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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 24 December 2009
While working on the papers of Sir John Eliot at Port Eliot in St. Germans, Cornwall, I came across this interesting inventory of the personal property of the great parliamentary radical of the early seventeenth century. It is written in an official hand on a parchment roll thirty-two feet long, and is an inventory of his movables not only at Port Eliot but also at Cuttenbeake. In fact, a glance at this document will show that Cuttenbeake was the principal residence of the Eliots in the early seventeenth century, while Port Eliot at this time can hardly be considered in that light. This may be partially explained by the fact that Cuttenbeake was situated on a hill, while Port Eliot was half a mile away in the damp valley of the Tiddy River.
page v note 1 The modern title of the document printed below, with facilities kindly given by the Hon. Sir Montague Eliot, is given on the title page. The contemporary official title for probate, is given below and is summarized in the half title. The MS. has always been in the possession of his family at Port Eliot. References are given here to parallel documents in the muniment-room at Port Eliot.
page v note 2 Port Eliot was held by Sir John Eliot of the King in capite by service of 1/40th part of a knight's fee at an annual rent of 7l.—Ibid., Port Eliot Title Deeds, No. 29. From Oct. 10,1617, to 1633 Port Eliot was leased to Arthur Copleston, gent., at an annual rent of 61. 15s. 11d. and a fine of 1,500l.—ibid., No. 33.
page v note 3 The manor of Cuttenbeake (or Cuddenbeak) was leased by the Eliots from the Bishop of Exeter. The annual rent was 64l 3s., besides which a fine of 450l. was paid in 1608. A lease of Dec. 11, 1632, is to extend for three lives, those of John Eliot, esq. (the son and heir of Sir John), his wife Honora (or Honor), and his brother Edward. I have found six leases dealing with Cuttenbeake during the first forty years of the seventeenth century. (Port Eliot, Muniment Room, Cuttenbeake Title Deeds, Bundle lxviii.)
page v note 4 The site of Cuttenbeake is now occupied by the goods station of the Great Western Railway at St. Germans.
page vi note 1 Usually given as 27th, but see below, p. vii and note 2.
page vi note 2 Port Eliot Title Deeds, No. 27, and original document at Somerset House, proved Dec. 11, 1632.
page vi note 3 Public Record Office, Chancery Proceedings, Charles I, C 2, B. 156.51, Bolard vs. Eliot. The answer to the bill of complaint is dated Aug. 25, 1638. The defendant, John Eliot, esq., was 21 years old early in Oct., 1633, as he was baptized at St. Germans on Oct. 18, 1612 (St. Germans Parish Register).
page vi note 4 The other executors were Sir Dudley Digges, John Arundel, esq., Bevil Grenvile, esq., Robert Mason, esq., and William Scawen, gent. The original document at Somerset House states that Maurice Hill alone proved the will.
page vi note 5 It is interesting to compare these figures with those given below at the end of the inventory.
page vi note 6 The inventory is not at Somerset House. Cf. Reports of the Public Record Commission, 1910–1919 passim.
page vi note 7 The spelling and punctuation of this quotation have been modernized.
page vi note 8 See below, p. 1 of inventory, for this date.
page vii note 1 Sir Daniel Norton was in London and did not attend the ceremony.
page vii note 2 The facts referred to in the above paragraph are to be found in The Genealogist, New Series, I, 21–7, London, 1884, “The Ravishment of Sir John Eliot's Son,” by George J. Morris. The greater part of the article is a direct quotation from the Patent Roll of 9 Charles I, June 21, 1633, which cites the record of the case in the court of wards.
page vii note 3 Port Eliot, Muniment Room, Cuttenbeake Title Deeds, Bundle lxviii.
page vii note 4 Among those who made up the total of 1,700 marks in fines, Dame Honora Norton had to pay 500 marks, John Eliot 500 marks, Honora Eliot 400 marks, and Sir Daniel Norton was made responsible for the fines of all. Genealogist, N.S., I, 25.
