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Deposcõns of witnesses taken at Skynners hall London the xxiiith daie of
Aprill by Daniell | Hills and Nathaniel Weston Commissioners by vertue of his
Maties Commisson to them directed in a | Cause depending in Chancery betweene
Robert Barker esqr. plaintife & Bonham Norton esqr. defendant
Robert Constable of the parish of St ffaith London Stationer aged xxxv yeares or thereabouts. Sworne and | examyned on the plaintifes behalfe deposeth and saith. To the first Interrogatorie that he knoweth the parties & office | of Kinges Printer: & he hath knowne the plaintife twentie yeares or thereabouts, & the defendant Twelue yeares & vpwardes | And this deponent was imployed in the said office by the plaintife for the space of Tenne yeares or thereabouts before | the plaintife past ouer the same to the defendant and since that tyme he hath beene but a Spectator in effect vpon the |managing of the said office: but in the plaintifes time of execucõn of the said office this deponents place was to order | and oversee the accomptes and workes and stock of the said office: and since the said office was decreed to the | plaintife, this deponent was appointed to continue that imployment in effect, as he conceaued.
To the second Interrogatory he saith that he knoweth that the moiety of the said office in the Interrogatory mencõned wch was in question betweene the plaintife and defendant, was heretofore sequestered by the high Court of Chancery out | of the defendants handes into the handes of Mr Bill and Mr Lownes Stationers, partely for that the defendant refused to bee | ordered by the said Court touchinge certaine monies amounting to one thousand sixe hundred pounds or thereabouts | found due to the plaintife vpon an Accompt of the said office by certaine Stationers appointed by order of the said Court | and the same remayned in sequestracõn about halfe an yeare, for the sequestracõn was graunted in December | 1622 & dissolued vpon the making of the foresaid decree in Maie or June 1623. And thereupon the defendant Mr Norton | or his sonne Roger Norton for him or both of them entred vpon execucõn of the foresaid office but whether the | defendant or his sonne tooke any accompt of the stock of the office, and the Sequestrators dealinges in the said office | then or not this deponent doth not knowe, but if they or one of them did not, this deponent conceaueth yt was | the defendants owne default or his sonnes, for that the keys of the warehowse & of the Stock & the bookes of accompte | came then to the handes of them or one of them. Therefore the defendant might haue taken an Accompt of the stock | debts and state of the office & the said Sequestrators dealings therein wch if hee did not this deponant can con- | ceaue noe reason for such his negligence, except hee did yt wilfully to obscure the state & stock of the said | office that the plaintife might not knowe wherewithall to chardge him: but what stock the office had at that time | in books paper and debts this deponent precisely knoweth not, but referreth himself to the bookes of Accomptes.
To the third Interrogatory he deposeth and saith, that he knoweth of the decree mencõned in this Interrogatory composed | by Sr Euble Thelwall Mr Gerrard and Mr Jones, or by Mr Gerrard & Mr Jones and afterwards ratified | by the hight Court of Chancery concerning the moiety of the said office for he hath sene the same & read yt | and yt was grownded, as hee beleaueth vpon a certificate of the Commissioners dated in or about the xvth of May | 1623 and confirmed and decreed by the Court about the firste of June next following. And in the said | decree there is a Clawse to the effect in this Interrogatory mencõned, viz that the moiety of the said office | should be managed by two persons, whereof either side to name one to see that the best proffitt might bee | made thereof for the speedier payment of the defendant for the said office, And this deponent was the person nominated | by & for the plaintiffe and the said defendant did nominate for him, his said sonne Roger Norton. And hee saith that ye monies | arising by the said office were to be kept in a Chest, and half yearely Accompts thereof to be made by the | said Agents vntill eight thowsand pounds should bee paid to the defendant for the office by the said decree to which | this deponent referreth himself at large appeareth.
To the fourth hee saith that the said office was not managed nor executed, nor the half yearley accomptes | kept and yielded vp as the said decree directed, as this deponent doth conceaue, but this deponent did often repaire | to the office and tendred his readines & assistance in seeing to the managing of the same, and had free accesse | sometymes into the office, yet notwthstanding the defendant or his said sonne managed the said office accomptes | and printed sold and trusted as themselues pleased wthout consent or allowance of the plaintife or his § | Accomptant or any for or on his behalf to this deponents knowledge.
