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Ex parte query
Depositions of witnesses in a cause in Chancery taken at Skynners Hall in London before Daniell | Hills and Nathaniell Weston gents by vertue of a Commission to
them directed out of the said Courte, § | betweene Robert Barker esqr.
plaintife and Bonham Norton esquier defendant 18th June 1627.
5. William Taylor of Lincolns Inne in the Courtie of Middlesex gent aged fifty two yeares or thereabouts to the | fifte Interrogatorry sworne examined <18 June 1627> deposeth and saith That hee was present when an Indenture for the sale | of Vpton was brought vnto the plaintife to be sealed by him vnto William Windsor gent : for this deponent saith that | at the request of the defendant and Mr Windsor he this deponent did carry the said Indenture vnto the plaintife & required him | to ioyne in the sale threof and to seale to the said Indenture about Christmas Anno domino 1625 at Britewell in | the parish of Burham, the said Indenture bearing date the second daie of December 1625 aforesaid. And this deponent | further saith that at the time when hee brought the said Indenture vnto the plaintife, the said plaintife did tell this deponent | that hee would seale to the said Indenture, so as the defendant who was to receaue three thowsand pounds for the | sale thereof would give vnto the plaintife a receipt for the same in parte of the office of Kinges Printer, And this deponent also saith That shortly after he this deponent tould the said defendant what answere the plaintife had made | as aforesaid, and that he did & would otherwise refuse to ioyne therein wherevpon the defendant refused | to give any such receyte vnto the plaintife and therevpon the said bargaine brake off.
Bonham Norton esqr. defendant sworne and examined the 25th of June 1627.
1. To the first Interrogatory | saith, That hee was to haue eight thowsand pounds by the decree made in June 1623. And saith that two thousand | pounds thereof was to be paid within fower or five daies next after the date of the said decree. And further | saith that hee was to leaue the name of Kinges Printer to the plaintife vpon the payment of the said two thowsande | pounds. And he saith that the two thowsand pounds and other summes of money debts and ingagements was to be raised | out of such landes and leases as the plaintife should be willing to sell : And saith that he knoweth of noe other estate that | the plaintife had at that tyme to paie the said two thowsand poundes wthall : but other leases hee had but what hee | had done wth them he knoweth not; and some personall estate hee had in goods also, but what yt was at their | true in value hee knoweth not.
2. To the second Interrogatory he saith hee was (by the decree) to procure his daughter Sara Barker to ioyne in sale of her | Ioynture to fulfill the payments mencõned in the decree And further saith that (to his knowledge or by his consent) | his said daughter did not goe to Mr Gerrard and declare to him that shee would not sell Vpton : and saith that | afterwards hee heard that shee had bene wth Mr Gerrard and that she desired that she might not be vrged to | passe awaie Vpton wch was parte of her Ioyncture and maintenance vntill such time as she had another assurance | of Ioynture and maintenance according to the decree, and that either Mr Gerrard or Sr Euble Thelwall made | therevnto answere God forbid shee should bee so vrged to passe awaie her Ioynture vntill shee were provided | for, or to such effect. And he saith that to such purpose hee did advise his said daughter, as he rememberes | and not otherwise, and he remembers not how often he advised his daughter.
3. To the Third Interrogatory he saith that hee did agree by articles vnder his hand dated 20th May 1624 to the | sale of divers landes mencõned in the articles, and did consent to the recompence for his daughter as in | the articles is expressed in lieu of her ioynture : so as the plaintife should performe his parte in the said articles as | yt is mencõned in those articles. And saith that yt was not the same recompence as is specified in ye decree | but the same was to arise out of the office : And hee saith that those articles were vnder the subscription | of the hands of Sr Euble Thelwall & Mr Gerrard.
