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Dr Symcotts lived in Huntingdon and his medical practice extended over Huntingdonshire, Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire. His patients included notable families and the editors have highlighted Oliver Cromwell and his family, drawing on other sources that also refer to him receiving treatment from Dr Symcotts. The introduction discusses seventeenth century medical education and practice; Dr Symcotts’ patients; fees; diseases from which his patients may have suffered; and treatments.
The correspondence includes bills showing medicinal ingredients and their cost. The case notes contain descriptions of patients’ symptoms, the treatment prescribed and the outcome, sometimes with notes on other patients with similar symptoms. There is a glossary of medical terms and ingredients.
Includes 'The Assessment of Knight Service in Bedfordshire, no. 2', by John E. Morris. 'St. John of SouthilI', by F. A. Page-Turner. 'Some Saxon Charters', by G. Herbert Fowler. 'A Late Example of a Deodand', by William Austin. 'Domesday Notes II: Kenemondwick', by G. Herbert Fowler. 'The Hillersdens of Elstow', by F. A. Page-Turner. 'Grant of Free Warren to Newnham Priory', by J. Hamson. 'Cutenho, Farley Hospital, and Kurigge', by William Austin. 'Munitions in 1224', by G. Herbert Fowler. 'The Becher Family of Howbury', by F. A. Page-Turner. 'Yttingaford and the Tenth-Century Bounds of Chalgrave and Linslade,’ by Frederick G. Gurney. 'The Paper Register of St. Mary's Church in Bedford, 1539-1558', by the Rev. A. G. Kealey. 'Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem No. I,’ by G. Herbert Fowler. 'Notes and queries: Information requested on some Anglo-Saxon charters; ancient parish maps; Simon Fitz; and healing wells.'.
Includes 'A Bedford Fragment and the Burning of Two Fraticelli at Avignon in 1354', by D. W. Whitfield (This transcription in Latin of an isolated folio gives the indictment of friars John de Castellione and Francis ab Arquata, with Friar John’s profession of faith. The folio is held by Bedfordshire Archives.).
'John Lord Wenlock of Someries', by J. S. Roskell (Sir John Wenlock who was a royal servant and ambassador for both Henry VI and Edward IV. He held high office nationally and locally, was an MP several times and Speaker of the House of Commons 1455-6. He was a soldier and served on both sides during the Wars of the Roses. He built up a large estate around Luton and elsewhere in Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire which he sold to Thomas Rotheram, Bishop of Lincoln.).
'The Tower of London Letter-book of Sir Lewis Dyve, 1646-47', edited by H. G. Tibbutt (Transcription of copies of letters from Dyve to Charles I and John Ashburnham.).
'Inventory of Furniture at Houghton House, c. 1726-28', edited by Evelyn Curtis (The house, near Ampthill, belonged to Thomas Bruce, 2nd Earl of Ailesbury, then in exile because of his support of James II. At the time of the inventory, the house was probably unoccupied. The house was sold in 1738 to the Duke of Bedford.).
Includes 'Roll of the Justices in Eyre at Bedford, 1227', by G. Herbert Fowler (Introduction and English Translation of the Roll).
'The Domesday Water Mills of Bedfordshire', by W. Austin (Includes a map of their location).
'The King's Larderer of Meppershall', by Mrs. Hilary Jenkinson. 'Recruiting of Militia, 1798', (Transcription of the order from the Bedfordshire justices to the chief constable of Clifton hundred to draw up a list of the men aged 18 to 45 of Lower Stondon who were eligible for the militia).
