.31 Mar 1616], during which time of their said abode there with these defendants there was made a true inventory of all the said testator's goods & chattels, household stuff, plate, & jewels, & the same [12] were duly apprised by indifferent persons, by & with the consent of the complainants as well as of these defendants. And afterwards, during their said abode with these defendants, several portions & divisions were made between [13] the complainants & these defendants of divers parcels of the said goods. And accordingly the said complainants had such parts & portions thereof as they thought good & well liked of in their several kinds, or otherwise had recompence for the [14] value thereof in money, wherewith they were contented, as these defendants conceived, & the complainants' own dwelling house not being far from the said defendants' house they went to their own house & returned unto the [15] defendants' house so often as they thought fit for the division & partition of the residue of the said goods. And afterwards, in or about the eighteenth day of September in the year of our lord God one thousand six hundred and [16] ninety-one, there was a full partition & division of all the residue of the said goods & chattels of the said testator made between the complainant Edward Griffin and the defendant William Iremonger, at which time & before, they the said complainants had & did receive, according to the said partition & division, [17] full parts & portions thereof, saving only of some goods, being painted cloths & old dornicks, hangings of small value not above forty shillings or thereabouts, as these defendants take it, & of fifty-two shillings & six [18] pence or thereabouts in money, which these defendants do acknowledge to be due unto the complainants upon the said last division of the said goods, to make the said partition thereof even in value with the part & portion of these [19] defendants, saving only for the said painted cloths & dornicks hanging which these defendants always were & yet are ready to satisfy unto the complainants, albeit they have more in their hands of right belonging to [20] these defendants, as they well hope to prove to this honorable court. And as touching the evidences, leases, bonds, bills, specialties, & writings mentioned in the said Bill, these defendants do thereto say that the most [21] part of them were in the closet mentioned in the said Bill at the time of the testator's death, & some other of them were in a chest standing in the bedchamber of the said testator at the time of his [22] death, or in a little box or cabinet in the said chest, the keys of which chest the said Ann, one of the complainants, had then gotten into her custody, & thereupon the said William Iremonger did request her that if she [23] would have the custody of the said keys of the chest still in her hands, that then the said chest & box or cabinet might be placed & set in the said closet until the said writings might be perused, whereto she [24] consented, & shortly after it was agreed between the complainants & these defendants that all the said bonds, bills, & other specialties of the said testator's debts might be examined & perused by them, and accordingly [25] it was done, and thereupon it did appear that the principal debts of the said testator due upon the said specialties did come to the sum of four thousand pounds and not above, as these [26] defendants take it, at which time there was a particular note or calendar made of all the said bonds, bills, & other specialties, (excepting one bond for the payment of £10.10s, made by John Hake to the testator, the moiety of the £10 =which= the complainants have received) with the particular names of the said debtors therein mentioned, with the true dates [27] thereof, & the same or a true copy thereof was delivered unto the said complainant Edward Griffin, and one other this defendant William Iremonger also kept in his own custody, whereby the said complainants were [28] not only with the said bonds, bills, & specialties but also with the said debts & sums of money due by the same & in whose hands the same were & what part thereof did or ought to belong to the said [29] complainants. And of all such sums of money as were paid upon the said bonds & specialties after the said testator's death & before the said complainants' departure from the defendant's house, the said Edward Griffin was present [30] or otherwise made acquainted with the receipt thereof, and accordingly did take & receive his full part & portion thereof belonging unto him & more x x x x x And since that time also [31] the said Edward Griffin hath from time to time received & had all such part & portion of the said debts since that time paid upon the said bonds & specialties, as did or doth any way belong unto him, [32] according to the true intent & meaning of the said testator set down in his will. And the said complainants by the particular note & calendar of the said bonds, bills, & specialties, & this defendant William Iremonger his account formerly delivered unto them [33] are acquainted & may well know what sums of money are yet unsatisfied upon the said specialties & thereby be made certain what other sums of money shall hereafter belong unto them of the said [34] debts hereafter to be recovered or received as if they had the said bonds, bills, & specialties yet remaining in their or either of their own hands & custody. & this defendant William Iremonger saith that he verily [35] believeth that before the said Bill there did not remain bonds for good & dear debts due to the testator at the time of his death above £200 as he taketh it, & he hath one other bond for the payment [36] of other two hundred pounds by Thorpe & others which he taketh to be desperate & not recoverable. And of those & all other bonds remaining in these defendants' hands the said complainants hath better notice than