27. Ianuarij 1627
in loco praesente
4. To the 4th Interrogatory he saith that hee did agree by articles vnder his hand dated 7th March 1624 that | Upton should bee then presently sold towards the payment of the office. But the said articles did [word illegible] | that Mr Barker should performe the Articles of the 30th of May and of those [word illegible] articles of the viith | March 1624 and of the decree or ?ells hee to haue noe benefitt of such this deponents agreement, which | the said Mr Barker hath not done. And saith that the paper wryting now showed him at his §§ | examinacõn are the Articles meant by the Interrogatory
5. To the 5th hee saith that hee did afterwardes contract a sale of Vpton wth Mr William Windsor | the assignment was drawne and ingrossed: and saith that the plaintife (to the defendants knowledge did neuer see it | before, because hee did not vndertake for Mr Barker to seale yt. And further saith that Mr Windsor went | with the deed to Mr Barker to be sealed, and the better to prepare him to doe yt, hee sent his man wth | a message vnder his this deponents hand in wryting now showed him at his examinacõn wth purpose to | haue Mr Barker seale yt, and Mr Barker refused to seale yt, except this deponent would giue him | an acquittance vnder his hand, that yt should goe towards the payment of the office of kinges Printer | wch this deponent refused to doe except the decree and the articles might be performed according to the | agreements. And saith that that assignement did beare date the 2. december 1625.
6. To the vith Interrogatory he saith that Mr Windsor was to paie three thousand powndes for Vpton and yt | was to be paid to this deponent: and the same was to be paid the first daie of Aprill 1626. But saith | that there was none paid at the’n sealing, nor none paid afterwards. And saith there was noe | security but an Indenture of covenant wch was void vpon non performance. And saith that by the | Indenture the estate was vpon default of payment to be reassured back vpon this deponent only | but he saith the same was but vpon trust to the vse of Xrofer Barker and his wife, as yt was before | the ffeoffers had it, and hee never intended yt otherwise, and his reason was to avoid ?Ind[----]res | and executors wherevnto Xrofer Barkers estate was then liable: and that was the cause that | induced this deponent to enioyne Mr Windsor to convey it vpon him this deponent.
7. To the 7th hee saith, that yt was agreed by the said Indenture that if the said Mr Windsor should not paie the said three thowsand pownds vpon the first day of Aprill 1626. that then hee should stand possessed of Vpton for him this deponent to the vse of the said Christopher Barker and his | wife as in the next precedent deposicõn is expressed And hee saith that there was a defeazance | agreed vpon and sealed between the said Mr Windsor and this deponent dated the 2 of December | 1625 And he also saith that the said Windsor was not to forfeit anything to this deponent or any | other for his default of payment of the said 3000 li And further hee saith that the said Mr | Windsor by agreement and at the sealing of his assurances of Vpton was to assigne back a | lease in revercõn after almost Twentie yeares of Vpton Woods vnto and of this deponents ?sonnes | vpon trust for the said Christopher, but what other vses were expressed in the said Assignment | this deponent remembreth not, neither hath hee the said assignment, but beleeueth if any | such was sealed by the said Windsor, yt was afterwardes Cancelled and deliuered up by this | deponent.
8. To the 8th Interrogatory hee saith that Christopher Barker and Sara his wife did seale the foresaid | assignement and sale of Vpton to Mr Windsor, and yt was sealed in or about december 1625 and as | takes yt at the signe of the White Hart Inne in Windsor, And that the said Christopher and Sara had in | recompence then, for the same. And saith that by articles he did then agree wth the said Christopher and Sara | that they should haue some recompence according to former articles betweene this deponent and the said Xrofer | to wch he referreth himself. And further saith if Vpton and parlam were sold, that then the Inheritance of | Sowdley should be conveyed over to the issue of the said Christoper and Sara to haue the ?priuate benefit thereof.
9. To the 9th he saith that he did Seale and deliver the seuerall Indentures or articles indented as his deedes now | showed him, the one dated 13th Iuly 1625 and the other the 15th December last. And saith that the wryting was | showed him dated 13 December 1623 being an Answere to Mr Barkers demaundes is signed wth this deponents own | proper hand & the date of yt is also his owne proper hand wryting.