To the viith Interrogatory he saith that he knoweth that all the sommes of monie debts and profittes and receipts of the | said office, that from tyme to tyme came in since the said decree were not booked nor entred in any of the bookes | or receipts & payment of the the said office vsed to that end, vnles some of them were entred in some priuate booke | or bookes or notes kept betweene the defendant and mr Bill in their Copartnership of the said office as this deponent | coneaueth there was, for that hee hath found out and discouered divers receipts due to the Accompt of the office | ?Mencõned in such private notes or booke, or bookes, and that were not entred in any vsuall accompt bookes of | receipts or payments kept for the office. And saith also that yt hath bene confest to this deponent both by the said defendants | Agent & Mr Bills in the said office, that diuers sommes of monie haue been receaued since the said decree due | to the accompts of the office, that were entred in the vsuall accompt books of the said office for receipts & payments.
To the xvith Interrogatory he saith that at such tyme as this cause stood referred to Sr Euble Thelwall Mr Gerrard & | Mr Jones the said Mr Jones was of Councell wth the defendant Mr Norton & since the sealing of the decree, & as he | conceaueth now, Mr Gerrard is of the defendants Councell. And hee also knoweth yt to be true, that the plaintife Barker | was aduised and persuaded by his friends to except against Sr Euble Thelwall, for that hee was a verie neere | Kinsman to the said Mr Jones, that was the defendants Councell & Commissioners therevpon the plaintife did refuse Sr Euble Thelwall | vntill the defendant did taxe him, for excepting against so iust a man & of his place & quality, and then the plaintife was | contented to accept of him, and the said three Commissioners did meete in the said Cause about a hundred seuerall tymes | as this deponent verely thinketh, and at the most (if not all) of those meetings this deponent was present.
To the xviith Interrogatory the deponent saith, that hee knoweth yt to be true, that there was a decree drawne vp in | this cause [hole: Am]ong the said Commissioners, wch is the decree before mencõned in this deponents answere in the third | Interrogatory, and the same was decreed by assent of the parties, and thereby the said Commissioners did award the said office | to be restored to the plaintife vpon the defendants receipt of 8000li in lieu thereof wth interest of fiue per Cent for 6000li | therein as by the said decree may appeare, of wch eight thowsand poundes, two thowsand poundes was to be paid | [hole] decree at or before the first daie of the then next following Terme, wch was about the xiiith of June | [hole: ?162- ensu]ing about twenty daies next after the certificate that led the decree and that 2000li was intended | by the Commissioners (as this deponent conceaueth) to be raised by sale of Vpton farme, for that sale was then in resolucõn | to be [hole: word illegible] afterwards explained to be made in parte payment of the office by Certaine articles subsequent | to the [hole: word illegible] vnder the hands of the Commissioners & <the> parties. And the reason why the Commissioners gaue the plaintife so short a tyme | for payment the said 2000li was (as this deponent taketh it) because they conceaued Vpton might be speedily sould | And because so short a tyme was ly[m]ited, the defendants Commissioner Mr Jones did at the making of the said decree declare & | promise that in small tyme should breake noe square, & willed the plaintife to doe his best endeavour therein or to | that effect that to the intent that there might be noe impediments therein the Commissioners appointed the defendant to procure | his daughter Sara, (who had Vpton in ioynture) to ioyne in the sale of such lands as the plaintife should desire to | sell for performing the payments as in the decree is exprest. And he further saith that vpon payment of that 2000li | by the proffitts of the said office, or otherwise supplied (if that should fall short) by the plaintife as by the said decree where vnto | this deponent referreth himself, more at large appeareth. And lastly this deponent saith that yt was an impossibility | (as he conceauth for the plaintife, being in prison and out of his estate[)] to pay the 8000li in the tyme lymtted in the | decree vnles the defendant should haue bene confermable to the decree in all thinges or any parte as was intended. But | if Vpton had bene sould, when the plaintife first contracted a sale thereof, & the defendant had inured the debts & not lost | such a bulke of them abroad at the end of the three yeares, & had executed the office to the best advantage or suffered | the plaintifes Agent to haue done the same this deponent coneaveth that the 8000li might haue very well beene paid | within the three years, for he saith Vpton ffarme would haue yielded 3000li or thereabouts & the moity of the | proffitts of the office receaued in cash by the defendant to the eighteenth of June last are confessed by the defendants | owne
Daniel Hills Nath. Weston.
