A rare find

This turned up on ebay last week, so I bought it, and it's quite a find.  The only other copy we know of is in the Master's house.
It's a small book with a flimsy and damaged cover, but the inside is in good condition.  Published by the Charterhouse trustees in 1906, just 4 years after the trustees had their first meeting, it contains documents, and lists of documents, most of which are in the archives, but in a really useful form.
First there are the medieval charters and licenses, in translation but some of them with the original Latin as well.  They start with the License in mortmain of 3 August 1383 for the site of the Charterhouse.  Then comes the foundation deed of 1 March 1384.  The preface states: "The original of the following charter is preserved amongst the records in the custody of the Charterhouse Trustees, in the 9th drawer of the Charterhouse deed chest.  It is written on one skin of vellum.  The seal of Sir Michael De-La-Pole is appended by a plaited cord of red and purple silk.  Space has been left for an ornamental initial "O", which, however, has never been inserted.  On the back are endorsements recording its exhibition at Archiepiscopal visitations in 1567 and 1579, and a further endorsement recording its production before a Commission at Beverley in 1758, in a Chancery suit between the Hull Corporation and the Rev. John Clarke, the then Master of the Hospital.  There is a copy in Latin, made in 1572, amongst the Corporation records (B.B. iv. ff. 90-93), but its readings cannot always be trusted.  In a manuscript book of the time of Henry VIII, amongst the Charterhouse records, there is a translation into English of the entire deed, which translation is substantially identical with the versions printed in the histories of Hull by Hadley and Tickell.  There is an entirely independent translation in Mr. John Travis-Cook's History of the Charterhouse (pp. 29-39)."  

I have yet to discover what happened to the deed chest itself.  The first reference to such a chest comes in 1847, when two of them were bought by the Aldermen to store all the documents and deeds of the charity.
After the foundation deed comes the full text of the 1901 scheme of governance which set up the trustees and the rules under which the Charterhouse was to be run.  It's a long and very detailed text and there's a summary of it in an earlier post.
Then there's a list of all the properties which the charity owned at November 1901, with their current tenants, and the other sources of income.  There are farms and other pieces of land at Hessle, Willerby and Cottingham, and various properties in Hull; shops (including a public house and a malt kiln), warehouses and offices; and finally a list of investments.
The final section is a comprehensive list of all the records.  As well as those listed above, these are mostly conveyances.  We can glean some interesting details from the list, including the fact that the chalk quarry in Hessle, which only closed in the mid-20th century, was already in operation in 1337.
It's always worth checking ebay!

The life and death of a Charterhouse inmate

Richard Haworth died in the Charterhouse just before Christmas 1862.  He was 83.  He appears a few times in the records which catch us all; censuses and the births, marriages and deaths registrations.  He is recorded in our register.  But he left no other mark on history.
This year a local historian, Bill Longbone, discovered a cache of letters relating to Richard Haworth, and we now have a fascinating and moving record of his experience.
He was baptised at Holy Trinity, Hull, on 18 January 1781.  We next pick him up on 18 February 1805, when he married the 18-year-old Mary Birks.  He is described as a merchant.  Two daughters were born.  It's not clear when Mary died, but Richard was in London, working as a clerk, in 1841, without Mary but with two older children.  In 1845 he married Charlotte Fraser in Hull.  By 1851 he was in London again with her, described on the census as a "traveller".  It's not clear when Charlotte died.  Those are the bare facts.  But the letters tell us so much more.
All the letters are to Samuel Lightfoot, who was an interesting character.  He was born Samuel Scholefield in around 1785 but changed his name to Lightfoot in 1829 and set up a firm of solicitors, Lightfoot and Earnshaw, in Bowlalley Lane, Hull.  How his friendship with Richard Haworth came about we don't know; perhaps Richard was a clerk in the firm.  All but three of the letters in the cache are from Richard, who addressed him simply as "Lightfoot".
What we believe is the first letter is not dated:

39 Holywell Street, Strand

Dear Lightfoot

Many thanks for your friendly & prompt acquiescence in my request which will be of much service to me; and which is made, I can truly say, doubly valuable to me by the kind tenor of your letter proving that your friendship for me is undiminished.

I regret much that you have been a sufferer by the Railways & have sustained injury by the misconduct of a Surveyor I employed against the Great Northern, but who found when too late had acted more for their interest than for mine, and which had contributed much to place me in my present situation.

Still I sincerely hope you will spend the evening of your days surrounded with every comfort, I must battle for it to the end but with thank God for my age health & strength, which I truly hope that yourself and all belonging to you enjoy; after the lapse of a few years I never like to mention names and content myself with asking you to present my best wishes to all that know me.

