1624 John Kendricke

11-0144-519_JohnKendricke-draper-London_1624

JohnKendrick1

In the name of God Amen; the nine and twentieth of December AD one thousand six hundred twenty four [1624] and in the two and twentieth year of the reign of our Sovereign Lord King James etc. I JOHN KENDRICKE of the City of London Draper[i] being sick in body but of good and perfect mind and memory (for which I give most humble and hearty thanks to Almighty God) do make ordain and declare this my last will and testament in manner and form following, that is to say, First and before all things I commend and commit my soul to Almighty God my Creator, trusting most assuredly to be saved by the death and passion and only merits of Jesus Christ my Saviour and Redeemer; and I will that my body be decently interred in Christian burial in the Parish of St Christopher[1] where I now dwell as my executor hereafter named shall order and appoint.  ITEM; I give and bequeath to [blanked] poor men to every of them a gown of broad cloth to wear on the day of my burial and twelve pence apiece in money to pay for their dinners, the same poor men to be such as my executor shall appoint.  ITEM; I give and bequeath black gowns and cloaks to be worn at my burial by my kindred, friends and servants as my executor shall think meet not exceeding the sum of six hundred pounds in the said gowns and cloaks and the rest of the charges of my funeral.  ITEM; I give and bequeath the sum of three score pounds to be bestowed upon a dinner to be provided for my friends and the inhabitants of the parish of St Christopher where I now dwell upon the day of my burial and in such place as my executor shall think meet and convenient.  ITEM; I give and bequeath to the Mayor and Burgesses of the Town of Reading in the County of Berks I mean to the body corporate or corporation of the said town of Reading by whatsoever name or addition the same is made or known the sum of seven thousand and five hundred pounds upon special trust and confidence that they shall therewith perform those uses following: that is to say, the said Mayor and Burgesses shall buy and purchase unto them and their successors for ever I say to the body corporate of the said town of Reading by whatsoever name or addition the same is made or known lands and hereditaments of the clear value of fifty pounds by the year over and above all charges and reprisals which sum of fifty pounds a year my will and meaning is shall be paid by the said Mayor and Burgesses and their successors unto my sister ANNA NEWMAN[2] yearly during her natural life, and after her decease the same yearly sum of fifty pounds shall be paid by the said Mayor and Burgesses and their successors to the overseers for the poor of the town of Reading for the time being yearly for ever and by them the said overseers for the time being shall be bestowed and distributed to and amongst the poor people of the said town for ever to wit the moiety thereof every half year in such sums and to such persons as the said overseers for the time being shall think meet according to the necessity and desert of the same several persons provided always and my meaning is that this that my yearly gift shall not any way abridge the said poor of the ordinary allowances usually assessed and collected of the wealthier sort of the inhabitants of the said town towards the relief of the said poor people but shall be unto them an addition and clear increase of relief clearly for ever.  And if this my gift and provision shall happen (which I trust it shall not) to be by the said Mayor and Burgesses or by the said overseers for the time being ordered and disposed contrary to my meaning thus declared or that my will and desire above expressed touching the bestowing and distribution of the said sum of fifty pounds yearly be omitted neglected or left unperformed by the space of one whole year after it is by this my will appointed to be distributed and bestowed as aforesaid then my will and meaning is that the said sum and revenue of fifty pounds a year shall be by the said mayor and Burgesses and their successors for the time being forever paid unto the Treasurer of Christ’s Hospital in London and by the Governors of the same hospital employed and bestowed in the relief and education of the poor children of the said hospital or else that the said Mayor and Burgesses for the time being shall by their sufficient deed in law convey and make over the lands and hereditaments of the said yearly value of fifty pounds unto the Mayor and Communalty and Citizens of the City of London and their successors for ever unto the use of the said hospital to be employed as aforesaid; provided always that the said fifty pounds a year be yearly paid unto my said sister Anna Newman during her natural life and after her decease to the charitable uses aforesaid.  Moreover my will and meaning is as also my trust and confidence in the said Mayor and Burgesses of the Town of Reading is that with another competent part of the said sum of seven thousand five hundred pounds so by me devised as aforesaid they the said Mayor and Burgesses shall buy and purchase unto them and their successors for ever a fair plot of ground within the said town of Reading or the Liberty thereof and thereupon shall erect and build a serving house of brick fit and commodious for the setting of the poor on work therein or else shall buy and purchase such a house being already built if they can find one already fitting or that may with a reasonable sum be made fit for the said use the same house to have a fair garden adjoining and to be from time to time kept in good and sufficient reparations by the said mayor and Burgesses for the time being for ever.  Which house and garden my will is shall be used and occupied by such as the said Mayor and Burgesses from time to time for ever shall appoint and ordain for the employing and handling of the stock of money by me hereby left and devised to that purpose; and my will and meaning is that the said lands and hereditaments of the yearly value of fifty pounds and also the said house and garden being bought and purchased as aforesaid with parcel of the said sum of seven thousand five hundred pounds then the whole residue and remainder of the same seven thousand and five hundred pounds shall make and be a common stock to be employed and bestowed in trade of clothing either in making of coloured clothes or whites as the times shall require as also in working of wool hemp flax iron grinding of [Brasill woode] and other stuff for dying or otherwise as to the Mayor and Burgesses aforesaid and their successors for ever shall seem convenient for the employment of  poor people and for preservation and increase of the said common stock;  and the said Mayor and Burgesses aforesaid and their successors for ever shall have the election placing and ordering as also the displacing (if cause be) of all and every person and persons to be employing in the handling and husbanding of the said common stock in the house aforesaid according to their the said Mayor and Burgesses good direction from time to time for ever, wherein yet my desire is that they shall prefer the poor of the said town to the said work and employment before others of other places.  And for the performance of those promises my will is  that the sum of seven thousand and five hundred pounds before for this end by me bequeathed to the said Mayor and Burgesses shall be paid unto them or their successors in manner and form following; that is to say, two thousand pounds thereof at the end of one year next after the day of my decease; other two thousand pounds at the end of two years next after the day of my decease; and the residue of the said whole sum being three thousand and five hundred pounds at the end of three years next ensuing after and from the day of such my decease.  