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In the first place

the Archangel, A.D. 1360, make my will in this mauner. I leave my soul to God, and to blessed Mary, and all Saints, and my body to be buried in the Church of S. George, and with my body as is the custom in the name of a mortuary. Item, in wax 20 pounds to be burned about my body. Item, in the calling together of my neighbours 20 pounds. Item, to Dn. William de Hauley 40s. and my better robe. Item, to Dn. John de Barneley 13s. 4d. and my second best robe. Item,

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to Dn. John de Mekesburgh' 13s. 4d. and my third best robe. Item, to Dn. William de Estthorp 13s. 4d. and my fourth best robe. Item, to Dn. Thomas de Appilby 13s. 4d. and my fifth best robe. Item, in distribution to the poor 10 pounds. Item, to Thomas Olifant, his wife and sons 67. 13s. 4d. Item, to the sons of John son of Christiana legitimately begotten 40s. Item, to Alice my sister and her daughter living in Kirkeby Steffan 40s. Item, to Dn. John del Okes 3s. 4d. Item, to William Mangwys the 40s. which he owes me and 26s. 8d. Item, to each chaplain celebrating in the Church of Doncaster 40d., except to the chaplains above named. Item, to the two clerks of the church 6s. 8d. to be divided between them. Item, to John Foxholes 6s. 8d. Item, to Mr. John Burdon 20s. Item, to Dn. John de Marton that portifory which I now have, or that portifory which Dn. William de Loundres has of me. Item, to Dn. John vicar of Burgh my small portifory. Item, to Godewill and his wife 26s. 8d. which they owe me, and 40s. besides. Item, to Adam le Harpour 13s. 4d. Item, to the Friars of Carmel of Appilby 8 marcs and this in the disposition of Fr. William Garun. Item, to one Chaplain to celebrate for the souls of my father and mother, and other friends for whom I am bound, in the Church of S. Michael of Appilby, for three years 18 marcs. Item, to the church of S. Lawrence of Appilby one missal. Item, to the Church of S. George of Donecaster that portifory which belonged to John Gare, Chaplain. Item, to William de Brampton 20s. and one bed, viz. :-one canvas, 2 blanketts, 2 sheets, and one coverlyt with a curtain. Item, to John del Hill 20s. and one bed, viz. ::-one canvas, 2 blanketts, ij sheets and one coverlet with a curtain. Item, to the high altar of Blessed Mary 6s. 8d. Item, to the altars of S. Thomas the Martyr, S. Nicholas, and S. Lawrence 10s. in equal portions. Item, to Dn. Will. de Hanley one chest. Item, to Dn. John de Louersale 20s. Item, to the fabric of S. George's Church 13s. 4d. Item, to William and John my cousins 20 pounds and two books, viz. —Legenda Sanctorum and one book of expositions of the Epistles. Item, one Flanders chest and everything belonging to my chamber except those things which are devised above. Item, to Agnes my maidservant 13s. 4d. Item, to Will del Hill 6s. 8d. Item, to Thomas le Carter 6s. 8d. Item, to John my page 6s. 8d. Item, to Thomas my page 6s. 8d. Item, to the boys of Robert de Fulsham 68. 8d. Item, to Alice daughter of Will. Wodecok 6s. Ed. Item, to the boys of Thomas Cote 6s. 8d. Item, to the boys of John de Stanford 68. 8d. Item, to the boys of Will. de Canteley 68. 8d. Item, to the Friars Minors of Donecaster, 13s. 4d. Item, to the Friars Carmelites in Donecaster 13s. 4d. To the Anchoretts of Donecaster, 68. 8d.

1 John de Mekesburgh was instituted to the Fledburgh, or S. Nicholas Chantry in the church, July 31, 1349, on pres. of the commonalty of Doncaster. He held

it till his death.

2 William de Hexthorpe, priest, was instituted to the same Chantry, Dec. 21, 1369, on pres. of Henry Westby.

Item, of John Clerk 40d. The residue of my goods I leave to celebrating for my soul according to the disposition of my exors. Giving and granting to the same exors full and lawful power for increasing or diminishing in the premisses if necessary and everything else which true and lawful exors ought to be able to do. For the faithful carying out of this my will I make and appoint Willm. de Stanley of Donecaster, Chaplain, Willm. Wodcok, Thomas Cott, and Willm. de Fisshelake my exors. In proof whereof my own seal and the seal of the office of Deanery of Donecaster are to this will appended. Given on the day and at the place above named. Item, I leave to Dn. Will. de Hanley, Chaplain, 48 marcs of sterling for the celebration of divine offices for my soul and for the souls of all faithful dead for 8 years, viz. :-for each year 6 marcs, if my goods suffice for this.

The will was proved at Doncaster on the 6th of October, 1360, and at Rose on the 16th of October, 1360.

F. R. F.

THE TOWNSHIP OF NETHER-THONG.

NOTES by the late H. J. MOREHOUSE, M.R.C.S., F.S.A.
Arranged by THOMAS BROOKE, F.S.A

THE attention of our readers has already been called to the great loss sustained by the Yorkshire Archæological Association in the death of the most venerable member of its Council, the late H. J. Morehouse, F.S.A. Few of those who have attended the meetings and excursions of our Society can fail to miss the manly presence of one who showed so constant an interest in its work and took so practical a part in its deliberations.