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owne Accompts to amount to 4000li or thereabouts besides other somes of value that are yet in difference | and the moiety of the defendants due to the office at the same time to be 2000li or thereabouts, besides a moiety | of 3000li or thereabouts, by Collecõn out of the defendant owne bookes wch this deponent conceaueth to have bene | printed in the office from the Sequestracõn to the eighteenth of June last, wch bookes as yet are not answered | brought to accompt neither in stock receipts nor debts debts to this depontents knowledge.
To the xviiith he saith that the forme of managing of the said office appointed by the said decree is alreaddye | answeared in this deponents answere to the third Interrogatory as he conceaueth : but this deponent further saith that the | proffitts of the office were appointed by the said decree to be discomuted by the defendant in parte of payment for the said | office, And he saith also, as before, that the office was not managed to the best proffitt, nor as the decree directed | to this deponents vnderstanding, and the reason thereof (as this deponent conceaueth) was partly for that the said | defendant or his said sonne would not permitt this deponent being appointed Agent or Accomptant for the plaintife to ioyne in | directing [hole: ?&] ordering of the same. And this deponent saith that hee often went to the said office & sometimes required | the priuilege [hole] of the said decree, & otherwiles disliked the courses vsed by the defendant and his Agent in the execucõn of | the said office [hole] & advised others, and (as this deponent conceaued) better, out of his former and ancient experience but | words [hole] ?to ?that like effect, & other times told him, that when the plaintife had paid the defendant his monie, that then hee this deponent | right [hole: word illegible] yt better, or to that or the like effect; & sometimes vsed this deponent wth approbacous termes, & would | not be [hole] advised by this deponent to follow such direcõns for the better managing of the office as this deponent conceaued. | And he saith because the plaintife did conceaue that hee was likely to be greatly preiudiced & hindered by the defendant in | becoming the plaintifes Accomptant in the managing of the office, he the said Complainant did therefore complaine to the said | Commissioners sundry times of that abuse. And further saith, that hee conceaueth by the decree the defendant himself might | not haue intermedled in the execucõn of the said office, for that both hee and the plaintife were appointed to haue Agents | therein as aforesaid.
To the xixth hesaith, that in the tyme of making of the said decree, the farme of Vpton being in mocõn to be sold | as aforesaid and the defendant making doubt of the plaintifes willingness to ioyne in sale of the lands to be sold by the | decree (as some of the Commissioners haue declared) the Commissioners did sett downe a penalite of xxth per Cent vpon the plaintife for | that 2000li if the plaintife should not paie yt at the daie, but yt was with purpose to draw the plaintife to endeuour the sale | of the land, and ad terrorems as this deponent conceauth, and as some of the Commissioners haue also declared, & not with | any purpose, that the plaintife should paie the same, if he vsed his best endeauor for payment of the 8000li as aforesaid | as Mr Gerrard hath also ackowledged, who protested against yt, and said yt was a shame for Mr Norton to | demaund yt, or words to such effect, And this deponent saith that the plaintife shortly after the said decree did procure one | Mr Windsor to contract for the said farme, who did agree for it for 3000li or thereabouts, as Mr Windsor declared to | this deponent. But the defendant or his daughter Sara or both did refuse to ioyne in the sale thereof, as both or one | of them hath confesssed. And this deponent knoweth that the plaintife hath divers times endeavoured the said sale since the | said decree and there are some letters of the said Mr Gerrards extant that import as much in effect, and proue the | defendant guiltie of hindering the sale thereof to this deponents vnderstanding, as by the said letters may appeare, to wch | this deponent referreth himself.
To the xxth Interrogatory he saith that after the hearing of the cause by the Commissioners in June 1625 this deponent did | saie that yt was resolued, that the defendant should not be allowed aboue v. per Cent (if so much) for the fore said | 2000li albeit yt was not paid at the daie, and the reason thereof was for that the said Commissioners (as this deponent | conceaueth) found that the defendant or his daughter or both confessed that they haue often denied to ioyne | in the sale therof albeit by the decree this deponent conceaueth the defendant and his daughter were to ioyne in the sale of landes to be sould.