page viii note 1 Genealogist, N.S., I, 25–6. When, by June 21, 1633, 1,000l. had been paid into the Court of Wards, and 3,000l. had been paid by Sir Daniel Norton into the Exchequer, the King remitted all the fines levied for the ravishment of John Eliot. This was the reason for issuing the letters patent on the above date.
page viii note 2 The editor is greatly indebted to Dr. Hubert Hall for his valuable assistance.
page 1 note 1 “A board forming the top of a table; also a table.”—New English Dictionary, edited by J. A. H. Murray, hereafter referred to as N.E.D.
page 1 note 2 In 1654 andirons, fire-shovel, tongs and bellows cost 125.—Rogers, J. E. Thorold: A History of Agriculture and Prices in England, 1259–1792, Oxford, 1866–1902, V, 694Google Scholar. Only a very rough idea of the relation of the prices of this and the following goods or commodities to the contemporary market prices could be obtained from printed sources. Hence it would be dangerous to compare such prices with those in this inventory. Workmanship, size, etc., would all have to be taken into consideration in such comparisons.
page 2 note 1 This total is incorrect. It should be 140l. 6s. 8d.
page 2 note 2 “A movable side-board or cabinet used to display plate, etc.”—N.E.D.
page 2 note 3 “A trundle-bed was a kind of low couch, generally appropriated to the use of attendants, who, in those days, slept in the same room with their masters for the sake of protection.”—SirD'Ewes, Simonds, Autobiography and Correspondence, edited by Halliwell, J. O., 1845, I, 86Google Scholar, note.
page 2 note 4 Possibly a steele meaning a steel mirror.—N.E.D.—unless this was used as a still-room.
page 3 note 3 “Say, a cloth of fine texture resembling serge; in the 16th c. sometimes partly of silk, subsequently entirely of wool.”—N.E.D.
page 3 note 2 “A canopy over a bed, supported on the posts of the bedstead or suspended from the ceiling.”—Ibid.
page 3 note 3 This total should be 36l. 7s. 8d.
page 4 note 1 This total is also incorrect. It should be 15l. 15s. 4d. On adding the correct total in note 3, p. 3 above, with this corrected total the result is 52l. 3s., which is the total n the text.
page 4 note 2 “A long seat without a back, a bench.”—N.E.D.
page 4 note 3 “A table on which ‘liveries’ or rations were put; hence, a side table.” —Ibid.
page 5 note 1 Mr. Dix was formerly the minister in the parish of St. Germans. Sir John Eliot, writing to the Bishop of Exeter on October 24, 1625, about a new minister, says that they want him “in the roome of Mr. Dix, now plac't elswher.”—Port Eliot, MS. Letter Book. Grosart, A. B., The Letter Book of Sir John Eliot, Priv. Prin., 1882, p. 4.Google Scholar
page 6 note 1 Mr. Copleston leased Port Eliot from 1617 to 1633. See above, p. v, note 2. He also had a special chamber there. See below, p. 12.
page 6 note 2 Probably a bink, meaning “a bench, shelf, plate-rack, or dresser.”—N.E.D.
page 6 note 3 Possibly a cap, a cup or a small vessel, or a chape, “a plate of metal with which anything is covered, overlaid, or ornamented.”—Ibid.
page 6 note 4 This total is incorrect. It should be 20l. 9s. 8d.
page 7 note 1 Alembic, “an apparatus formerly used in distilling.”—Ibid.
page 7 note 2 A qua-vitce, “any form in which ardent spirits have been drunk, as brandy, whisky, etc.”—Ibid.
page 7 note 3 Latten, “a mixed metal of yellow colour, either identical with, or closely resembling, brass.”—Ibid.
page 7 note 4 “Dresser, a sideboard or table in a kitchen on which food is or was dressed.”—Ibid.
page 8 note 1 “The block or table on which a butcher or fishmonger cuts his goods.”—N.E.D.
