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Page 121:-
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Northern Tenant Farmers
border service
James VI and I
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Queen Elizabeth got possession of both, and King James the
I. granted the whole to his son the Prince of Wales to
support his princely dignity. I shall here insert a thing
which some of my ancestors * had too much reason to
remember. James the I. being very much distressed for money,
and not knowing in what manner to raise it, had, along with
some of his ministers, recourse to several schemes, (the
following amongst the rest,) to extort it from his subjects.
To spare trouble, I shall give the proclamation at large.
BY THE KING,
A PROCLAMATION AGAINST TENANT-RIGHTS.
WHEREAS it hath been oftentimes, by decrees and judgments at
law, declared and settled, that tenant-rights, since the
most happy union of these two renowned kingdoms of England
and Scotland, in our person are utterly, by the ancient and
fundamental rule of law of this our own kingdom of England,
extinguished and abolished, being but dependencies of former
separation and hostility; and that there is like settled
rule and constant practice in Scotland since the union; and
yet, nevertheless, divers suits are continually raised and
prosecuted in our courts of justice here in England,
grounded upon the said claim of tenant-right, or customary
estate of inheritance, under that pretence; whereby, not
only the memory of the said tenant-right is continued, which
ought to be damned to a perpetual oblivion, but also both
parties do sustain needless charge and impoverishment, in
questioning that which is beyond all dispute, which may also
open a way to turbulent and seditious attempts.
We, out of our princely and never-intermitted care to avoid
these maintainings aforesaid, have both given in change the
matter to all our judges, to suppress and surcease strifes
and suits of this nature, and have also given the express
charge and commandment to all the principal officers and
ministers of ourselves and our dearest son the Prince, (near
or bordering upon Scotland where such tenant-rights have
been claimed,) that they do let all estates, whether for
lives or years, be it for fine or improvement of rent, by
indenture only, and not otherwise, to the end to cease and
discontinue the said claim. And further, to the end the same
course may be uniform and general among all our
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The barony of Kendal, which containeth near one half
of the county of Westmorland, was given by William
the Conqueror to Ivo de Tailebois, brother to the Earl of
Anjou. This Ivo was a greater plunderer, according to
Hume, than the Conqueror himself; for he robbed
monasteries, churches, &c. William de Tailebois, the
fifth baron of Kendale, obtained a licence from Henry the
II. to take the surname of Lancaster. It continued
not long in that name, but several acts of Parliament passed
to the owners to take the name of Lancaster: At last it was
divided between two sisters, viz. Helwisa, married to Peter
de Brus, and Alicia, married to William de Lindesay,
daughters of William de Lancastre the ninth baron of
Kendale. The part of Helwisa was afterwards called the
Richmond fee, from, as I suppose, the grant of it by Henry
VI. to Margaret Countess Dowager of Richmond: The other part
was called the Marquis fee, after the creation of the owner
Sir William Parr, (brother to Catherine, the sixth wife of
Henry the VIII.) and daughter of Sir Thomas Parr of Kendale,
to be Marquis of Northampton by Henry the VIII.
loving
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* One of my ancestors, owner of Gowbarrow Hall and
old Church, to serve his lord, accepted of a lease in order
to introduce the rest to follow his example, but no one did
so: the lord dying, and his daughter, who had the estate,
being married to Philip Earl of Arundale, who was not a
friend to my ancestor as the Dacres had been, seized the
estate at the expiration of twenty-one years lease.
Admittances upon trial at law were produced by the Defendant
for several generations, (which I have now by me,) and the
lord shewing no better title than the twenty-one years
lease, yet he kept it so long depending in law, that the
Defendant, when all his money was spent, was obliged to
submit.
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gazetteer links
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-- "Grassmere" -- (Grasmere, Lakes)
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-- St Margaret's Tower
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