But if it shall happen (as my trust is it will not) that the said Mayor and Burgesses or their successors shall neglect omit or fail to perform the promises according to my will and meaning above declared or shall misemploy the said stock contrary to the true intent and meaning of this my device and disposition for the good of the poor and their honest employment and maintenance as aforesaid and that such their neglect omission or misemployment shall continue at any time by the space of one whole year together then my will and meaning is that my said whole legacy of seven thousand and five hundred pounds and every part and parcel thereof shall be utterly void frustrate and of no effect as to for and concerning the said Mayor and Burgesses and their successors and as to for and concerning uses thereof before limited and expressed; and the said whole common stock shall be by them the said Mayor and Burgesses and their successors for the time being forthwith paid unto the Mayor and Commonality and Citizens of the City of London to the use of Christ’s Hospital in London according as I have above devised and disposed touching the revenue of fifty pounds a year for ever first bequeathed to the use and relief of the poor people of the said town of Reading; as also my will and meaning is that in this case of non-performance by the said Mayor and Burgesses the house and garden to be purchased in Reading as aforesaid shall be by the said Mayor and Burgesses and their successors conveyed and made over by their deed sufficient in law unto the said Mayor and Commonality and Citizens of the City of London and their successors for ever to the use of Christ’s Hospital in London as aforesaid.  ITEM; I give and bequeath to the Mayor Aldermen and Burgesses of the town of Newbery [Newbury] in the County of Berks the sum of four thousand pounds to buy and purchase therewith a commodious house and garden within the same town or the liberties thereof to let the poor on work and with the residue of the same sum to make a common stock for the employment of the poor in the said house according to my meaning before declared in the devising of the sum of seven thousand and five hundred pounds to the Mayor and Burgesses of the town of Reading to the like use; but my will and meaning is that if it shall happen (which I trust will not) that the said Mayor Aldermen and Burgesses of the town of Newbery or their successors shall neglect or fail to perform my trust and meaning hereby committed unto them or shall misemploy the said stock contrary to my good intent to the poor before declared by the space of one whole year at any time after my said whole legacy shall be paid them, then my will and meaning is that my said whole legacy of four thousand pounds and every part and parcel thereof shall thenceforth be utterly void and of none effect as to for and concerning the said Mayor Aldermen and Burgesses of the said town of Newbery and their successors for ever; and that the said whole common stock shall be by them the said Mayor Aldermen and Burgesses of Newbery and their successors for the time being be forthwith paid over into the Mayor and Burgesses of the town of Reading in the same county to be by them and their successors for ever employed bestowed and used in like manner as I have by this my will devised and appointed in another common stock for the poor in the same town of Reading as by my said devise and disposition before herein more at large expressed doth and may appear; in like manner also my will and meaning is that in case of such non-performance of my will and intent by the said Mayor Aldermen and Burgesses of the town of Newbery the house and garden by them to be purchased and built as aforesaid shall be by the said Mayor Aldermen and Burgesses of the town of Newbery and their successors conveyed and made over by their deed sufficient in law unto the Mayor and Burgesses of the said town of Reading and their successors for ever to be by them sold and converted into money and the same money to be used and employed in their common stock for the poor in the said town of Reading aforesaid in such sort as I have formerly hereby expressed; and for the performance of the said trust and uses by the said Mayor Aldermen and Burgesses of the town of Newbery aforesaid my will and meaning is that the said sum of four thousand pounds so to them bequeathed and devised as aforesaid shall be paid unto them or their successors in manner as follows: that is to say one thousand pounds thereof at the end of one year next ensuing after the day of my decease, one other thousand pounds thereof at the end of two years from and after my said decease and the residue being two thousand pounds shall be paid them at the end of three years next after my said decease.  ITEM; I give and bequeath to the Company of Drapers of the City of London (of which company I am free) the sum of two thousand and four hundred pounds to purchase lands and hereditaments to the clear yearly value of one hundred pounds for ever over and above all charges and reprises and with the same to perform the good uses hereafter mentioned that is to say the sum of twenty four pounds thereof yearly for ever to be bestowed in the month of December for the releasing of six poor prisoners out of the prisons in London to wit the two compters, Ludgate, Newgate and the Fleet by four pounds for each prisoner; or if such cannot be found in the said prisons or some of them to be released for these sums then the same or the residue thereof to be bestowed in like releasing of other prisoners out of some of the prisons near London and out of the liberties thereof as to the wardens of the said company for the time being shall seem meet; more twenty pounds yearly for ever to the curate of the Parish of St Christopher wherein I now dwell to read divine service in the said parish church at six of the clock in the morning every day of the week for ever in like manner as is now used in the chapel at the great north gate of St Paul’s Church in London; more to the clerk and sexton of the said parish of St Christopher to each of them fifty shillings yearly forever to do their several attendance and assistance at the same divine service every morning; more to the church wardens of the same parish of St Christopher five pounds yearly for ever for the maintenance of lights in the winter time; more three pounds yearly for ever to the poor of the said parish of St Christopher; more to the poor prisoners in London ten pounds yearly for ever namely to the prisoners of the compters in the Poultry and in Wood Street and the prisoners in Newgate to each of these prisons forty shillings yearly for ever.  To the poor prisoners in Ludgate and in the Fleet to each house thirty shillings yearly for ever; and to the poor prisoners in Bedlem twenty shillings yearly for ever; more to the Clarke of the Company of Drapers aforesaid for the time being for his pains herein forty shillings yearly for ever; more to the Beadle of the said Company thirty shillings yearly for ever; more to the Beadle of the Yeomanry of the same Company ten shillings yearly for ever; more five and twenty pounds yearly to be distributed by the said wardens among poor religious men and women in the City of London; to some more and to some less as the said wardens shall find their necessity and desert to be; wherein my desire is that poor cloth-workers and their widows shall be first preferred and next the poor of the Drapers Company; the residue of the said sum of one hundred pounds a year being four pounds yearly for ever I entreat the four wardens of the said Company to accept for their pains to be equally divided between them by twenty shillings to each of them for the time being yearly for ever; and if the said Company of Drapers do either of purpose or negligence neglect and not perform the promises but shall leave the same unperformed one whole year after they shall have received this my legacy of two thousand and four hundred pounds (which shall be paid them at the end of one year next after my decease) then my mind and will is that the Governors of Christ’s Hospital in London shall recover the whole two thousand and four hundred pounds before specified or the lands and hereditaments that the said Company shall have bought with the same money, and keep twenty pounds yearly for ever of the same rent for the maintenance of the poor children in the said hospital as if the same had been first given them and the Drapers Company to had nothing to do with it or the rest of the said hundred pounds yearly for ever; and that in this case the yearly payment of eight pounds unto the Clarke Beadles and Wardens of the said Company as also twelve pounds parcel of the said five and twenty pounds a year before devised to be paid and distributed by the said Company among poor religious men and women in the City of London utterly and for ever to cease but that this twenty pounds a year being so converted as aforesaid to the use of the hospital; the residue of the said yearly rent of one hundred pounds a year I will that the Governors of the said hospital shall pay and distribute yearly for ever in manner and form as the said Company of Drapers should have done.  