B

Out of Giffard's Register, fo. 15.

[vol. 28] 15 Sr Richard Picoth p'sents to the Church of Smytheton, 12 kal. Aprill, 5 pont. [1270].

In an old Roll containing 2 membranes given to me, Roger Dodsworth, 6 Dec. 1632, by Robert Rockley of Rockley, Esq. [cuius Titulus est Cartæ de Luuersall, Dodsworth].

BBB [vol. 32] 44 To all &c. Symon, son of Ralfe de Smitheton, & Dionis his wife, &c. greeting, know ye that we have granted for us & our heires & by our Charter confirmed with or seal... to Alexander de Norwiche & his heires all the Land with the appurtnances & common of pasture in Smythetune & in Ballina [Balne] which land with the appurtnances & pasture, Harbertus de Arches gaue to the said Alexander &'c.

In a booke of the abreviation of pleas before the King, temp. Ed. 3, ro. 16, Easter terme Ao 4 [1330], rot. 16, fo. 25.

W [vol. 152] 41 The Lord the King in the right of Margret sister & one of the heires of Richard Foliot now being under age, p'sentation to the Church of Smeton against John de Seyuill [see also note e, vol. xi. 446].

[Other references are CCC [vol. 34] 23, 36, 65, 72, 73.]

In the writeings of Robert Rockley.

NN [vol. 139] 21 [Given under SKELBROKE, ante, p. 71.]

Inquisition taken before John de Eure, Escheator. A° 6 Ed. 2 [1313]. GG [vol. 128] 169 The Jurors say that William Vavasour held inter alia the mann of Fryston by the service of one knight's fee of the Earle of Lanc. worth 15li & one Mess in Stobes [Stok (Dodsworth)] of the Church of St Peter of Yorke worth 34s, & diuers lands in Stobis, litle Smeaton, Kirkesmeaton, Stapleton & Badesword. [The Lord, Dodsworth] Walter le Vavasour is next heire.

65

[Another reference is F (vol. 125) 9.]

64 This Smeaton family was of importance. The first was Siward, who supplanted in some way the son of the Domesday holder, Gerald de Reineville. He had succeeded in due course, received Smeaton as an inheritance, and was then suddenly removed to Darrington in a manner and for a reason not now traceable. For in the first half of the twelfth century there was a general shaking of the kaleidoscope, in the course of which men who seemed settled in their lordship were suddenly transplanted, and their places sometimes taken by quite new men. In that manner Gerald disappeared from Smeaton, not however in disgrace, for he received Darrington, but in pursuance by the lord of the fee, of some line of

Smeaton litle.66

CCC [vol. 34] 23 [Not copied into 800.]

XXX [vol. 106] 15

Fines 8 H. 6 [1430].

Between Adam Myrfeld complainant & Richard Wood & Alice his wife, disturbers of 4 messuages, 170 acres of land, 20 acres of meadow, 200 acres of pasture & 4 rent with the appurtnances in litle Smeaton, Wilmersley & Puhenall [Pukenall, Dodsworth], &c. the right of Adam.

Fines 34 E. 3 [1360].

W [vol. 152] 17 Between Walter Frost of Kingston vpon Hull & Elen his wife complt & Robert son of Richard de Northall of Leeds, disturber of the moyety of the mann" of litle Smetheton with the appurtnances, & of the moyety of 12 messuages, 8 Crofts, 200 Acres of Land & 10 markes rent with the appurtnances in Trunflete, Snaythorpe, Fenwickes, Hevensall, Thurne, South ecke [South Heck, Dodsworth] & great Smetheton nere Pontefract. the right of Walter & his wife.

Fines 8 Ed. 2 [1314–5].

GG [vol. 128] 21 Between Nichola late wife of William le Vavasonr complt, & Elizabeth de Colevill defortiant of 6 messuages, 4 bovates of land, 38 acres of meadow & 3 roodes of land 7 acres of meadow, in litle Smytheton, Stapleton, Kirke Smytheton, Wilmersley. To haue to the said Nichola for [her, Dodsworth] life, remainder to John de Smytheton & Elizabeth his wife, & the heires which the said John shall beget of the body of the said Elizabeth. Remainder to William son of Henry son of Conan. Remainder to Joan, sister of the said William & the heires of her body. Remainder to the right heires of the said Nichola.-fo. 29.

66 Little Smeaton, in the parish of Womersley, was surveyed in 1086 as two manors, formerly owned by Baret and Artor, and having three carucates of taxable land, capable of employing 8 ploughs, and producing a revenue of £6. At the time of the Survey it had been subinfeuded to Robert de Ramosville, who had retained the former lords as tenants. The original report was, however, corrected by the incorporation of the facts relating to Kirk Smeaton with those that concerned Little Smeaton. This was done by substituting v for ii, a substitution easily detected, by interlining the names of Gamel, Ulchil, and Morcar, altering the iii carucates into ix, and viii ploughs into xiii; which implies that it was Baret and Artor who had under

them the very large number of 23 villanes and 20 bordars with 8 ploughs, and that to Gamel, Ulchil, and Morcar, the names added are to be attributed the additional holdings. With this high state of cultivation, the revenue had increased to £6 14s., while two mills produced as much as 9s. 4d. This increase of value was perhaps a result of the continuance of the old lords in possession. At the time of the Poll Tax, in 1378, Little Smeaton had only 13 taxpayers, who were assessed at 248. 10d. All paid 4d., except a souter charged with 6d., a cattle-dealer charged 12d., and William de Scargill, Kt., who was assessed at 20s. He was the representative of the Stapletons of Stapleton in Darrington.