Perhaps by the Antiquarian world at large he will be best remembered as the Historian of " Kirkburton and the Graveship of Holme," and as the Editor of a most interesting volume published by the Surtees Society (The Diary of Adam Eyre), but by us his name will be especially revered as that of the last survivor of the small band of Archæologists whose action led to our own organization.

Living "among his own people," and representing a family long honoured in its district, his natural tastes had led him from early years to investigate the local history of the neighbourhood, and to record during a prolonged life the facts which from time to time rewarded his

research.

In middle life he found in near neighbours on the one side and the other (the Revd. Thomas James of Netherthong, and the Revd. George Lloyd of Thurstonland), men whose pursuits were kindred to his own; and it was during their social intercourse and union in study, that the idea of forming an Archæological Society for the deanery of Huddersfield first took its rise. The late J. K. Walker, M.D., Wm. Turnbull, M.D., and others were taken into counsel, and the foundation of such a Society soon followed, with Dr. Turnbull as President, and Mr. Lloyd as Secretary. The history of its ultimate expansion into the existing Yorkshire Association need not be repeated. In later years Dr. Morehouse (to give him the title by which he was best known) resolved gradually, and with courteous consideration for the feelings and wishes of an attached body of patients, to withdraw from the arduous duties of a wide-spread country practice, and to devote himself more entirely to his books and to his garden, for arboriculture was as favourite an occupation with him as archæology. As a result of this comparative leisure, he has left behind him a large mass of MS. information, which may prove of enormous value to any future historian of the neighbourhood. From his MSS., the subjoined notes on the Township of Netherthong have been placed at our disposal, and we print them almost exactly as

VOL. XIII.

they left his hand, omitting only such matters as are obviously unsuited for the pages of an antiquarian journal, and making some slight variation in their order.

He died 9 Octr. 1890, aged 83.1

NOTES.

When collecting the materials for "The History of the Parish of Kirkburton, and the Graveship of Holme," I occasionally met with documents relating to the township of Nether Thong, which adjoins upon this Graveship, and of these I usually made a note.

The township of Nether Thong is bounded on the east by the river Holme, on the south by the township of Upper Thong, on the west by that of Meltham, and on the north by Honley; the two last-named townships, along with Nether Thong, being in the Honour of Pontefract, but all in the ancient parish of Almondbury.

Nether Thong consists of a narrow strip or thong of land, from which it would seem that its name was derived. It is usually described as "Nether" or "Lower" Thong, in contradistinction to " Upper Thong," and it contains about 850 acres of land, which is for the most part of good quality. Nether Thong was not, however, a distinct township at the period of the "Domesday Survey," as the name does not appear in that record. It had evidently formed a part of the township of Meltham, to which it adjoins on its western side. In the division which took place, a small portion of the common or waste land, required to be distinguished by "metes" and "bounds," being defined by large stones which were kept up by the freeholders, till the enclosure of the commons in 1817.

The division from Meltham certainly took place at a very early period, probably as early as the reign of Edward II., and what was the cause of the severance is somewhat uncertain, but we may hazard a probable conjecture.

It may here be observed in regard to Meltham, that among evidences which we have seen of the 16th and 17th centuries, it is frequently designated "Meltham Half." Yet the freeholders of Nether Thong owe neither rent nor service to the Mesne Lord or Lords of Meltham. They recognise no superior, except the Chief Lord of the Fee of Pontefract.

1 The council are indebted to the courtesy of Mr. Lewis Hornblower for permission to print this paper.

Therefore the division of the township seems, not improbably, to have arisen in consequence of some influential territorial owner; and to this point we will now turn our

attention.

In the reign of King John, we find that a family of the name of Bisset resided at North Elmsal near Doncaster, where they had estates, and likewise at Nether Thong. Hunter quotes a charter from Dodsworth's MSS. of a very interesting description, respecting the settlement of the Bissets at North Elmsal. It is a grant made by John, the Constable of Chester, to Henry Bisset of forty-eight acres of land in Elmsal, with lands at Marton and Plumtree for a park, and the whole town of Harworth, in frank marriage? with Albreda his sister, a daughter of Richard fitz Eustace. He found also that Henry Bisset was a son of Manasser Bisset (who was Dapifer or Steward of the King's Household to Henry II.), the son of William Bisset and Hawisia his wife.

There is an Inquisition P. M. in the 19 Edw. II., in which John Bisset was found to have died seized of a messuage and 60 acres of land in Elmsal. The names of Bissets occur frequently as witnesses in deeds in Elmsal and the neighbourhood, before the time when dates were usually inserted, viz., John Bisset, Junior, his son Adam Bisset, and later down to 1320. In a deed of that date, all the three names appear together.

The Bissets had considerable lands in Nether Thong; these, with most of their other estates, were in the Honour of Pontefract. When the rebellion of Thomas, Earl of Lancaster, was put down, and the earl was executed at Pontefract, his estates were forfeited to the crown. But the manors of Meltham and Honley had previously been granted off to the Waleyes'. We find that a Robert Waleyes was seneschal of the Honour of Pontefract in the reign of Henry III.; and his descendants seem to have remained close partizans of the great earl. We find that Sir Stephen Waleyes was at the battle of Boroughbridge with his chief, and was taken prisoner, when his estates were also forfeited. But after the accession of Edward III., when Thomas,

This marriage is entered in the pedigree showing the connections of the

de Lascies, facing p. 151 of the present volume.

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