ITEM; I give and bequeath to the said Company of Drapers one hundred pounds to be paid within a year after my decease and by the Wardens of the said Company to be bestowed in plate such as they shall think good for the use of the Common Hall in London at their meetings and dinners there.  ITEM; I give and bequeath to the poor of Christ’s Hospital in London five hundred pounds to be by the Governors thereof bestowed in lands and hereditaments for and towards the yearly maintenance of the children of the said hospital for ever; this sum to be paid to the said Governors or the Treasurer of the said hospital as soon as they shall have found out a fit purchase to bestow it and agreed of price for the same.  ITEM; I give and bequeath towards the curing of sick sore and diseased persons in Saint Bartholomew’s Hospital in London the sum of fifty pounds.  Item; I give and bequeath towards the curing of sick sore and diseased persons in Saint Thomas’s Hospital in Southwark near London the sum of fifty pounds.  ITEM; I give and bequeath towards the repairing of the Parish Church of Saint Christopher where I now dwell the sum of forty pounds to be paid to the churchwardens of the same parish within one year after my decease.  ITEM; I give and bequeath towards the repairing of the Cathedral Church of St Pauls in London the sum of one thousand pounds to be paid to Chamberlaine of London at such time as that work of repairing of the same church shall be ready to proceed with effect and to be disposed by the direction and appointment of the Lord Mayor and Aldermen of the said City.  ITEM; I give and bequeath to be given at the marriage of poor maids within the City of London two hundred pounds to be distributed by forty shillings apiece upon the days of their marriage to such as have served one master or mistress by the space of five years together.  ITEM; I give and bequeath to be given and distributed to poor maids in the town of Reading in the County of Berks at their several marriages by forty shillings apiece at the discretion of the Mayor and Burgesses of that town the sum of one hundred pounds provided none enjoy the benefit hereof but such as have served one master or mistress or dame by the space of seven years together.  This hundred pounds to be paid to the said Mayor and Burgesses for the use aforesaid within one year next after my decease.  ITEM; I give and bequeath to the Mayor Aldermen and Burgesses of the town of Newbery in Berkshire the sum of fifty pounds to be by them bestowed and distributed to twenty-five maids of the same town at the several days of their marriages none to enjoy this gift but such as well and honestly served with one master mistress or dame by the space of seven years at least.  And this fifty pounds to be paid to the said Mayor Aldermen and Burgesses within one year next after my decease.  ITEM; I give and bequeath towards the setting on work of forty idle vagrant boys such as go up and down the streets in this City of London begging and pilfering the sum of two hundred pounds to be paid to the Treasurer for the time being of the House of Correction called Bridewell in London in manner and form following, that is to say, when any such boy is taken up by my executor of his assigns in any place within the liberties of this City of London and by the Treasurer of the same House of Correction and Governors there for the time being placed and bound apprentice with a master for the term of seven years at the least with art masters as glovers pinners shoemakers or any other occupation or art which they shall be thought most fit for to learn in the said house whereby in time they may prove good members and live like honest men in the common wealth; I say with every one of these boys shall be paid to the Treasurer and Governors for the time being for the apparelling and placing of them in that order the sum of five pounds until the said sum of two hundred pounds be fully paid for that use.  ITEM; I give and bequeath towards the finishing of the pinnacles of the steeple of the parish of St Mary’s in Reading Berkshire fifty pounds to be paid to the churchwardens of the same parish within one month after the said pinnacles shall be finished.  ITEM; I give and bequeath to the Mayor and Burgesses of the town of Reading aforesaid the sum of five hundred pounds to be first lent to the parties and in the sums hereafter named for seven years gratis; that is to JAMES WINCHE two hundred pounds and to Walter Bye, Richard Stampe and William Blacknall, clothiers one hundred pounds apiece each of them giving bond with two sufficient sureties for repayment thereof to the said Mayor and Burgesses at the end of the said seven years; and afterwards the same five hundred shall be lent to ten several honest industrious poor clothiers freemen of the same town by fifty pounds apiece gratis for three years upon like good security and after that in like manner from three years to three years for ever; and no man to have the use of any of this money twice.  But if there shall not be clothiers enough found in the said town to enjoy this loan in manner aforesaid that then the said money shall be lent also unto other tradesmen free of the same town by the sums and terms of years before last appointed to such as set most poor people on works according to the discretion of the said Mayor and Burgesses.  And this said sum of five hundred pounds shall be paid to the said Mayor and Burgesses to the use aforesaid at the end of one year after my decease.  ITEM; I give and bequeath to the Mayor Aldermen and Burgesses of the town of Newbery in the County of Berks the sum of five hundred pounds to be lent first for the term of seven years gratis unto the several clothiers here named, that is to say, to THOMAS NEWMAN one hundred pounds, to Richard Avery one hundred pounds, to Martyn Broaker fifty pounds to William Goodwyn the elder fifty pounds and to his son William Goodwyn fifty pounds to Timothy Avery fifty pounds; to Robert baron fifty pounds and to Griffin Forster fifty pounds; every of the said parties entering bonds with two sufficient sureties for repayment of the said several sums to the said Mayor and Aldermen and Burgesses at the end of seven years; and afterwards the same five hundred pounds shall be lent to ten several honest industrious poor clothiers free of the said town of Newbery by fifty pounds apiece gratis for three years and after that in like manner from three years to three years for ever; and no man to have the use of any of this money twice; but if there shall not be clothiers enough found in the said town of Newbery to enjoy this loan in manner as aforesaid then the same money shall be lent also unto other tradesmen free of the same town by the sums and terms of years last before appointed to such as set most poor people on work according to the discretion of the said Mayor Aldermen and Burgesses to whom this said five hundred pounds shall be paid to the use aforesaid at the end of one year after my decease.  ITEM; I give and bequeath to the Governor Assistants and Fellowship of Merchant Adventurers of England the sum of nine hundred pounds to be lent by three hundred pounds in a parcel for three years gratis unto three several honest industrious and frugal young men free of that company none of them being partners with each other and every of them giving bonds with two sufficient sureties to be tried and allowed by balloting and not otherwise for repayment of the same money to the said company; and so the same money to be lent out by the said Company in this manner from three years to three years for ever; and my will and desire is that these my five present servants shall be upon security as aforesaid first preferred to the enjoying of this loan; to wit: William Powle, THOMAS NEWMAN and SYMON GANDY the first three years and ANDREW KENDRICKE and Christopher Parke the next two parcels that shall come and be received in after they be free men of that Company; and for performance hereof the said nine hundred pounds shall be paid unto the Treasurer of the said Company I London for the time being at the end of one year next after my decease.

