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| The document consists of two parchment sheets, the first containing the Bill, the second the Answer. Both are clearly written and legible. The complainant is Thomas Walker of Camberwell, esquire. The defendant is Leomard Bilson, son of a former bishop of Winchester. At issue is Walker's purchase of the former episcopal liberty known as Clink Liberty, once property of the bishop, and Bilson's insistence that part of the Liberty still belonged to him because of a valid lease from his father. The Bill and Answer both give detailed dimensions of the property in question, including a brewhouse called the James. Text has been modernised, but surnames retain their original spelling. For unfamiliar terms such as 'causey' or 'perch', see the Glossary. |
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• The Bill of Complaint of Thomas Walker
• The Answer |
The Bill of Complaint of Thomas Walker
29 May 1657
To the Right Honourable the Lord Commissioner for the Great Seal of England
[1] Humbly complaining sheweth unto your lordship your orator Thomas Walker of Camberwell in the county of Surrey, esquire, that whereas Sir John [2] Woollaston of London, knight, and others appointed by several ordinances of parliament to be trustees for sale of bishops' lands in England and Wales, did on [3] or about the month of September which was in the year of our lord one thousand six hundred forty and nine, contract and agree with your said orator [4] for the absolute purchase of the Manor of Southwark called Winchester Liberty, otherwise Clink Liberty, and all lands and tenements to the same [5] belonging or in any wise appertaining, and for good considerations of money paid by your said orator, the said Sir John Woollaston and others the trustees, [6] according to the power and authority to them given by their indenture bearing date on or about the six and twentieth day of the said month of [7] September in the year aforesaid, did bargain and sell unto your said orator & his heirs the said Manor of Southwark called Winchester Liberty otherwise [8] Clink Liberty, with their rights, members, and appurtenances in the said county of Surrey and late parcel of the possessions of the late bishop of Winchester as [9] in and by the said conveyance, which is duly executed in the law, relation being thereunto had whereunto for more certainty your said orator referreth [10] more fully may appertain, by authority whereof your said orator into the said manor and premises with the appurtenances did enter and ought to have and [11] receive the rents and profits thereof and the benefit and advantage of all covenants and conditions contained in any grant or lease made heretofore of [12] all or any the said premises by any bishop of the see of Winchester aforesaid, as any bishop of Winchester aforesaid might or ought to have done. And your [13] said orator further sheweth unto your lordships that Leonard Bilson of West Mapledurham in the county of Southton [=Hampshire], esquire, holding and enjoying the possession of [14] divers messuages and premises part of the said Manor of Southwark called Winchester Liberty otherwise Clink Liberty, and also part of your said orator's [15] purchase, the said Leonard Bilson doth pretend that Walter late bishop of Winchester by indenture (or otherwise) bearing date on or about the four and [16] twentieth day of April, which was in the year of our lord one thousand six hundred thirty and eight, did grant or demise unto the said Leonard Bilson and his [17] heirs one messuage or brewhouse called the James and seven small tenements and a garden called Milward's garden with the appurtenances at the east end [18] of Stews Bank by the Thames side containing in length from east to west ten perches and a half and in breadth at the east end forty four foot and [19] at the west end sixty six foot bounding north on the Thames and south and weest on the causey leading from the Stew Bank toward the [20] Clink gate. And Milward's garden lieth within the pasture of the said late bishop called the Willies in St Saviour parish and boundeth east upon the [21] said late bishop's ground parcel of the Willies called Pennyfield and north on parcel of the Willies called Torkes-lease and west on Willies pasture and [22] south on the garden and orchard late Dormer's with free ingress, egress, and regress into and from Milward's garden by the midst of the Willies pasture [23] by the midst of the gate with a key from the gate. And also four other tenements thentofore built by William Shale on the bank by the Thames side the east [24] end of the brewhouse and the said seven tenements the said four tenements containing towards the east in length seventy and eight foot and in [25] breadth towards the south thirty and seven foot and an orchard bounding north on Maiden Lane and on a garden late Ralph Mooreton's and east and [26] south on the land late Thomas Reade's To hold for the lives of the said Leonard Bilson, William Bilson his brother, and Mary Bilson his sister, and the [27] longer liver of them at the yearly rent of three and thirty shillings payable at the feasts of St Michael the Archangel and the Annunciation of [28] the Virgin St Mary by equal portions which said premises are part of the said Manor of Southwark called Winchester Liberty otherwise Clink