The only Hull friend I know here is Mr Draper with whom I sometimes dine, last time we met a few weeks, since he inquired about you.

Hull and the friends I was intimate with near fifty years since form one of the brightest spot [sic] in my memory. I oft think of it & them, and the recollection will only end with my existence.

Repeating my thanks believe me, Yours very truly, Richd Haworth

Excuse a few hurried blunders but I was prevented acknowledging yours yesterday.

Richard has asked Samuel for money, and received it.  Both men seem to have suffered losses in a venture to do with the railways.  The first dated letter follows another request for money:

9 Hatton Garden

January 10. 1856

I once more address myself to I fear almost the last of those valued friends whose society it was my happiness to enjoy during my more prosperous days, and which is often the source of pleasing remembrances to me. You have given me more than one proof that you still entertain a friendly feeling for me and to that though reluctantly once more venture to appeal.

I am still engaged were [sic] I have been there last six years, my business hours are from 9 to 7, 8 & 9 at night, but it being with a most selfish man {?} my remuneration after the utmost economy leaves barely a shilling at the end of the week for any extras I may require. Though in good health for being in my 76th year I this winter greatly feel the want of a few of some comforts and necessaries which I have no means of obtaining, to you then Dear Lightfoot I ask for your kind aid to the extent of about £3, which would render me a service greater than in a letter I can express, and as I owe no debts, it will be devoted to what I have stated and oh! how thankful I should be to you for it and it will be the last time I shall intrude on your kindness.

My time in this world must now be short, I shall leave it I trust with an unstained character, and though I have had to bear many trials and disappointments I have endeavoured to bear them with firmness and without a repining spirit grateful to the Almighty for many blessings he has during a long life bestowed on me, and I shall leave it I trust with more hope than fear of the future.

It is a painful thing for an old man to have outlived all the relatives from whom in time of need he might have hoped for aid; let me then ask this little help once more; but granted or not, believe me I shall ever feel grateful for the past and sincerely wishing you long to enjoy what you so truly deserve.

I am your obliged friend

R Haworth

Excuse many mistakes

Again, Richard needs money, and his description of his situation is touching.  Samuel stumped up again but, as the next letter shows, a year later Richard had written cap in hand and Samuel, while sending help, was not very happy:

At Mr Banks

9 Hatton Garden

Feby 6th 1857

Dear Lightfoot

I have to offer you my heartfelt thanks for your letter and the enclosure you kindly favoured me with and I acknowledge you had just cause to give me the rebuke that accompanied it; at the same time in justice to myself I cannot refrain from saying that could I explain all my situation to you, you might think better of me and though I deeply felt it I retain the deepest gratitude for your many kindnesses to me and ever shall.

It was after several days struggle that I once more resolved to apply to you rather than incur a debt I might not be able to discharge, having hitherto kept clear of them.

Since I wrote to you a cloud has come over the concern I have been for several years been at, that may lead to it's been [sic] closed and myself once more thrown on the World; in my seventy-seventh year I cannot expect anyone to employ me and I have long contemplated the probability of my having at last to resort to the last resource of old age and misfortune, and trust I shall meet it firmly.

It is beyond expression painfull [sic] to have outlived all of those so dear to you, and all more distant relatives; think better of me I entreat, than your letter indicates.

I sincerely thank Mrs L. for her writing her best wishes with yours towards me, and that you may long enjoy each others society and the comforts you so amply deserve in the prayer of your truly obliged

R. Haworth

[on the reverse] I have felt the cold bitterly, bitterly 

Five months later there is another begging letter, and we may begin to sympathise with Samuel:

At Mr Banks

9 Hatton Garden

July 17, 1857

Dear Lightfoot

I addressed you during the summer respecting my thanks for the kind aid you gave me in the Winter stating the great good it had done me and that I had then a portion of it left; that however was used sooner than I hoped at that time by a serious indisposition when it rendered valuable service; health was restored for some months.

Of that I cannot at present boast as I am very, very far from well and bear the cold much worse than last Winter, obliged to wear my greatcoat all the long day I am at my desk with little prospect of improvement, as I feel myself very different to last year at this time; and feel my years coming to a close. I have had many disappointments, but have had many things to be thankfull [sic] for & hope to find peace at the last great change.

Your generous mind I have so experienced that I am truly reluctant to allude to my situation but I really cannot obtain comforts that I truly want and have no prospect of doing except I once more am favored [sic] with a little aid by you. I feel it will be the last time I shall want it, and I throw myself on your long confirmed friendship.