ITEM; I give and bequeath to my brother WILLIAM KENDRICK of Reading in the County of Berks clothier and to his children now born and living the sum of two thousand pounds whereof one third part for himself and the other two third parts for his said children; the same two third parts of the said sum of two thousand pounds to be equally divided between and amongst his said children share and share like; and my will is that the said two thousand pounds be paid to my said brother at the end of three years next after my decease and that he shall pay his said children their several shares thereof afore limited, that is to say, to his son his share and part when he comes to the age twenty-four years and to his daughter her share and part when she comes to the age of one and twenty years or at the day of her marriage which shall first happen; and if it fortune either of my brother’s said children to die or decease before their respective legacies aforesaid shall grow due as above that then the part of such child so deceasing to accrue and be paid to the survivor of the said children at the day and time before appointed.  ITEM; I give and bequeath to my said brother William Kendricke my gold ring which was my father’s with the letters T.K. therein engraved and a knot between the same letters.  ITEM; I give and bequeath to my sister ANNA NEWMAN of Reading in the County of Berks the sum of one thousand marks to be paid to her at the end of one year next after my decease.  ITEM; I give unto the children of my said sister Anna Newman the sum of two thousand marks to be divided equally among them share and share like and the shares of such as are already married (if they be daughters) or are four and twenty years of age (if they be sons) to be paid them at the end of one year after my decease and the shares of the rest to be paid to such as be sons when they shall be four and twenty years of age and to the daughters at their day of marriage or when they shall become to one and twenty years of age respectively which of these shall happen to be first.  And if it shall happen any of the said children of my said sister to die before the age and time so prefixed for payment as aforesaid (I mean those that be under the age and unmarried) then my will is that the share and part of such that shall so die shall accrue and be paid unto the rest of the same children then surviving share and share like and at the days and times of payment before appointed for their own several shares and parts; but my will and meaning is that THOMAS NEWMAN son of my said sister shall not have any part or share of this said legacy of two thousand marks because I give him a large legacy apart by this my will; therefore the said two thousand marks is to be divided and shared amongst the rest of the children of my said sister as aforesaid.  ITEM; I do hereby absolutely acquit and forgive my brother-in-law THOMAS NEWMAN of Reading aforesaid, husband to my said sister Anna Newman the sum of one hundred marks which he owes me by his bond due the second day of November AD one thousand six hundred and twenty three being all that he owes me at the date of this my will.  ITEM; I give and bequeath to my sister ALICE VIGURES of Exeter in the County of Devon the sum of five hundred pounds to be paid her at the end of two years next after my decease.  ITEM; I give and bequeath to the children of my said sister Alice Vigures the sum of one thousand pounds to be divided equally [divided (sic.)] amongst them share and share like; and if any of them being sons be of the age of four and twenty years or any of them being daughters be of the age of one and twenty years or married then the share and parts of such respectively shall be paid at the end of two years next after my decease; and the shares and parts of the rest shall be paid to such as be sons at their age of four and twenty years and to such as be daughters at their age of one and twenty years or at the days of their marriage which of them shall first happen respectively; but my will and meaning is that SYMON GANDY son of my said sister Alice Vigures shall not have any part or share of this said legacy of one thousand pounds because I give him a large legacy apart by this my will; but my meaning is that this said legacy of one thousand pounds so given as aforesaid to the children of my said sister Alice Vigures shall be equally divided among the rest of the children of my said sister excluding the said Symon Gandy from all part and share of the same; and if it shall happen any of the said children of my said sister Alice GANDY [sic.]  to die before the age and time of the payments appointed as aforesaid (I mean be under that age and unmarried) then my will and meaning is that the share and part of such as shall so die shall be paid and accrue unto the rest of the same children so surviving to each of them equally share and share like and at the days and times of payment before appointed for their own several shares and parts.  ITEM; I give and bequeath to my brother JAMES WINCHE of Purley in the County of Berks[3] and to his children the sum of one thousand pounds whereof one third part for himself and the other two third parts for his said children; the same two third parts to be divided equally share and share alike amongst the said children of my said brother share and share like; and my will is that this sum of one thousand pounds shall be paid unto my said brother James Winche at the end of one year next after my decease; and that he shall pay forthwith unto such of his children as being sons are of the age of four and twenty years and being daughters are of the age of one and twenty years or be married their several shares and proportion of the said two third parts of this sum of one thousand pounds; the shares and parts of the rest his children he shall retain in his own hands until his said children being sons shall be of the age of four and twenty years and being daughters to the age of one and twenty years or be married and then shall pay every of them their several shares and parts respectively; and if it shall happen that any of his said younger children do die before the time of payment so limited as aforesaid then my will is that the part and share of such as shall so decease shall accrue unto the rest of the said children of my said brother that shall then survive to be equally divided amongst them share and share like and to be paid at the days and times before appointed.  