Liberty and [29] of your said orator's purchase and valued upon the particular to be of the yearly value of one hundred and nine pounds Nevertheless the said Leonard [30] Bilson only pays unto your said orator the yearly rent of thirty and three shillings pretending that he hath a lease or grant of the said premises at the [31] said rent the which your said orator hath requested the said Leonard Bilson to produce offering to affirm and make good the same in case the same precede your said [32] orator's title the which he hath refused to do sometime pretending that he hath granted and assigned his estate in the premises unto others and at [33] other times that he hath lost or mislaid his said pretended lease or grant. But so it is, may it please your lordships, that the said Leonard Bilson well [34] knowing your said orator's title to the premises to be as aforesaid and that your said orator hath no remedy at or by the strict rules of the common law [35] to compel him to produce or show forth his said pretended grant or lease whereby he makes title to the said premises, or to deliver a true copy thereof [36] unto your said orator to be made use of in any court at any trial at law or in any other way as the cause may require, your said orator being willing to make [37] good the said grant or lease and not at all to impeach the same in case the same precede your said orator's title to the premises. Now forasmuch as your [38] said orator hath no remedy at the common law in the premises nor can otherwise be relieved then before your lordships to the end therefore the [39] said Leonard Bilson may true answer make to all the premises and deliver unto your said orator a true copy of the lease or grant whereby he claims [40] title to the premises, your said orator not impeaching the same, and that your said orator may be relieved in the premises according to equity and good [41] conscience. May it please your lordships to grant unto your said orator a writ of subpoena to be directed unto the said Leonard Bilson commanding him thereby [42] at a certain day and under a certain pain therein to be limited to be and personally appear before your lordships in the high Court of Chancery then [43] and there to answer the premises and further to stand to and abide such order and decree as to your lordships shall seem agreeable to equity & [44] good conscience.
The Answer of Leonard Bilson
The answer of Leonard Bilson, esquire, defendant, to the Bill of Complaint of Thomas Walker esquire, complainant
[1] The said defendant saving to himself now and at all times hereafter all and all manner of exceptions to the incertainties and imperfections in the said Bill for answer [2] unto so much thereof as any way concerneth this defendant to make answer unto, saith that Walter, late bishop of Winchester, being seised of and [...] manor and [3] lands in the Bill mentioned in right of his bishopric did by his indenture under the seal of the said bishop bearing date the four and twentieth day of [4] April in the year of our lord God one thousand six hundred and eight and thirty, and in the fourteenth year of the reign of the late king Charles [5] for the consideration therein expressed made between the said then bishop of the one part and this defendant by the name of Leonard Bilson gentleman one of [6] the sons of Sir Thomas Bilson of West Mapledurham in the county of Southton [=Hampshire], knight, of the other part, demise, grant, and to farm let unto this defendant of [7] a messuage or brewhouse called the James and seven small tenements and a garden called Millward's garden with the appurtenances set and being [8] in the parish of St Saviour in Southwark in the county of Surrey, which messuage or brewhouse and seven small tenements are set together at the east end [9] of a bank sometimes called the Stews Bank by the Thames side, containing in length from the east unto the west ten perches and a half, and in breadth at [10] the east end forty and four foot and in breadth at the west end three score and six foot, bounding towards the north upon the water of the Thames and [11] towards the south and west upon the way or causey leading from a place sometimes called the Stews towards the gate called the Clink Gate And [12] the said garden called Millward's garden lieth within the pasture of the said then bishop called the Wyllies, in the parish of St Saviour aforesaid, and [13] boundeth towards the east upon the then ground of the said bishop parcel of the Wyllies called Penyfold and towards the north upon the then pasture [14] of the said bishop parcel of the Wyllies called Torkes Leas and towards the west upon the said pasture called the Wyllies and towards the south upon the [15] orchards and gardens late Dormer's with free entering in and going out, ingress, egress, and regress into and from the said garden called Millward's garden by [16] the middest of the gate of the said pasture called the Wyllies with a key for the said gate at all times necessary yearly during the term intended by the said indenture of [17] lease to be demised or granted. And further the said bishop, for the considerations in the said indenture expressed, did demise, grant, and to farm let for him and his [18] successors unto the said defendant four other tenements with the appurtenances by one William Shale heretofore erected, edified, and