In memoriam C. G. C. (Clifford Gore Chambers, d. 1913). 'The Bedfordshire Wills and Administrations Proved at Lambeth Palace and in the Archdeaconry of Huntingdon', by F. A. Page Turner. 'The Beauchamps, Barons of Eaton', by G. Herbert Fowler. 'Ancient Bedfordshire Deeds, No. 1', by F. A. Page Turner. 'Records of Northill College, No. 2', by C. Gore Chambers. 'Bedfordshire Charters in the Missenden Cartulary', by G. Herbert Fowler. 'The Browne Family of Arlesey', by F. A. Page Turner. 'Markets and Fairs of Luton', by William Austin. 'The Assessment of Knight Service in Bedfordshire, No. 1', by John E. Morris. 'Materies Genealogica, No. 1', by F. A. Page Turner. 'An early Bedfordshire taxation', by Mrs. Hilary Jenkinson. 'A Commutation of Villan (sic) services', by William Austin. 'Records of Knight Service in Bedfordshire’, by G. Herbert Fowler. 'Notes and replies – Ravensden and Chainhalle; Toddington place names 1453; Luton names in the xiith century; duties on bricks'.
A cartulary of the deeds and charters of Newnham Priory in Bedford was compiled in the early fifteenth century. It contains the Priory's deeds and charters from 1166 to 1409. The Latin transcriptions have been explained by brief explanatory headings in English for each of the 600 or more documents. The deeds are rich in field names for the places where the Priory held lands: Goldington, Biddenham, Cardington, Sharnbrook, Ravensden, Renhold, Stotfold and Wotton.
Includes 'The Honour of Old Wardon', by the late William Farrer, with an introduction by James Tait (With pedigrees).
'Early Records of Turvey and its Neighbourhood, Part I: A The Drayton Charters; B The Halstead Charters', by G. Herbert Fowler (The Drayton charters, so called because they were found at Drayton House, Northamptonshire, include 23 charter relating to Turvey in the period 1138 to 1403. They are printed here in Latin, with extensive notes. The second part of the article discusses documents on the Mordaunt family of Turvey used by Robert Halstead in his Succinct genealogies of the noble and ancient houses … (1685) and concludes, by comparing them with the Drayton charters, that the documents are forgeries.).
'Ecclesiastical Troubles in Dunstable, c. 1616', by S. Peyton (Star chamber proceedings instituted by Edward Alport, clerk.).
'The inventory of Toddington manor house, 1644', by Joseph Hight Blundell.
'Note on the Peyvre family', by G. H. F. (A correction to notes and pedigrees on the Peyvre family in volume 10 at p. 318.).
The introduction explains the method of taxation in the thirteenth century. By the 1290s, taxes were levied as a fixed proportion of the value of a person's goods: a ninth, a fifteenth, a thirtieth or other fraction, as ordered. The proportion in 1297 was a ninth. The rolls transcribed here contain a valuation of stock, crops and other goods, followed by their total value and the amount to be paid in tax. An account of the circumstances of the 1297 tax is given. There is an analysis of the returns for Bedfordshire, with tables, and a commentary on what was omitted from the assessment. The returns are translated into English and a glossary has been added to explain how Latin terms have been translated.
There is also a translation of the collection of a fifteenth for Shillington in 1301.
Includes 'John Harvey of Ickwell, 1688-9', edited by Margaret Richards. 'Henry Taylor of Pulloxhill, 1750-72', edited by Patricia Bell. 'John Salusbury of Leighton Buzzard, 1757-9', edited by Joyce Godber. 'John Pedley of Great Barford, 1773-95', edited by F. G. Emmison. 'Elizabeth Brown of Ampthill, 1778-91', edited by Joyce Godber. 'Edward Arpin of Felmersham, 1763-1831', edited by C. D. Linnell. 'Catherine Young (later Maclear) of Bedford, 1832-5 and 1846', edited by Isobel Thompson. 'Sir John Burgoyne, Bart., of Sutton, 1854', edited by Brigadier P. Young, DSO, MC. 'Major J. H. Brooks and the Indian Mutiny, 1857', edited by Aileen M. Armstrong. 'The Rev. G. D. Newbolt of Souldrop, 1856-95', edited by Patricia Bell. 'Some Letters from Bedfordshire Pioneers in Australia, 1842-86', edited by Andrew Underwood.