ITEM; I give and bequeath unto thirty of my poorest kindred in the town of Reading in Berkshire the sum of three hundred pounds to be paid unto my brother William Kendricke within three months after my decease and by him distributed by ten pounds in every parcel as he in his discretion shall think good; wherein I pray him to be very careful to bestow the same where there is most need and best desert.  ITEM; I GIVE AND BEQUEATH TO Old ELIZABETH KENDRICKE of Reading, daughter of my father’s brother WILLIAM KENDRICKE (as I take it) the sum of fifty pounds to be paid her within three months after my decease.  ITEM; I give and bequeath to my kinsman THOMAS NEWMAN now residing at Delft in Holland the sum of one thousand pounds to be paid him upon the five and twentieth day of October which shall be in the year of our Lord God one thousand six hundred twenty six when his time of service expires provided that he remain with my partner Mr Lawrence Halstead and serve him his said full time.  ITEM; I give and bequeath unto my kinsman and late servant Symon Gandy the sum of one thousand pounds to be paid him within one year next after my decease.  ITEM; I give and bequeath unto Arthur Aynscomb merchant now resident at Antwerp who has a share with me in trade the sum of five hundred pounds to be paid him within two years next after my decease provided that he go forward in trade with Mr Lawrence Halstead (if he, the said Mr Halstead shall desire it) unto the end of our contract which will be the twenty fifth of October AD one thousand six hundred twenty six.  ITEM; I give and bequeath to Barney Rymes merchant now resident at Delft who also has a share with me in trade the sum of five hundred pounds to be paid him within two years next after my decease provided that he go forward in trade with Mr Lawrence Halstead (if he the said Mr Halstead shall desire it) unto the end of our contract which will be the twenty fifth of October AD one thousand six hundred twenty six as is above said.  ITEM; I give and bequeath unto Mr John Quarles who was my master the sum of five hundred pounds to be paid him within a year next after my decease; and my earnest desire and request unto Mr Lawrence Halstead is that unto the end of our contract or partnership which will be the twenty fifth of October AD one thousand six hundred twenty six the same Mr Quarles may have his diet lodging and washing in his the said Mr Halstead’s house free and without paying therefore as he now has it with me; and my desire also is that he may continue to keep the books of our partable account until the aforesaid twenty fifth of October AD one thousand six hundred twenty six and be paid his wonted yearly allowance of fifty pounds for the same; and I do hereby freely and absolutely forgive the said Mr John Quarles the sum of three hundred pounds which he owes me payable at pleasure being lent him the last day of March AD one thousand six hundred and fifteen and being all that he owes me at the date of this my will.  ITEM; I give and bequeath unto Mr George Lowe merchant heretofore my partner the sum of three hundred pounds to be paid him within one year next after my decease; and I do absolutely forgive him all that is due unto me for his lodging diet firing and washing which he has had of me now six years continually without paying me one penny for it.  ITEM; I give and bequeath to Thomas Billingsley son of Sir Henry Billingsley Knight and Alderman of London deceased the sum of two hundred pounds to be paid him within one year next after my decease; and I do hereby absolutely forgive him the sum of two hundred pounds which he owes me by his bond due the twentieth day of December AD one thousand six hundred twenty five lent him the twentieth of this present month for a year.  ITEM; I give and bequeath to the executor of Thomas Jackson of London merchant deceased (whom I take to be Miles Jackson the son of the said Thomas) the sum of three hundred pounds to be paid at the end of one year next after my decease.  ITEM; I give and bequeath to Lucas van Peenen of Middleburgh in Zealand son of Roger van Peenen of that town deceased the sum of fifty pounds sterling to be made over by exchange within two months after my decease payable at [usance] to John Mountstephen now residing in that town to be by him paid over to the said Lucas van Peenen forthwith after he has received it in the full Flemish sum which the same shall produce.  ITEM; I give and bequeath to Jeremias Poets of the said town of Middleburgh in Zealand if he be the executor of his brother Hance Poets deceased the sum of twenty pounds sterling to be made over by exchange within two months after my decease payable at [usance] to John Mountstephen aforenamed and by him forthwith after his receipt to be paid over to the said Jeremias Poets in the full Flemish sum which the same shall produce.  ITEM; I give and bequeath to William Powle my covenant servant the sum of two hundred pounds to be paid him within six months after my decease.  ITEM; I give and bequeath to Andrew Kendricke my apprentice the sum of three hundred pounds to be paid him when he shall have served seven years from the commencement of the term of his indenture; more I give and bequeath to the said Andrew Kendricke the sum of one hundred pounds in lieu of so much given me by his father JOHN KENDRICKE to be paid him within three months next after my decease upon acquittance to be given by his said father therefore.  ITEM; I give and bequeath to Christopher Parke my apprentice the sum of four hundred pounds to be paid him within three months next after my decease.  