builded, which other four [19] tenements are set and being together in the parish of St Saviour aforesaid upon the bank by the Thames side next to the east end of the said messuage or brewhouse [20] and seven tenements before mentioned or recited. And the said four tenements do extend in length from the east end of the said seven tenements before [21] mentioned to be demised towards the east along by the wharf joining to the Thames side there three score and eighteen foot and in breadth from the said [22] wharf towards the south thirty and seven foot. And further the said bishop, for the considerations in the aforesaid recited indenture of lease mentioned, did for [23] him and his successors demise, grant, and to farm let unto the said defendant an orchard in the said parish of St Saviour bounded towards the north upon [24] Maiden Lane and towards the west upon the garden then late in the tenure of Ralph Morton and towards the east and south upon the land late of Thomas Reade. All [25] which said premises demised by the said indenture of lease were sometime in the tenure or occupation of one William Shale or of his assign or assigns by virtue of one [26] indenture of lease thereof made to the said William Shale by the late reverend father in God Richard, sometime bishop of Winchester [=Richard Fox], bearing date the five and [27] twentieth day of April in the ninth year of the reign of the late king of famous memory Henry the eighth [=1517], to have and to hold the said messuage or brewhouse [28] and all and singular the said tenements, gardens, and orchards, and all other the tenements, gardens, and premises with the appurtenances thereby demised, and every [29] part and parcel thereof with the appurtenances unto the said defendant, his heirs and assigns during the natural lives of him the said defendant, William Bilson [30] brother of the said defendant, and Susan Bilson sister of the said defendant, and for and during the natural life of the longest liver of them and every of them [31] yielding and paying for all and singular the said premises yearly unto the said then lord bishop and his successors during the natural lives of the said defendant, [32] William Bilson, and Susan Bilson, and during the life of the longest liver of them and every of them the yearly rent or sum of thirty and three shillings of good and [33] lawful money of England at two usual feasts or days of payment in the year, that is to say, at the feast of St Michael the Archangel and the Annunciation of the Blessed [34] Virgin Mary, by even and equal portions to be paid (as by the said indenture ready to be produced unto this honorable court to which this defendant doth refer himself it doth and [35] may appear), and that by virtue thereof the said defendant did enter into the premises and was seised thereof and of right ought to hold and enjoy the same and that the said [36] defendant, being so seised, did about nine years last past produce and show forth the aforesaid indenture of lease unto the commissioners assigned by parliament to that purpose who did allow [37] thereof, and accordingly the said defendant hath held and enjoyed the same, and hath paid the aforesaid rent reserved upon the said lease unto the said complainant or unto such as hath in his name [38] demanded the same, but doth not know what title the said complainant hath unto the lands in the said indenture mentioned, neither hath the said complainant, to this defendant's knowledge, [39] demanded a copy of the said lease, for that the said defendant hath not denied the same, as in the said Bill is pretended, but confesseth from a person altogether unknown unto the said defendant he [40] received a letter to that purpose, and what covenants or conditions are contained in the said indenture of lease the said defendant doth refer himself unto the said indenture and is ready to [41] produce the same to this honorable court if they shall please to order the same. And forasmuch as the said complainant doth pretend in his said Bill that he intendeth not to take advantage of the [42] said lease, but to allow the same, the said defendant is induced to believe that the said complainant doth endeavor by his said Bill to take advantage to him for that he the said complainant hath [43] heretofore deprived the said defendant of a lease of parcels of lands heretofore demised unto the said defendant by the said bishop for divers years then to come, by reason that the time [44] for allowance thereof was elapsed, the said lease being not then in the custody of the said defendant, all which the said defendant did make known and was ready to prove unto the said complainant, [45] yet the said complainant would not allow thereof. Without that, that there is any other matter or thing whatsoever, material or effectual in the law, for this defendant to make [46] answer unto and not hereby and herein before sufficiently traversed, denied, confessed and avoided, is true to this defendant's knowledge. All which said matters and things the said defendant [47] is ready to aver, maintain, and prove, as this most honorable court shall award, and humbly prayeth hence to be dismissed with his reasonable costs and charges in this behalf most [48] wrongfully sustained.
Sworn by the defendant Leonard Bilson
this 15th October 1657 before me
Edward H**ghn one of the masters
of Chancery