Granted or not believe I shall ever feel grateful and truly so for the part with sincere wishes for yourself and all dear to you.

Believe me I state all the above reluctantly and remain

ever yours Richd Haworth

Excuse errors as I write this late at night.

There is then a gap in the letters until July 1860, but clearly the correspondence, and the requests for money, had continued:

28 St John's Road

Hoxton

Sept 22, 1860

Dear Lightfoot

I have received your doubly welcome letter, I say doubly on account of its kind tone and its enclosure for which accept my sincere thanks.

I could not acknowledge its receipt by yesterday, you having in mistake directed it to St John's Wood instead of Road, the order also being payable at St John's Wood I shall have to go there for it beyond the Regents Park.

I own the fault [....] mine in not properly wording in my letter that excited your displeasure and rightly so; that letter I shall destroy, not wishing to keep a memento so painful to me, but your very friendly one of 21 Decr 59 I shall ever retain as a testimonial of your kind feeling towards me.

Again thanking you for your generous enclosure. I repeat it is my firm resolve not to intrude on you again with one of my periodicals as you have reason to term my too often requests which I can truly say have been a source of as much pain to me in making as of annoyance to you in receiving them for your attention to them I shall be truly grateful to the end of my existence.

I shall lose no time in [...]ing as I said, and when I again address you it will only be to write how I get on; may way of life I shall adhere to till I can afford better for I am well contented with it.

And now repeating sincere wishes to you and my kind Mrs Lightfoot

Believe me ever truly

Yours obliged

Richd Haworth

Nearly a year passes, before the next letter, this time from a Mr Henry Ward:

St Barnabas' Parsonage

King's Square, London E.C.

July 19, 1861

My dear Sir,

There is a very old man for whom I believe you have in days past done kindnesses who has just returned to Hull; Richd Haworth. I have ascertained that his life has been in every way correct, but one after another all earthly sources have failed him.

Before he left London he appealed to our Yorkshire School Society, but his was a case entirely away from the objects of the Society.

Before I could bring his condition before the Committee individually he had left London: the persons with whom he lived here, and with whom he is connected by his second marriage, though apparently very respectable, have failed in business and are quite unable to bear any longer the pressure of supporting him. He is staying at Collier's Boarding House No 14 Humber Street.

I have never seen him, for I was out when he called at my house: but I have been so far impressed with the worthiness of the case that I have not hesitated to endeavour to raise a little money for him; though, should his life be prolonged beyond a few months, I fear nothing will remain for the poor old man but the Union. They tell me that his faculties are singularly clear, but I apprehend he may have difficulty in establishing his claim to parochial relief in Hull after more than forty years absence from it.

As he has outlived all who were related to him it occurred to me that you might not be unwilling to receive so much information respecting him as I now convey in this note, which I hope will not appear to make too great a tax on your time or attention.

I am, yours very truly

Henry Ward

This fills in some gaps.  Richard has returned to Hull, using a small sum raised for him by a charity set up for a different purpose.  However, this will soon run out, and Ward has doubts about Richard's eligibility for even the workhouse in Hull, given his long absence from the city.  Once again Samuel is being called on to help.  A few days later Richard himself writes, feeling the need to apologise:

14 Humber Street

July 26th 1861

Samuel Lightfoot Esq

Dear Sir

The Revd Mr Ward has wrote me he has addressed a letter to you on my account, this was done unknown to me, but I thank him for it, as I am sure it was done with the best intention.

You would I doubt not be surprised at finding I was here with the purpose of applying for admission into the CharterHouse though you had in your letter assured me I had no chance of success; if I have displeased you by writing in opposition to your opinion I deeply regret it for I have so few friends left that I cannot offend one [illegible] such an old and kind one as you have repeatedly proved to me; and I for weeks gave up all idea of coming here.

All at once an offer was made me of a small sum offered me for the purpose, the alternative being accepting that, or at once going into a London Workhouse; the friends I have alone [?] resided with gave me a sufficient [illegible] for it.

I could not resist the chance of making another struggle for the superior place; and since I got here I have given me reason to hope that my age, weakness and the recommendation I can procure will plead greatly in my favour, and I have to ask the favour of having one from you previous to the 1st August, the day the Corporation meet, before which I must give all my papers in.

I must in great [illegible] to make my funds last a short time beyond that date but that I shall gladly practice; for my mind feels almost [illegible] with the uncertainty I feel with regard to the future.

Trusting again for your kindly excuse for acting in opposition to your opinion, with my best respects to Mrs Lightfoot, believe me ever your obliged friend

Richd Haworth

at Mr Colliers

14 Humber Street

Hull

Forgive the many mistakes, for my anxiety almost overpowers me.