ITEM; I give and bequeath to Thomas Mayle my housekeeper the sum of twenty pounds to be paid him within two months after my decease.  ITEM; I give and bequeath to my maid Margaret twenty pounds to be paid her within two months next after my decease.  ITEM; I give and bequeath to my maid Dorothy twenty pounds to be paid her witin two months after my decease.  ITEM; I give unto John Hutwith my drawer the sum of fifty pounds to be paid him within three months after my decease.  ITEM; I give and bequeath to Walter Bird my drawer five and twenty pounds to be paid him within three months after my decease.  ITEM; I give and bequeath to the present menservants of John Hutwith my drawer the sum of five and twenty pounds whereof ten pounds to Charles and the other fifteen pounds to be equally divided amongst the rest as well prentices as journeymen to be paid within two months after my decease.  ITEM; I give and bequeath to my twelve clothworkers that usually [rowe and sheer] my clothes the sum of one hundred and thirty pounds whereof twenty pounds to Owen Dobbins and ten pounds apiece to the rest to be paid within three months next after my decease.  ITEM; I give and bequeath to William Bigge and William Salsbury that usually press and fold my clothes the sum of five and twenty pounds whereof fifteen pounds to William Bigge and ten pounds to William Salsbury to be paid them within three months next after my decease.  ITEM; I give and bequeath to my porters at the waterside ten pounds to be equally divided amongst them within; and ten pounds to my porters that usually pack in my house to be paid within two months next after my decease.  ITEM; I give and bequeath to my water-bearer  three pounds and to my washer Anthony five pounds to be paid them forthwith after my decease.  ITEM; I give to William Beadle of Reading clothier the sum of fifty pounds if he be yet alive and if he be dead then to his executor to be paid within three months next after my decease and I do hereby also forgive the said William Beadle the ten pounds he now owes me.  ITEM; I give and bequeath to the executor of Mark Slye of Reading clothier deceased the sum of fifty pounds to be paid within three months next after my decease.  ITEM; I give and bequeath to Thomas Newman of Newbery clothier the sum of one hundred pounds to be paid him within three months next after my decease.  ITEM; I give and bequeath to John Skynner secretary to the Merchants Adventurers the sum of one hundred pounds to be paid within three months next after my decease.  ITEM; I give and bequeath to the widow Harrison and her daughter dwelling in the alley next my dwelling house five pounds to be paid within one month after my decease.  ITEM; I give and bequeath to Mr Richard Bennett who was heretofore my partner the sum of three hundred pounds to be paid at the end of one year next after my decease.  ITEM; I give and bequeath to Mr William Towerson Skinner Deputy of the Merchant Adventurers five pounds to make him a ring; and to Mr Thomas Smith Skinner five pounds to make him a ring to be paid them forthwith after my decease.  ITEM; I give unto Raph Burnett, William Elliot and John Sotherne officers of the Merchant Adventurers five pounds a piece to be paid them forthwith after my decease.  ITEM; I give and bequeath to the Mayor and Burgesses of the town of Reading in the County of Berks the sum of two hundred and fifty pounds to be paid them at the end of one year next after my decease therewith to purchase lands and hereditaments to the clear yearly value of ten pounds for ever to maintain divine service to be said in the Church of St Mary in that town by the parson or his curate every morning of the week at six of the clock for ever.  ITEM; I give and bequeath to the Mayor Aldermen and Burgesses of the town of Newbery in the County of Berks the sum of two hundred and fifty pounds to be paid them at the end of one year next after my decease therewith to purchase lands or hereditaments of the clear yearly value of ten pounds for ever to maintain divine service to be said in the church of that town by the parson or his curate every morning of the week at six of the clock to continue for ever.  ITEM; I give and bequeath to my kinsman WILLIAM BYE dwelling near the Allom mines in Yorkshire the sum of one hundred pounds to be paid him within three months next after my decease and I hereby forgive him the ten pounds he owes me by his bond due long since.   ITEM; I bequeath to the Company of Drapers in London the sum of forty pounds to be bestowed upon a dinner for the livery of that Company to be at their Hall upon the day of my burial this to be paid forthwith after my decease; and my will and meaning is that in case any of the persons aforenamed to whom I have bequeathed legacies as aforesaid and not specially disposed for the case of their decease shall happen to die before the same legacies grow due then the legacy or legacies so by me given unto them as aforesaid shall be paid unto their executors or administrators at such time as I have before severally appointed un to them my said legataries [sic.] and I do make and ordain my loving friend and partner Mr Lawrence Halstead my sole executor of this my last will and testament charging him as he will answer it before Almighty God at the last day of Judgement that he duly and punctually in every particular perform this my said last will and testament as I nothing doubt but he will be very careful to do hereby giving and bequeathing unto him my said executor all the residue and remainder of my estate my legacies before bequeathed being first paid and discharged.  In witness of the premises I have unto this my last will and testament contained in eighteen several sheets of paper put my hand and seal that is my seal once at the top and my name under every several sheet the day and year first above written – John Kendricke – sealed pronounced and delivered by the said John Kendricke as his last will and testament in the presence of us – Jo. Skynner, Andrewe Kendricke, Thomas Singleton