10. To the 10th Interrogatory he saith that the plaintifes Agent was never denied by this deponent or any for him to be consenting | [hole] all or any the bargaines of paper bought for the vse of the office of Kinges printer since the making of the decree | or to all or any the bargines or sale of bookes or making or forebearing of debts <or trusting out the stock of the office> And saith that he knoweth not | whether that the plaintifes Agent Robert Constable was called to goe wth Mr Bill or this deponents sonne for the | buying of any paper neither did the said Robert Constable require yt, to his this deponents remembrance But saith | that the said Constable was told after the buying of such paper what it cost and had view of the entrie of | the same in the bookes, neither doth this deponent conceaue that by the decree the said Constable was | ever to be called to view or see the same foresaid bargaines.
Daniel Hills
Nath. Weston.
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Thomas West of Datchett in the Countie of Buck: yeoman aged three score | yeares or thereabouts sworne and examined the xiiith daie of October 1627 by Daniell | Hills and Nathaniell Weston Commissioners in a cause between Robert Barker esquier plaintife | and Bonham Norton esquier defendant by vertue of his Mats Commission to the said Commissioners directed.
1. The said deponent saith hee knoweth the parties plaintife and defendant. And also knoweth the capital Messuages | or mannor howse of Sowdeley and the demesue lands thereof and the ffarmes of Mr Thomas | Berrington and Edward Sayres John Drewes farme, Mewes farme, John Craces howse and | landes, and the free and Copihold lands howses and leases and ffishing sometime Mr Barker in Soudley | Datchett, Datchett St Hellens and Wraysbury in the County of Buck: and he hath known the twentye years or vpwards.
2. To the second hee saith, that Sowdley howse wth the outhowses and other the partes in this | Interrogatory mencõned were worth to be sould about three or fower yeares since when Mr Norton | entered therevnto, about one thowsand pownds to this deponents estymacõn : And he further saith that yt is well scituated about a mile from Windsor and by the Riuer of Thames
3. To the 3. Interrogatory he saith, that hee knoweth the two orchardes old and new and the conygre[y] | and the hopgarden Nycrofte and Rue Lease parcell of the demeanes of Sowdley and lying about the howse. And he sayth that they conteyne fourteye acres little more or lesse. And | saith that those acres one with another, are worth yearely to be lett twenty shillinges an acre | And hee sayth that those acres are worth to be sould wthout the howsing eighteene yeares | purchase as hee verely beleeveth. And he saith that there is one acre <of land in Rue lease called the great acre> worth thirty shillings | per annum And he saith that that one acre alone is worth to be sould twenty and seaven pounds | pownds or thereabouts: And hee sayth that hee hath credibly heard that Mr Barker paid | for the purchase of that one acre one hundred pounds.
5. To the vth he saith that hee knoweth not the number of Acres free & copie belonging | to the ffarmes of Berrington Saires Drew and Crace but he saith that hee beleeveth that | they are worth yearely to be lett together wth the howsing Twelue shillinges per Acre one wth | another if they be out of lease : And his reason is for that hee hath land of his owne | adioyninge of the same goodnes, wch if hee were to lett he would not lett at a lesse rate | & further for that he holdeth 70 acres of the same lands and payeth after the same rates.
6. To the vith Interrogatory he saith that hee knoweth the howses and lands that were Mr | Barkers now in the tenure of William Tailor Esq, Hollyman Wheeler, Read, Chester | Davies and Righton in this Interrogatory mencõned. And that the same are worth to bee sould | about two hundred and thirtie powndes all together as he conceaveth And what the | Copiehold ffishing and the ffishinge held of Eaton College are severally worth by the yeare | hee knoweth not but he conceaveth they Conteyne two miles or thereabouts in the River of | Thames.
7. To the 7th he saith that he hath answere in the first Interrogatory so much as he can saie to wch | he referreth himself and further saith not.
