>The first to leave Great Horwood was HENRY COLYER, probably born around 1430-40, >died 1501. Though his father William had begun as a mere peasant husbandman, >Henry somehow acquired a legal education and became a lawyer. By the time he >died he owned land in Buckingham, Tingewick, Padbury and Brackley as well as >Great Horwood, and appears in one record as a gentleman (said to be of Hogshaw, >though he doesn't seem to have owned any land there). <<Just some background: it seems odd that the son of a husbandman became a lawyer. One thinks of education, sponsors, etc. In terms of schools, there were chantry schools at Buckingham and Thornton which date from c1423 and 1468 respectively. No records exist, but both chantry schools were founded/refounded by the Bartons. The father (William) and two sons (both called John) lived at Buckingham, Foxcote and Thornborough, and owned lands all over this area. William was the coroner, and the Johns were lawyers to the gentry / Bishops / Mercers all over England. Some rental records (tenants payments) for John Barton survive in BM Lansdowne Charters. I cannot find Henry COLYER in the shortened version of Oxonia Aluminensis (1900).>> Hello Paul, thank you so much for that - it's exactly the kind of informed answer I was hoping for. Yes, it is surprising to see a husbandman's son rising so fast (it took the Pastons a generation or two longer!). But although William Colyer (probably born 1400-10, not in Great Horwood; died in or after 1477) was a husbandman, I think he was also something more than that. He seems to have been something of an entrepreneur: he first appeared in the Great Horwood records farming just half a yardland (18 acres), but over the next forty years built up a larger estate. He not only tripled his landholding, but also built up a portfolio of 5 messuages and cottages in addition to his own residence (partly by buying reversions from old widows, giving them the money to keep them in their old age and him the property after they died). The money which funded this empire-building must have come from other activities than just farming. In 1447 he acquired one of the village's two mills (horse-mills) and ran it until shortly before his death, and between 1464 and 1475 he leased the ! right to collect the tithes in the neighbouring hamlet of Singleborough. And I suspect him of being a kind of lawyer himself. I am presently writing an article about evidence for 15th century peasants having used lawyers to do their conveyancing. Clearly peasants could not afford lawyers of sort we know about, trained at the Inns of Court or the universities and working in the Westminster courts, but I argue that there were other, more shadowy figures who seldom appear in the records - local men, poor priests, wealthy yeomen, with just a smattering of knowledge and a little Latin, for whom legal work was just one of several activities by which they made a living. I think William Colyer may have been such a man. He appears once in the records of the Great Horwood manor court as attorney for a cordwainer who brought a suit against a Great Horwood resident. And I was surprised to come across a reference to him in the court rolls of the manor of Temple Bulstrode (in Hedgerley, in the far south of the county) - a presentment that "William Colyer ! of Horwood in co. Bucks husbandman on 10 Nov 1456 by force and arms, that is swords, arrows, bows, entered the house of Robert Fulmer and then and there feloniously took and carried away the said Robert's goods to the value of 40s against the king's peace". Of course, it may be that he was funding his buying spree in Great Horwood with the proceeds of armed robbery in distant parts, but I think it more likely that the presentment represents the locals' spin on a bit of muscular but legal debt collecting, perhaps on behalf of a client. His son Henry's career as a proper Westminster lawyer seems a bit less surprising if the father was already involved in the legal world - perhaps Henry's sponsor was one of William's contacts higher up the food-chain. Or perhaps, as you say, it was one of the John Bartons - I hadn't thought of them, but they were both successively steward of the manor of Great Horwood in the 1420s and 1430s (William Colyer arrived in the manor in 1433 - maybe his advocacy before them on behalf of the cordwainer impressed them!). I'd like to know more about the Bartons - would your book on the Royal Latin School be the place to find that? I have long suspected that other Great Horwood men who made good in the 15th and 16th centuries did so via the Royal Latin School. Theoretically, because the manor of Great Horwood was owned by New College in Oxford, sons of the tenants there ought to have been eligible to go to Winchester School and then on to New College, but in fact this seems to have been a rare event, and I think the Buckingham school may have been a more common route to an education. Certainly Henry Colyer didn't go to Winchester or New College, so I think he probably got his legal education at the Inns of Court in London. I believe some of their early rolls have been published - I should have a look in them. I hadn't heard of the Thornton chantry school - would that also be mentioned in your book? I shall get our library to borrow it for me. Thanks again, Matt