Includes 'A Calendar of the Pipe Rolls of the Reign of Richard I for Buckinghamshire and Bedfordshire 1189-1199', by G. Herbert Fowler and Michael W. Hughes. The calendar in English is preceded by an introduction which explains what the roll contains and how it has been calendared and analyses some of the information in the pipe rolls. It is followed by copious notes and a fold-out map containing a reconstruction of the hundreds of Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire at the time of Richard I. The authors are careful to indicate that the hundred boundaries are approximations based on later parish boundaries and that the locations shown for vills are similarly only probable.
Includes 'The Beauchamps, Barons of Bedford', by C. Gore Chambers and G. Herbert Fowler. 'Clerical Subsidies in the Archdeaconry of Bedford, 1390-2, 1400-1', by J. E. Brown. 'Domesday Notes', by G. Herbert Fowler. 'A Lease of Caddington Manor in 1299', by C. Gore Chambers. 'Sir William Harper, Knt.', by F. A. Page-Turner. 'Early Charters of the Priory of Chicksand', by G. Herbert Fowler. 'Notes on Two Trades: (i) Strawplaiting, (ii) Brickmaking', by William Austin. 'The Bedford Eyre, 1202', by G. Herbert Fowler. 'Records of Northill College, No. I', by C. Gore Chambers.
Contains 'The Shefford Beaker', by Cyril Fox. 'The Later Descent of Wingate of Harlington', by Joseph Hight Blundell. 'The Disseisins by Falk de Breaute at Luton', by G. Herbert Fowler and Michael W. Hughes. 'An Elizabethan Inquisition Concerning Bondmen', by S. Peyton. 'Roll of the Justices in Eyre, 1242', by G. Herbert Fowler. 'A list of Bedfordshire Apprentices, 1711-1720', by Mrs. Hilary Jenkinson. 'The Commune of Bedford', by Prof. F. M. Stenton. 'A Handlist of the Bedfordshire County Muniments', prepared by the County Records Committee.
This book presents records of the fifty courts held in 23 of the 35 years covered by the roll. The introduction to the book describes the roll (held by Bedfordshire Archives) the Loring family (who were lords of the manor and whose pedigree is included), court procedure and the business conducted by the court. Drawing on other sources, the editor presents an account of landholding, service and some of the families living on the manor. The extent, drawn up after Sir Nigel Loring's death, gives a detailed description of a late fourteenth century manor house and its surroundings. The court rolls, in Latin with parallel English translation, provide an overview of life on the manor, albeit the activities that got people into trouble, e.g. '… John … cut down one ash tree with the lord's licence to repair his house and afterwards he sold it for 15d so that the said house as yet remains unrepaired.'
'A Calendar of the Feet of Fines for Bedfordshire Pt. III for the Reign of Edward I with Some Earlier Fines', edited by G. Herbert Fowler (1273-1307 and 1183-1272).
'Belverge of Sharpenhoe', by Joseph Hight Blundell (A minor gentry family c.1200-1415).
'The Meeting Places of Stodden and Redbournstoke Hundreds', by F. G. Emmison.
'The Writer of the Warrant for the Arrest of John Bunyan', by F. G. Emmison (On William Johnson, notary and deputy registrar; 1674-5.).
'Bedfordshire Bells, c.1710’, compiled by L. H. Chambers.
'Note on the Name Helder’, by Joseph Hight Blundell (Discusses the evolution of the surname Spicer to Spicer alias Helder and then simply to Helder, in the period 1500-1542 in Luton and in Lilley, Offley and Hexton (Herts), on the evidence of the register of the Guild of the Holy Trinity of Luton.).
Includes 'The Relief of the Poor at Eaton Socon, 1706-1834', by F. G. Emmison.
'Tithe at Pavenham, 1759/60', contributed by C. D. Linnell (Transcriptions of two documents held by Trinity College, Cambridge. The first is a report on the tithes at Pavenham written by W. Elstobb, a surveyor, of Cambridge in 1759. The second, probably also by Mr Elstobb, puts forward a scheme for renting the tithe from Trinity College which would allow each farmer to rent his share of the tithe, i.e. pay an agreed sum of money annually. The documents also record produce, prices and land values.).