To the xxith hee saith that the perticuler of two hunded eightie & fiue pounds in this Interrogatory mencõned | being a debt for Lattin books sould to the Company of Stationers by the defendant was confessed by the defendant | himself, at the time of the making of the said decree, and by him signified to the right hoble the late Lorde | Keeper to be a debt belonging to his moietie of the office, wch this deponent the better knoweth for that the defendant deliuered vp a copie of an Accompt written by his owne servant Thomas Talbott, as this deponent | thinketh) the originall whereof as the defendant affirmed, he deliuered to the said then lord Keeper, wherein the said | defendant chardged that 285li as a debt owing to his moietie of the office & stock as by that accompt, the | copie whereof is conteyned in two sides of a sheet of paper may appeare, And as yt appeareth by the said decree | the plaintife was to hand all the defendant moietie of the said office debts and stock And therefore this deponent conveyeth | that the Commissioners awarded that the defendant should bring the same into the estate wch the plaintife was to haue paying the 8000li as aforesaid.
To the xxiith Interrogatory this deponent saith that hee remembreth there was a difference before the decree § | betweene the defendant and Mr Bill touching bookes taken out of the office to a great value, wch was arbitrated § | about March or August 1622 & therevpon Mr Norton or his sonne, made an entrie in the Accompt-book of the § | office, that Mr Bill was to accompt to the stock from that daie downward for all such books as he should from § | thenceforth take out of the stock. And this deponent conceaveth that the Commissioners by their decree intended at Mr | Nortons instance to acquit all things to the daie of that arbitracõn, and therevpon ordered that what the plaintife Barker | the defendant Norton or Mr Bill had taken out of the stock before the tyme of the arbitracõn aforesaid should not bee | questioned, but that they meant to barre the plaintife of any thing that yssued out of the stock after the said arbitracõn | wch was not reckoned for before the sequestracõn betweene the said defendant and Mr Bill this deponent conceaueth not. | And as for the two hundred & twentie pounds two shillings & fower pence mencõned in the Interrogatory the same was | taken out of the stock after arbitracõn as this deponent conceaueth, So (as this deponent taketh yt) the defendant was § | to be charged therewth & to allowe a moiety thereof, in Accompt to the plaintife. And this deponent is therafter induced | to beleeve the same to be true, for that from time to time after the decree, the plaintifes Agent charging the defendant wth | this among other sommes that Mr Bill had taken out of the stock, & brought the same still for Mr Nortons accompt | as a charge for Mr Norton for a moiety thereof, Mr Norton at noe tyme denied the same to be a debt, but | alwaies declared that Mr Bill stood indebted to the stock for that & other parcells charged vpon that accompt | vntill on the plaintifes behalf yt was discovered that Mr Bill had paid in & accompted for the same debts, & that | the defendant had receaued them, notwthstandinge his former deniall, & then he confesssed one thowsand fiue | hundred pounds (or thereabouts, but quarrelled wth this particuler vpon the words of the decree, for that it | was taken out of the stock before the decree, but this deponent conceaueth yt to be noe parte of that wch | the decree intended the defendant to bee dischardged of.
To the xxiiiith Interrogatory this deponent saith that in June 1625 at what tyme the Commissioners heard the cause, the | plaintife chargeded the defendants wth a moiety of the debts mencõned in the schedule in this Interrogatory specified & dated | the xixth of June 1625 the totall whereof amounted to one thowsand nyne hundred fortie fiue pounds | twentie shillings vid or thereabouts & the moity to 972li 16s. 3d. or thereabouts, and vpon examinacõn | thereof by the Commissioners they found that parte of them was trusted out by the defendant or his substitutes contrary | to the course of the office, and others of them were neglected & not ?inured as they ought to haue beene | as the Commissioners as this deponent conceaued, And therefore the said Commissioners thought fitt, as this deponent conceaueth | that the defendant should be charged wth a moiety of the same, & reciprocally on the other side, there were | divers other debts then in question to the value of one thowsand fiue hundred pounds or thereabouts | the moity whereof were then cast vpon the plaintife because the Commissioners did conceaue them partely trusted | out according to the course of the office, wch this deponent doth the better remember for that it appeareth | to be
Daniel Hills
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