Yorkshire Almanac 2026

Unedited excerpt

If an excerpt is used in the book, it will be shorter, edited and, where applicable, translated.

Richard by the grace of god, etc. To all our subjects, greeting. Know ye that we for the sum of 1050 marks of lawful money of England have sold the keeping and manage of Anne Salvayn, daughter and heir of Sir John Salvayn, knight, to our trusty and well-beloved William Hussey, knight, our chief justice of our bench, to have the said keeping and manage of the said Anne to she come to the age of 16 years: of which sum of 1050 marks the said William hath paid to us the day of making of these presents 850 marks, so that the said William oweth to us of the said sum of 1050 marks but only £100. Of which sum of 850 marks we confess us, the said king, to be paid, and the said William thereof against us to be discharged by these presents. And over this we promit [promise] and grant the said William by these presents that we shall warrant and discharge the said William, his executors and assigns against all men that hereafter shall pretend any title, action or demand for the said custody and marriage against the said William, his executors or assigns in any manner [or] form. And also we grant to the said William that if the said Anne die, or she come to age of 16 years and be not married by the said William, his executors nor assigns, nor by no-one of them sold, that then we shall repay and content the said William the sum of 600 marks of lawful money of England. In witness whereof to these presents we have put to our signet and subscribed them with our hand. Given and written at our city of York the 8th day of September the first year of our reign.

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To facilitate reading, the spelling and punctuation of elderly excerpts have generally been modernised, and distracting excision scars concealed. My selections, translations, and editions are copyright.

Comment

Comment

A mark is customarily two-thirds of a pound sterling (13s. 4d.), but here it is half, which I take to be consistent with the more-or-less contemporaneous Maister Damyan, “His benefyce worthe ten pounde / Or skante worth twenty marke” (Skelton 1843). 1,050 marks here would have been about £498K in 2024.

Editor Ellis on wardship:

Whenever a tenant of the Crown in capite died, whether an earl, a baron, or a lower vassal, leaving his heir under age, and consequently incapable of performing the personal services due by his tenure, the King took possession of his estate, that he might therewith support the heir, and give him an education suitable to his quality, and at the same time provide a substitute to perform the services required from his land. Thus far the guardianship would appear to have been intended for good. But the King had the power to sell it; or by the grant of it he could enrich a favourite. The King’s female wards could not marry any person, however agreeable to themselves and their relations, without the consent of their royal guardian ; ostensibly, that they might not have it in their power to bestow an estate that had been derived from the crown, on one who was disagreeable to the Sovereign. This was a cruel and ignominious servitude, by which heiresses of the greatest families and most opulent fortunes were exposed to sale, or obliged to purchase the liberty of disposing of themselves in marriage by great sums of money, either from the King, or from some greedy courtier to whom he had granted or sold their marriage.

Etc. etc.

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Tags

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• Henry VII of England (3) W/G ·
• John Skelton (poet) (1) W/G ·
• Misogyny (9) W/G ·
• Thorpe Salvin (1) W/G ·
• Ward (law) (2) W/G ·
• William Hussey (MP for Stamford) (1) W/G ·
• William Hussey (judge) (1) W/G ·

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To facilitate reading, the spelling and punctuation of elderly excerpts have generally been modernised, and distracting excision scars concealed. My selections, translations, and editions are copyright.

Comment

Comment

A mark is customarily two-thirds of a pound sterling (13s. 4d.), but here it is half, which I take to be consistent with the more-or-less contemporaneous Maister Damyan, “His benefyce worthe ten pounde / Or skante worth twenty marke” (Skelton 1843). 1,050 marks here would have been about £498K in 2024.

Editor Ellis on wardship:

Whenever a tenant of the Crown in capite died, whether an earl, a baron, or a lower vassal, leaving his heir under age, and consequently incapable of performing the personal services due by his tenure, the King took possession of his estate, that he might therewith support the heir, and give him an education suitable to his quality, and at the same time provide a substitute to perform the services required from his land. Thus far the guardianship would appear to have been intended for good. But the King had the power to sell it; or by the grant of it he could enrich a favourite. The King’s female wards could not marry any person, however agreeable to themselves and their relations, without the consent of their royal guardian ; ostensibly, that they might not have it in their power to bestow an estate that had been derived from the crown, on one who was disagreeable to the Sovereign. This was a cruel and ignominious servitude, by which heiresses of the greatest families and most opulent fortunes were exposed to sale, or obliged to purchase the liberty of disposing of themselves in marriage by great sums of money, either from the King, or from some greedy courtier to whom he had granted or sold their marriage.

Etc. etc.

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Similar

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To facilitate reading, the spelling and punctuation of elderly excerpts have generally been modernised, and distracting excision scars concealed. My selections, translations, and editions are copyright.

Comment

Comment

A net estate of £450K would have been worth roughly £46M in mid-2024. For the compromise settlement see e.g. The Times (Times 1884/03/15).

Grace’s Guide and the modern Northern Echo have found an article – presumably the Liverpool Echo one, which I haven’t seen – which mentions my favourite meat, mutton:

During the latter portion of the time that Mr. and Mrs. Barningham lived together they never had any conversation, occupied separate rooms, and in fact lived entirely separate lives. The daughter spent a considerable portion of her time with Mrs. Barningham, and on more than one occasion when Mr. Barningham was sitting alone and miserable in his room music and singing were going on in the wife’s apartments. The man who could project and carry on a great industry and amass wealth, sat downstairs nursing his dark and implacable temper. He once gave his wife a watch, and afterwards erased her initials from it “because he was distressed at the sight of anything which suggested a connection between his name and that of his wife.” He declared that he would give £10,000 to be separated from her, although her character was unimpeachable. He threw a can of water over her because she dared to take the first cut of mutton at dinner. At another time this angel of the house went into the room where his wife and daughter were dining and threw a scuttleful of coals upon the table. He excluded his wife and daughter from his deathbed, and although remonstrated with by minister and doctor refused to be reconciled because “it would look like giving in.” It is recorded that his daughter once called him “a brute,” and it does not seem that the appellation, though unkind, was altogether undeserved.

If anyone has a scan of the mutton article, please send it in. The scuttle-full of coal appears inter alia in London’s Standard.

Mr Barningham poisoning the good people of Pendleton.

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