James Fowler, F.S.A.

THE late Mr. James Fowler, for many years resident in Wakefield, was one of the earliest, and, until his health finally broke down, one of the most enthusiastic and active of our members. And, as he did so much good work for our own and for other societies with kindred objects, it has been thought well that a few particulars of his life and work should be put on record in our Journal, in memoriam.

He was born at Winterton in Lincolnshire, March 15th, 1839, and was the fourth son of Mr. Joseph Fowler of that place, who was the only surviving son of William Fowler of the same, whose magnificent coloured engravings of Roman pavements, painted glass, etc., were the wonder of his own time, and are still justly admired as one of the finest extant collections of such representations. As a child, the little James was quite unlike most other children. His early attempts at literary composition were very remarkable, and one of his earliest attempts at recording his observations pictorially was a book of sketches representing “Various shapes of clouds that I have seen." He was also very fond of trying chemical experiments, as for example with vinegar and different kinds of stone, or any chemicals he could get hold of. And again, he wrote and delivered many original "Sermons," so that some chief characteristics of the man were already showing themselves in the child. He went to school at Bishopton Close, near Ripon, and as a schoolboy was popular among his companions, though so different from most of them in his tastes and pursuits. That was before the days of compulsory games, and his great delight was to ramble out to Fountains Abbey, Markenfield Hall, the Minster, and places of that sort, with any companions who would at all sympathize with him in his own keen interest in ancient buildings, in which he was himself encouraged by

1 For a short notice of William Fowler, see Leslie Stephen's Dictionary of National Biography.

his cousin William Fowler Stephenson, from whom also he acquired the elements of drawing. Some time before he left school, his scientific interests were stimulated through companionship with the writer, then a pupil of Mr. Sadler, surgeon, of Winterton, who always encouraged his pupils in scientific pursuits, and now James's great delight was to be "at the surgery," either doing chemical experiments, or helping in practical pharmacy, or dissecting any unfortunate animals that we were able to get hold of. This led to his choosing medicine as a profession, and he was articled to Mr. Sadler. There he continued his scientific researches, and did a good deal of classical, general, and scientific reading, while at the same time to the full as bright and happy as the average tennis-playing young gentleman of the present day. Some time about 1858, he entered at St. Thomas's Hospital, London, where he soon gained the favourable notice of Mr. Simon (now Sir John Simon, K.C.B.), Mr. Le Gros Clark, Mr. Rainey, and others engaged in the work of the hospital and medical school. Though always a most keen and diligent student, he managed to find time to visit several places of antiquarian interest in and about London. He also became greatly fascinated by the services held by the Roman Mission in St. George's "Pro-Cathedral' in Southwark, had interviews with Bishop Grant, and at one time was very nearly seceding. After that he came under powerful intellectual influences of another kind, and to a great extent if not altogether embraced the philosophy of Spinoza, which seemed to him to afford the true solution of all his difficulties. At the same time he was full of sympathy with Christian doctrine, and with solemn and impressive modes of rendering the services of the Church, which he always diligently attended. And in a few years he became as truly loyal and attached a son of the Church of England as could be found anywhere. Having become M.R.C.S. and LS.A. in 1861, and L.M. in 1862, and having held the offices of House Surgeon and of Resident Accoucheur at St. Thomas's, he was appointed in 1864, House Surgeon to the Clayton Hospital and Dispensary at Wakefield, which led to his settling in practice in that town, and receiving the appointment of Honorary Surgeon to the Hospital. He married, Oct. 17th, 1865, Annette, second daughter of Captain, afterwards Admiral Binstead, of

Wakefield, who survives him, as do also one daughter and four sons. In February, 1867, he was elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries and a Local Secretary for Yorkshire. In 1870, the "Huddersfield and Topographical Association" had become established on a new footing as "The Yorkshire Archæological and Topographical Association," and entered on that new and flourishing stage of its existence under the very efficient Secretaryship of the late Fairless Barber,2 which had been so well maintained under our present Secretary, Mr. Tomlinson. From this time, no one was more active than James Fowler in forwarding the interests and objects of the Society in every way in his power. A list of his contributions to the Journal will be found below. He also worked hard for the Society of Antiquaries and other societies, while at the same time thoroughly well attending to his extensive medical practice both private and at the hospital. Among his patients he was a universal favourite; this was the natural result not only of the confidence inspired by his known skill and sound professional judgment, but of his constant kindly sympathy with all who were in any trouble, which made him to be beloved alike by rich and poor. He was the last man to allow any patient to suffer by his attention to those archæological pursuits which were to him a delightful recreation, but not the business of his life.

Once or twice he took short foreign tours, which he greatly enjoyed, and the results of which may be seen in some of his published articles. One unhappy night, while at Gibraltar, he was attacked, for the first time, by violent spasmodic asthma, and from that time he hardly ever knew what it was to have a day's real health. Night after night the asthma returned, and only very slight relief was ever found to result from any treatment. His days were spent in going about his work, unrefreshed after sleepless nights; again and again he broke down altogether, and had to go away for rest and change. It was now more than he could do to get through his professional work, and after 1879 he wrote hardly anything until the last year of his life. After a long struggle he was obliged to give up practice altogether, and, being exceedingly ill at the time, removed

2 For a notice of Fairless Barber, see Journal, VII., 1.