It's fascinating stuff - thanks for posting it to list and not keeping it a private conversation! Celia In Chesterfield UK -----Original Message----- From: Tompkins, M.L. [mailto:mllt1@leicester.ac.uk] Sent: 18 March 2005 10:41 To: BUCKS-L@rootsweb.com Subject: RE: [BKM] Henry COLYER, Richard COLYER, 15th, early 16th century Hello Paul, thank you so much for that - it's exactly the kind of informed answer I was hoping for. Yes, it is surprising to see a husbandman's son rising so fast (it took the Pastons a generation or two longer!). But although William Colyer (probably born 1400-10, not in Great Horwood; died in or after 1477) was a husbandman, I think he was also something more than that. He seems to have been something of an entrepreneur: he first appeared in the Great Horwood records farming just half a yardland (18 acres), but over the next forty years built up a larger estate. He not only tripled his landholding, but also built up a portfolio of 5 messuages and cottages in addition to his own residence (partly by buying reversions from old widows, giving them the money to keep them in their old age and him the property after they died). The money which funded this empire-building must have come from other activities than just farming. In 1447 he acquired one of the village's two mills (horse-mills) and ran it until shortly before his death, and between 1464 and 1475 he leased the ! right to collect the tithes in the neighbouring hamlet of Singleborough. And I suspect him of being a kind of lawyer himself. I am presently writing an article about evidence for 15th century peasants having used lawyers to do their conveyancing. Clearly peasants could not afford lawyers of sort we know about, trained at the Inns of Court or the universities and working in the Westminster courts, but I argue that there were other, more shadowy figures who seldom appear in the records - local men, poor priests, wealthy yeomen, with just a smattering of knowledge and a little Latin, for whom legal work was just one of several activities by which they made a living. I think William Colyer may have been such a man. He appears once in the records of the Great Horwood manor court as attorney for a cordwainer who brought a suit against a Great Horwood resident. And I was surprised to come across a reference to him in the court rolls of the manor of Temple Bulstrode (in Hedgerley, in the far south of the county) - a presentment that "William Colyer ! of Horwood in co. Bucks husbandman on 10 Nov 1456 by force and arms, that is swords, arrows, bows, entered the house of Robert Fulmer and then and there feloniously took and carried away the said Robert's goods to the value of 40s against the king's peace". Of course, it may be that he was funding his buying spree in Great Horwood with the proceeds of armed robbery in distant parts, but I think it more likely that the presentment represents the locals' spin on a bit of muscular but legal debt collecting, perhaps on behalf of a client. His son Henry's career as a proper Westminster lawyer seems a bit less surprising if the father was already involved in the legal world - perhaps Henry's sponsor was one of William's contacts higher up the food-chain. Or perhaps, as you say, it was one of the John Bartons - I hadn't thought of them, but they were both successively steward of the manor of Great Horwood in the 1420s and 1430s (William Colyer arrived in the manor in 1433 - maybe his advocacy before them on behalf of the cordwainer impressed them!). I'd like to know more about the Bartons - would your book on the Royal Latin School be the place to find that? I have long suspected that other Great Horwood men who made good in the 15th and 16th centuries did so via the Royal Latin School. Theoretically, because the manor of Great Horwood was owned by New College in Oxford, sons of the tenants there ought to have been eligible to go to Winchester School and then on to New College, but in fact this seems to have been a rare event, and I think the Buckingham school may have been a more common route to an education. Certainly Henry Colyer didn't go to Winchester or New College, so I think he probably got his legal education at the Inns of Court in London. I believe some of their early rolls have been published - I should have a look in them. I hadn't heard of the Thornton chantry school - would that also be mentioned in your book? I shall get our library to borrow it for me. Thanks again, Matt ==== BUCKS Mailing List ==== View or download up to 20000 archive photos of Buckinghamshire from the Bucks County Council web site at: http://www.buckscc.gov.uk/photo_database

snip interesting stuff > >I hadn't heard of the Thornton chantry school - would that also be mentioned in >your book? I shall get our library to borrow it for me. You should buy it, Matt - it is an excellent book -- Eve McLaughlin Author of the McLaughlin Guides for family historians Secretary Bucks Genealogical Society

> >And I suspect him of being a kind of lawyer himself. I am presently writing an >article about evidence for 15th century peasants having used lawyers to do >their >conveyancing. Clearly peasants could not afford lawyers of sort we know about, >trained at the Inns of Court or the universities and working in the Westminster >courts, but I argue that there were other, more shadowy figures who seldom >appear in the records - local men, poor priests, wealthy yeomen, with just a >smattering of knowledge and a little Latin, for whom legal work was just one of >several activities by which they made a living. Interesting - makes sense. >I have long suspected that other Great Horwood men who made good in the 15th >and >16th centuries did so via the Royal Latin School. Theoretically, because the >manor of Great Horwood was owned by New College in Oxford, sons of the tenants >there ought to have been eligible to go to Winchester School and then on to New >College, but in fact this seems to have been a rare event, and I think the >Buckingham school may have been a more common route to an education. I only found 4 Buckingham entrants to New College: Simon Lambert (1499, aged12), Robert Chalner (1507), Thomas Duke (1509). [William Lambert (1558)]. New College founded by Wm Wykeham in 1379 (Prebendary of Buckingham in 1365), owner of Radclive in 1365 - there is some evidence that Wykeham purchased lands to aid scholars to attend grammar schools. See AF Leach (1969) Schools of medieval England, p201-210. > >Certainly Henry Colyer didn't go to Winchester or New College, so I think he >probably got his legal education at the Inns of Court in London. I believe >some >of their early rolls have been published - I should have a look in them. > >I hadn't heard of the Thornton chantry school - would that also be mentioned in >your book? I shall get our library to borrow it for me. > >Thanks again, > >Matt > > >==== BUCKS Mailing List ==== >View or download up to 20000 archive photos of Buckinghamshire from the Bucks >County Council web site at: http://www.buckscc.gov.uk/photo_database > -- Paul Poornan, Author of 'The Royal Latin School, Buckingham'.

Continuing this theme: in 14th century Winslow (1327-77), fathers regularly paid the lord of the manor (Abbot of St Albans) for permission to send their sons to clerical school (the usual expression is ad scholas clericales, but in some cases it's just ad literaturam, and in one the son is specifically prohibited from joining the clergy). Some of these sons later returned to live in Winslow without taking holy orders, some turn up again as chaplains who were presumably serving elsewhere but had to come back to claim and sell an inheritance, and some just disappear from the Winslow records. I've assumed that the sons were sent off to St Albans for their education, as it's too early for any of the North Bucks schools, but I wonder if anyone has any other suggestions, and if there's any significance in the use of the plural scholas. The ones who came back to live in Winslow were presumably equipped to act as the sort of low-level pseudo-lawyers to whom Matt referred. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dr David Noy Lecturer (currently on sabbatical) Department of Classics University of Wales Lampeter U.K. d.noy@lamp.ac.uk www.lamp.ac.uk/~noy