9. To the 9th Interrogatory he saith that ordinary landes being freehold in Datchett aforesaid are vsually | sold for xiili & xx markes an acre, and hee hath not knowe any sold vnder that rate, these | Twentye yeares. And hee saith hee knoweth Thomas Hales landes in Datchett nowe vpon sale, & | that there are ffiftye acres little more or lesse wth the howsinge; and beleeveth the same wth | the howsing will yield eight hundred pounds, and saith that Mr Barkers farme land are | as good wth the howsinge proportionably as that of the said Hales or better.
10. To the 10th hee saith that he can saie nothing vpon knowledge or estymacõn.
11. To the xith Interrogatory he saith that Mr Norton since his entrie vpon Sowdley did pull downe | parte of the mansion howse and other vsefall buildinges about yt, as first the kitchen of the mansion | howse and built another insteed thereof, & a side of low building of the said howse and built vp | another fayrer, and the malting howse and stable of fower or five bayes, and more hee § | remembreth not. And hee saith that in his estymacon yt is neither better or worse (albeit | that cost) either for sale or conveniency. And saith that yt was well and conveniently howse | before Mr Norton entred vpon the same, And saith that the defendant suffereth the outhowses to | run to great ruine and decay and further sayeth not.
William Mathew of Parlam parke in Langley Morris in the Countie of Buck | yeoman aged xlii yeares or thereabouts swoorne and examined die et Anno praesente coram Commissione | praesente etc.
1. To the first Interrogatory he saith he knoweth the parties plaintife and defendant, and knoweth the said Capitall | Messuage and a great parte of the landes and other particulers in this Interrogatory mencõned together wth the | ffishinge, all wch were sometimes Mr Barkers in Sowdeley Datchett, and Datchett St. Ellens in the | said Countie, And saith that he hath knowne the same these twentie yeares, but for the land, in § | Wraysbury hee knoweth not.
2. To the second Interrogatory hee saith that hee knoweth not the value of the said howsing what they were | worth three or fower yeares past to be sould, when Mr Norton entred upon the same, but he saith | they are well scituated neere the Riuer of Thames.
3. To the third Interrogatory he saith that he knoweth the two orchards old and new and the Conygrey and | the hop garden, Nicroft and Rue Lease parcell of the demeasues of Sowdley and lying about the | howse, and saith that they conteyne about fortye acres as he beleeveth, And saith that hee §§ | esteemeth them to be worth one wth another Twentie shillinges per Acre to be lett <wthout howsing per annum and saith that wthout the howsing it is worth 18 li per acre to be sold And saith that | the acre called great Acre in Rue lease is worth <40s per annum and the same is worth> eigthteene yeares purchase. And hee saith that hee | hath credibly heard that Mr Barker paid one hundred powndes or thereabouts for the same
5. To the vth he saith that hee doth not knowe certainely the number of acres of the fower ffarmes | in this Interrogatory mencõned, But hath heard saie that they conteyne neere fower hundred Acres free | and copie, And saith that such like land thereaboute are worth xiili or a marke an Acre, and his § | reason is, for that hee letteth land after the same rate wth a barne, and he saith that it is with the hiest.
6. To the 6th Interrogatory he saith that hee knoweth all the seauen howses & tenants in the Interrogatory mencõned | but knoweth not what they are worth to be sould And further to this Interrogatory hee cannot depose | saving that the ffishing extendeth about two miles into the River of Thames.
8. To the viiith Interrogatory he saith hee hath lands in Datchett, of wch hee letts twentye five Acres and | a half wth a barne for seaventeene pownds per Annum but holdeth yt to be too deare, And saith | that his this deponents lands are sumwhat better, then Mr Barkers but not much.
9. To the nynth Interrogatory hee saith that free hold land is ordinarily sold in Datchett for twentie | marks an acre or thereabouts. And saith that he knoweth Thomas Hales land in Datchet nowe | to bee
Daniel Hills Nath. Weston |