page 8 note 2 Silver plate was worth 5s. 7d. an ounce from 1623 to 1632 and 5s. 5½d. an ounce from 1633 to 1642.—Rogers, , op. cit., V, 504.Google Scholar
page 8 note 3 Casting-bottle, “a bottle for sprinkling perfumed waters; a vinaigrette.”—N.E.D.
page 8 note 4 Silver candlesticks cost 9l. 1s. 8d. a pair in 1684.—Rogers, , op. cit., V, 692.Google Scholar
page 9 note 1 Probably a bell.
page 9 note 2 The highest price for a saddle or coach horse in 1632 was 12l. 12s. 6d. In 1633 it was 9l.—Ibid., V, 349.
page 9 note 3 “A saddle-horse, as distinguished from a cart-horse.”—Wright, , op. cit.Google Scholar “A small riding horse or pony.”—N.E.D.
page 9 note 4 This total is incorrect. It should be 177l. 9s.
page 9 note 5 Sucking pigs cost about 2s. apiece in the sixteen hundred and thirties.—Rogers, , op. cit., V, 342.Google Scholar
page 9 note 6 The highest price for sheep in 1633 was 11s. 6d. apiece, for lambs in the same year it was 6s. 9¾d. apiece.—Ibid., V, 349.
page 9 note 7 The highest price for oxen in 1633 was 156s. 10¼f. apiece, but these were contract price and the beasts diminutive.—Ibid., V, 349.
page 9 note 8 The highest price for calves in 1632 was 18s. apiece.—Ibid., V, 349.
page 9 note 9 Best wheat sold at 5s. or slightly more the bush, in 1632–3.—Ibid., V, 199. See also D'Ewes, , op. cit., I, 180–1Google Scholar, Diary of Walter Yonge, Esq. Camden Soc., 1848, p. 17, where there is a table of prices in which wheat is priced at 5s. a bush, in 1630 and barley at 4s. 6d., and Quarterly Review (Jan. 1931), Vol. 256, p. 127.
page 10 note 1 Barley sold at slightly less than 3s. a bush, in 1632–3.—Rogers, , op. cit., V, 199.Google Scholar
page 10 note 2 This total is not quite correct. It should be 217l. 14s. 4d.
page 10 note 3 “A coat of mail; a defensive upper garment quilted with stout leather.”—Halliwell-Phillips, J. O., A Dictionary of Archaic and Provincial Words, London, 1850Google Scholar. Also “a machine for turning the spit in roasting meat,” or “a name for various contrivances consisting (solely or essentially) of a roller or winch.”—N.E.D.
page 10 note 4 pl. “a material consisting of the coarse tufts and refuse of wool or cotton, or of cloth torn to pieces by machinery, used for quilting garments, and stuffing beds, cushions, mattresses, etc.”—Ibid.
page 11 note 1 Pallet, “a small, poor, or mean bed or couch.”—Ibid.
page 11 note 2 The word Holland is a generic name for linen.—Rogers, , op. cit., V, 554.Google Scholar
page 11 note 3 Bear, “a case or covering for a pillow. Usually Pillow-bere,”—N.E.D.
page 11 note 4 This total is incorrect. It should be 82l. 19s. 6d.
page 12 note 1 Possibly, scriptore, a writing-desk—N.E.D.
page 12 note 2 This total is incorrect. It should be 13l. 4s. 8d.
page 13 note 1 Doubtless should be storeinge or stoneing.
page 13 note 2 s. “each of a series of projecting sharp points on some weapon or implement, as a harrow.”—Ibid.
page 13 note 3 “A basket in which seed is carried in the process of sowing by hand.”—Ibid.
page 14 note 1 Perhaps tholes or rowlocks.—N.E.D.
page 14 note 2 This total is incorrect. It should be 10l. 8s. 8d.
page 14 note 3 The grand total of all the totals in the text is incorrect. It should be 1,055l. 4s. 2d. The grand total of all the corrected totals is 976l. 2s. 2d. See p. vi above for still another total which is 960l. 5s. 8d.
page 14 note 4 The usual official notarial certificate of John Abbott, the registrar, is appended to the inventory, but it is now almost illegible.