Proved 31st December 1624 by Lawrence Halstead executor



[1] St Christopher le Stocks (stood on the south-west corner of Bank of England)

[2] Anne Kendricke married JOHN NEWMAN 15th September 1587 at St Mary, Reading, Berks (IGI – extracted)

[3] It would appear that the manor [of Purley] was being administered in 1623 by a James Winch and when Henry Chitting (Chester Herald) and John Philpott (Rouge Dragon) did their visitation on behalf of the College of Heralds, they ordered James to cease to use the title of squire or gentleman. (History of Purley on Thames: http://www.purley.eu/H320P/TS0002.pdf accessed 6th August 2009)



[i] John Kendrick (1573-1624)

Born: 1573 at Reading, Berkshire

Cloth Merchant & Benefactor

Died: 30th December 1624 at St. Christopher’s, London

John was the eldest son of Thomas Kendrick and his wife, Agnes Bye, a lady from a very old and much respected family in Reading. Thomas was a prosperous clothier, who, probably before John was born in 1573, moved into a large and comfortable house opposite the Rose Inn in Minster Street, Reading, one of the largest in St. Mary’s Parish. Through its orchard and formal garden ran the little Holybrook, and beyond another tributary of the Kennet was a meadow for the spreading, drying and bleaching of cloth after fulling. By his property, Thomas earned the right to the title of gentleman and assumed the family coat-of-arms.

John was educated at the Reading Free School, later called the Grammar School, which was housed in the old Abbey guesthouse near St. Laurence’s Church. The upper part of this building was the Town Hall, where John’s father presided as Mayor in 1580. John was then but seven years old and was, like the rest of the boys, probably just beginning to have Latin and Greek whipped into him. He almost certainly knew William Laud (later Archbishop of Canterbury) who was just a few years his junior.

John’s father died when he was just fifteen and his brother, William, eleven. That things in the Minster Street house went on much in the same way as before speaks well for his mother’s capabilities. Agnes Kendrick kept the business going in trust for the boys; paid the quit-rents to St. Mary’s Church; arranged advantageous marriages for her daughters, Elizabeth and Alice (the third daughter, Anne, having married John Newman the previous year) and sent John to Oxford, as his father had wished.