Contains 'Digest of the Charters Preserved in the Cartulary of the Priory of Dunstable', by G. Herbert Fowler. This digest is from a thirteenth century manuscript, with additions to the fifteenth century, preserved in the British Library as Harleian MS 1885. It uses a mixture of transcription, translation, abstracting and listing to present the charters and other documents in the cartulary. The editor has prioritised charters and older documents from the twelfth and thirteenth centuries for the most extensive treatment. Dunstable Priory held land in many of the surrounding parishes and this volume is a valuable source for land holding, people and place names in the southern part of Bedfordshire in this period. There are detailed notes, fourteen pedigrees (some extensive), a map of south Bedfordshire and thorough indexes.
The wills are those in English in the first surviving register of wills proved in the Court of the Archdeacon of Bedford, now held by Bedfordshire and Luton Records and Archives Service at ABP/R/1. They are mainly presented here as abstracts: a few of the earlier wills and some of the more interesting ones are fully transcribed. There are some intimate glimpses of sixteenth century life, such as bequests of clothes ('his black gaberdine with a fox fur') and provision for the testator's widow. The Latin wills from ABP/R/ 1 are published in volume 45. The second part of this volume contains Diana Orlebar (nee Astry)'s recipe book and a notebook. The 375 recipes - culinary, medicinal, for wines, cordials, preserves and pickles, etc. - were collected by Diana Astry. The notebook contains menus of dinners she attended between 1701 and 1708.
Contains 'Tractatus de Dunstaple et de Houcton', edited by G. Herbert Fowler (Of the 10 surviving folios of the Tractatus of Dunstable, folios 1-5 deal with Dunstable Priory; and folios 6-10 with Houghton Regis, where the Priory's most important Bedfordshire lands lay. These documents duplicate some information in the Dunstable Annals and Cartulary (for the annals see the Rolls Series; for the cartulary see BHRS vol. 10). The documents cover the foundation, administration and property of the priory and its relations with Houghton Regis, Kensworth and Caddington, from which places land was taken to set up the priory and town. The Treatise of Houghton deals with the rights and services of the lords and tenants of the vill before and after its transfer to Dunstable Priory. The documents in this volume date to the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. They are presented as Latin transcriptions with English translations and are explained by copious notes and a pedigree of the Gournay family).
'The Origin of the Family of Aubigny of Cainhoe', by Lewis C. Loyd (This article updates Fowler's article in BHRS vol. 1).
'Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem, No. 2, 1272-1286', by G. Herbert Fowler (Twenty-three inquisitions of lands held in Bedfordshire with copious notes and pedigrees.).
Benjamin Rogers was vicar of Stagsden from 1712 to 1720, when he was presented by Lord Trevor to the living of Carlton, where he remained until his death in 1771. His diary covers the years 1727 to 1752. In addition to clerical duties, he records his family, friends, farming, travels, the weather, prescriptions for a range of ailments and injuries, Bedford borough politics, local events and people. There are also notes of tithes for 1722; malt sold to his mother; a terrier of the glebe land in Carlton; notes on local people; a list of Rogers' glebe land and the 33 acres he rented; names of the certificates upon Chellington and Carlton files, presumably settlement certificates; the fruit trees planted around his house in 1729; recipients of money given for the poor of Chellington and Carlton in 1735 and 1737 and extracts about Stagsden, Carlton and Chellington from ecclesiatical records. Pedigrees of the Rogers, Alston and Trevor families.
Includes 'A Calendar of the Feet of Fines for Bedfordshire, Preserved in the Public Record Office, of the Reigns of Richard I, John, and Henry Ill', edited by G. Herbert Fowler (Feet of fines were the judgements about the ownership of land and property. They were often the result of collusive actions brought to establish title in the absence of documents. The judgement, or fine (derived from the Latin finis, meaning end), removed doubt or dispute and registered ownership. It was written three times on the same sheet of parchment, one for each of the two parties and the third lodged with the Court of Common Pleas and now in The National Archives.).