this defendant as he taketh it. [37] And as to the breaking open of the chamber door & taking & getting of the said evidences, bonds, bills, leases, & other writings & goods mentioned in the said Bill of Complaint, these defendants thereto say that [38] after the time of such partition & division of the said household stuff, jewels, plate, & money was made betwixt the complainants & this defendant, & that the complainants had received such part thereof as did belong unto them in such [39] sort as before is expressed, these defendants did then well hope to enjoy the said messuage in their own private & particular possession & according to their estate therein devised unto them by the said testator mentioned in the [40] said will without any encumbrance or disturbance of the said complainants or either of them (the said testator's mind & intent mentioned in the said codicil being fully satisfied as aforesaid, as this defendant taketh it), & for that the complainants did never [41] the less continue their said abode & dwelling in the said defendant's house, together ofttimes with their children & family, not only in their own lodging chamber but also in divers other parcels of the said house, [42] & did still keep the said chamber door mentioned in the Bill locked & close shut up, whereby these defendants could not have the liberty of their own dwelling house without the leave & licence of the [43] complainants, notwithstanding the said partition of the goods, & that the complainants had a true note or calendar of all the bonds, bills, & other specialties of good debts made & delivered unto them as aforesaid, & had [44] seen & perused the same and other the bonds, bills of any the debts or specialties of the said testator, whereby they might know what part & portion of the said debts as they should come to be paid should or ought to belong unto them, [45] this defendant William Iremoner [sic], with the aid of the said other defendant Francis Winton, named in the Bill, being then his servant in the said house upon necessary occasions which this defendant had then to do in the said chamber, about the time mentioned in the [46] said Bill, opened the said chamber door & entered into the chamber for such necessary occasions & affairs there to be done by this defendant & to the end the said William Iremonger might have the use & occupation thereof, as these defendants well hope, by [47] the favor & good leave of this honorable court, was & may be lawful for him to do. And since that time, true it is the said William Iremonger hath gotten such writings & specialties as were in the said closet into his hands x x x [48] & these defendants do detain & keep the said writings, & such bonds as are unsatisfied, in their safe custody, & do possess & keep the said whole messuage for their own use according to the true intent & meaning of the said testator, mentioned in his said will, as is lawful for [49] them to do, as these defendants take it, & the said defendant William Iremonger doth so keep the said writings & specialties, as there neither is nor hath been any prejudice or wrong thereby done to the complainants, for that these defendants are & have been always [50] willing to produce them, or any of them, so oft as any necessary & fit occasion hath or shall be either for the complainants or this defendant to see or use the same. Neither do these defendants intend to make any further or more [51] benefit thereby than they may lawfully do, according to the true meaning of the said testator expressed in his said will. Neither do these defendants detain or withhold any profit of them which do or ought to belong [52] to the complainants. Neither have these defendants taken away or do detain any the goods which do belong to the complainants by the said partition & division thereof made as aforesaid, which was done with the full consent & good liking [53] of the said complainants, & as these defendants conceive x x x x x [54] x x x And if the said complainants have left any part of the said goods & household stuff behind them in the said house which doth of right belong unto them, they may have & take the same without the let [55] or contradiction of these defendants or either of them when they shall think good. And these defendants do deny that these defendants or either of them do detain from the said complainants or either of them any the said writings, [56] bills, bonds, leases, counterparts of leases, or other specialties, evidences, books, or notes which do particularly belong or of right appertain unto them or either of them only, as in the said Bill is pretended. And these defendants do also deny that the complainants or either of [57] them ought to have the keeping & use of all the residue of the said writings, evidences, leases, bonds, bills, specialties, books, & notes, otherwise than to the purposes before expressed, when and so often as any necessary or fit occasion hath or [58] shall be for the use of them, which hath not nor shall be denied unto them. And as to the bonds and statutes supposed in the said Bill to be made by the said Adie Sare and others there named in the said Bill unto the said testator [59] for the true and just administration of the goods & chattels of his son John Treherne, likewise named in the said Bill, and thereby pretended to be gotten and delivered up by these defendants or one of them unto the said Adie Sare, whereby [60] the complainants shall not be able to produce the same when the children of the said John Treherne the younger =crease= [61] said testator did become bound unto him the said testator, and this defendant William Iremonger joined =crease= of the said John Treherne the younger shall have use of the same. These defendants thereto say that the said Adie Sare in the lifetime of the [62] statute staple which this defendant William Iremonger had in his own custody after the death of the ?testator in the sum of three thousand pounds by his recognizance or writing obligatory in the nature of a [63] & these defendants as executors of the said testator as by the said complainants is pretended, so that the said recognizance or writing obligatory doth no way concern the said complainants, neither can they any way be [64] chargeable therewith or be compelled to produce or show forth the same as in the said Bill is surmised. And there is good cause why the said Adie Sare should become bound unto this defendant William Iremonger [65] as well as unto the said testator for that he this defendant with the consent and by the appointment of the said testator did become bound in the Prerogative Court of the archbishop of Canterbury for the payment of the [66] said children's portions of the said John Treherne the younger and hath no other security but a statute of three thousand pounds for his indemnity & being saved harmless from the same. Neither have the [67] complainants any thing to do or intermeddle therewith as these defendants take it. And these defendants do deny that they or either of them have or had any other statute or recognizance in their or either of their hands or custody. [68] with the said Adie Sare did give unto the said testator as in the said Bill is alleged. And as to the bringing in of the inventory of all the aid evidences, bonds, bills, leases, and other specialties & writings mentioned in the said [69] Bill, these defendants thereto say that they heretofore have caused an inventory or note to be made of all the bonds, bills, & specialties of good debts, and have formerly delivered unto the complainants, or to one of them, [70] a true copy thereof as before is expressed, whereby the complainants may well see & perceive what belongeth unto them for such parts & moieties thereof which do appertain unto the said complainants & these defendants as joint executors of the said testator together with the true dates and contents thereof and as to any the deeds, evidences, leases, or writings {which} particularly belong or appertain to the complainants or either of them {which} came [71] to these defendants' hands or to the hands of either of them they have heretofore delivered or caused to be delivered unto the said complainants themselves or to one of them, and these defendants or either of them have not [72] any other evidences or writings in their hands or custody or of any other by their means, consent, or privity which do belong unto the said complainants or to either of them (saving only such bills, bonds, and specialties for debts which do belong [73] to these defendants as well as unto the complainants as before is expressed. Without that, that the said counterpart of the said lease of the messuages & tenements in the parish of St Olave mentioned in the Bill doth belong or ought to belong [74] unto the complainants only, or to either of them as therein is pretended. And without that, that there was any agreement between this defendant & the complainant Edward Griffen, that part of the said writings & evidences should remain in the [75] closet, or trunk within the closet, mentioned in the Bill otherwise than is herein before expressed. And without that, that the said complainants or either of them as these defendants conceive ought to have any longer continuance [76] in the said messuage, or to have any ingress, egress, or regress thereunto after the said goods and household stuff parted and divided as before is expressed. And without that, that Sara one of these [77] defendants was present with her husband the said William Iremonger at the opening of the said door or lock mentioned in the Bill or break open the same or did take or carry forth the said writinges or other goods [78] thereas in the said Bill is alleged. And the said Francis Wynton one other of the defendants to so much of the said Bill of Complaint as doth concern him to make answer to, saith that he was present with the said William Iremonger [79] the other defendant being then his clerk and servant when his said master did open the said door into the said great chamber [80] the said chamber or box or cabinet and certain bonds which his said master then told him were part of the bonds whereof there was a note before given to the said complainants or one of them (as this defendant hopeth by the favour of this [81] honorable court, lawful for him to do (the said chamber and door then belonging & of right appertaining to his said master as he is verily persuaded) but this defendant saith that his said master did not at that time take out of the [82] said chamber or closet and their writings or evidences nor any goods *** stuff that he did so know of. And the said Tristram Gilsland and the said Alice his wife for so much as doth any ways concern them or either of [83] them to answer unto the said Bill of Complaint do sat and either of them saith that she the said Alice was servant unto this defendant at the time of the supposed breaking open of the door into the great chamber mentioned in the [84] said Bill of Complaint but she the said Alice was not present thereat or any way made acquainted therewith until afterwards she was informed that her master the said William Iremonger the other defendant had opened the said door. Wwithout [85] that, that she the said Alice did break open the said lock or door or take or carry out any the deeds, writings, or evidences or any the goods from thence as by the said complainants is supposed. And without that, that any other [86] matter or thing contained in the said Bill of Complaint and herein by all the said defendants not sufficiently confessed and avoided or else traversed and denied is true. All which these defendants are ready to aver maintain & prove [87] as this honorable court shall award, and pray to be dismissed with their reasonable costs & charges in this behalf most wrongfully sustained