In October 1589, at the usual age of sixteen, John was sent to the traditional University College for Reading boys, St. John’s in Oxford, founded only thirty-four years earlier by another Reading clothier, and Lord Mayor of London, Sir Thomas White. Here, John’s studies remained the Greek and Latin authors. Ten years’ study of ‘the humanities’ made John a wiser and more valuable person and certainly did not impair his business capacity.

Three or four years later, in 1592 or 3, John returned to Reading and took over the very flourishing Minster Street business, residing with his mother and brother in the family home. He is said to have kept a hundred and four looms working and employed several hundred people in weaving and its connected trades. But he stayed there, at the most, three years, probably less. Something urged him to London. Perhaps his ideas were too wide-sweeping for a small provincial town.

John Kendrick went to London about 1595 to make his fortune; and he set about achieving his rise to Merchant Prince status in a most patient and deliberate way. Though he had an Oxford degree and the experience of his own large cloth-business, he began at the foot of the ladder, like any lad of fourteen, serving a seven years’ apprenticeship to John Quarles, Master Draper, in order to become a freeman of the great Drapers’ Company of London. This he achieved in 1602 and was called to the Livery (admitted to full privileges of the Guild) in 1614.

John’s portrait (above) shows a vital, honest face, humorous and shrewd, but kindly. It is a very likeable face; John Kendrick was probably a much-liked person. There is firmness there, too, and clear determination, in spite of the repose in the long, white hands. Whether John was what is called a ‘religious’ man or not, no-one can say. The introductory paragraph of his will shows only the formality of the age, but he dealt very generously with the Churches. He was evidently a sociable man, with many friends in London, Newbury and Reading. Not a few of them owed him money and, at his death, he remitted all their debts. He was evidently the sort of man to whom one could turn to for help in a tight corner, and who would not demand his bond the day it became forfeit. John Kendrick did not make his fortune by miserliness, but by hard work and sound business sense, knowing where and when to buy and sell. Apparently, in London, he was not weaving cloth, but preparing it for export and shipping it to Holland, in the profitable days before the Dutch wars put an end to such trade. This probably accounts for his connections with various clothiers of Reading and Newbury. His partner, in London, was Laurence Halstead. This man must have journeyed to the old Kendrick family home in Reading on numerous occasions with his old friend, and, having taken a liking to Berkshire, he purchased the manor of Sonning in 1629. John’s representatives, in Antwerp and Delft were Arthur Aynscombe and Barney Reymes, and he had business dealings with Lucas van Peenen and Hans Poets in Middleburgh. The cloth was carried overseas by the Company of Merchant Adventurers, to whom he left nine hundred pounds in his will, as a loan fund to encourage their young members. He requested that the first five recipients should be his ‘present servants, William Powle, Thomas Newman, at that time in Delft, and Simon Gandy; and later, when they had finished their apprenticeship, Andrew Kendrick (his kinsman) and Christopher Packe. He was, thus, not the detached head of a big business firm, but a man who held personal pride and interest in every detail of it and in the people who served him. One might imagine him eagerly watching his ships loading and unloading, as he had watched the Kennet barges when he was a boy.

During the last years of his life, John Kendrick lived in the parish of St. Christopher, which was in Thread-Needle Street, in the London that was burnt down in the Great Fire – though St. Christopher’s survived. Where his house stood is not known. It was a bachelor establishment and included, besides the servants – including his waterside porters – his two apprentices, already named; Mr. George Lowe, a former partner, who had lived in his house for six years, without paying a penny for “lodging, diet, firing and washing”, and John Quarles, his old master who, not only lived there for free, but was paid fifty pounds a year as bookkeeper to his erstwhile apprentice. John seems to have been very fond of Quarles and, in his will, begged his executor, his “loving friend and partner,” to take the old man into his home on the same conditions, until the expiry of the partnership in 1626 – a very thoughtful and significant gesture.

John died on 30th December 1624, aged 51. He had amassed a fortune of more than thirty thousand pounds and he had been determined to do good works with it. People, up and down the country, have always made charitable bequests in their wills; but John Kendrick went further and stands out, a giant, among them all. In his mind was more than compassion for misery. He had been thinking out the cause of misery and its prevention. The answer was ’employment’. He knew that, ever since the Dissolution of the Monasteries and the disbanding of the soldiers after the long French wars, the highways of ‘Merrie England’ had been swarming with poor beggars and vagabonds. So, besides leaving money for hospitals and the relief of prisoners, apprenticeships for homeless boys and dowries for girls; John left £12,500 in trust to the Mayor and Burgesses of Reading and Newbury for setting “the poor on work” in the cloth trade. In Reading, they built “a strong house of Brick….with a fair garden adjoining” on land in Minster Street sold to them by the benefactor’s brother, William, and called it the ‘Oracle’ after the man of vision: John Kendrick. Sadly, this magnificent legacy was totally mismanaged and the funds misappropriated, largely by John’s own family. In 1849, what was left of the money was rightfully claimed by Christ’s Hospital and the Oracle building was demolished the following year. However, sufficient funds did remain in Reading for the founding of the Kendrick School and the ‘Oracle’ is now remembered in the name of the shopping centre built on the old site.

Edited from HM Appleby’s ‘The Kendrick Book’ (1948)   © Nash Ford Publishing 2003. All Rights Reserved

 

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