This is the first mention we have of the Charterhouse, although Richard must have brought up this possibility before, and Samuel he had no chance.  It is strange that there is no mention of the several other hospitals in Hull.  Now he needs a letter of recommendation from Samuel, and he gets it.

14 Humber Street

Augt 3, 1861

My dear Sir

I cannot sufficiently thank you for your very kind note of the 29th which had a very cheering effect on my spirits, finding you continued the same kind friend had so long been. Thank you sincerely I must for your letter to the Mayor giving me character so high, that I fear I cannot by many degrees merit; it must however weigh much in my favour and in addition to my age, greatly strength [sic] my claim for admission to the House; it will also be backed by a very favourable letter from some of the old & respectable standards that knew me when residing in Hull.

I regret your coming so seldom into town precludes my having the pleasure of seeing you, and with my best respects to Mrs Lightfoot, believe me

Your sincerely obliged

Richd Haworth

Six weeks later the news is mixed:

14 Humber Street

Sept 17th 1861

My dear friend

I have often wished to write you but delayed till I could sent [sic] you a favourable account of myself which I think I can now do, thanks to your letter to the Mayor which I doubt not had a good effect.

There was on the 29th ult a Man's Room in the House to be filled up; I had twelve votes, being the greatest number except the successful one; there were 5 [? not clear] below me, none of whom had more than 5, and from the promises I now have I am told be numbers I am certain to succeed at the next vacancy, and I think I can safely count on having a majority, my age having effected much in my favour.

You will no doubt be glad of the above and more so if a still better prospect proves true.

My excellent friends the Revd Mr Ward and his Brother here, who has acted to me with the greatest kindness, have exerted themselves to get me into Morden College, Blackheath for which I am eligible, and with every prospect of success, as the enclosed letter will prove, having fulfilled all the requirement in it: but I believe it will aid me much if I send with the papers I have to return in a few days a certificate from two or three who knew me in Hull, of my respectability and good character then, and I venture to ask a few lines of you to that effect; success will place me in a situation of more than comfort for life; it being £6 a month with apartments, coals and candles, almost too good to hope for, but I think I have good reason to hope, at which I am sure you will rejoice.

I have had much indisposition and as you will think to practice great economy.  I shall have to thank you for another proof of your friendship by sending me the above, and with best regards to Mrs Lightfoot and yourself believe me

Your obliged sevt

Richd Haworth

Please return me the enclosed

He didn't get the room, but came close.  Now he has decided to apply to Morden College, an attractive almshouse in Blackheath, London (which is still going strong).  But he needs another letter from Samuel.  It is not, however, necessary.  By December Richard has been awarded a room in the Charterhouse.  And he needs more money from Samuel:

14 Humber Street

Dec 14th 1861

Saml Lightfoot Esq

My dear friend

Although I came here contrary to your opinion I am sure you will be much gratified on my informing you that on the 12th I was appointed to fill a vacancy in the CharterHouse, the third that has occurred since I came here. For this I am much indebted to three gentlemen, friends I may truly call them, who by their efforts obtained me a Majority of 33, namely Mr H ward, Alderman Thompson and Mr Councillor Field; I may add Messrs Lambert who have always aided me with their votes and interest.

How I have been able to subsist so much longer than I expected, I owe greatly to my very old and kind friend Miss Richardson and another or two, and also to Mr and Mrs Collier with whom I have continued to reside, who have always treated me with great kindness, willingly waiting for their money when short, and to whom I now owe a little.

Furniture I have to buy for the room, which I have not yet seen, but shall on Monday; this I must do as cheaply as I can, but to obtain the means I must once more appeal to your long and generous kindness for aid having no other resource, with you [sic] assistance I may pass my few remaining days in peace and comfort, without this I have no such prospect; my anxiety would be intense, but for the trust I have that your friendship will not fail me at this critical moment. and for which my gratitude will only end with life: on the 17th I enter my 82nd year.

I could explain much relative about the past which would prove to you I have been much more sinned against than sinning but I refrain, this letter is long enough already.

With my best regards to Mrs Lightfoot and yourself, believe me your ever gratefull [sic]

friend and obed servt

Richd Haworth

For the last time (he obviously hoped) Samuel coughed up the money, and the last letter from Richard is one of thanks:

14 Humber Street

Dec 21st 1861

Saml Lightfoot

Dear Sir

On returning from the CharterHouse on Thursday where I had been with my official appointment, the only day I have been able to go out this week through indisposition I received your welcome letter with its generous enclosure, being more so than I expected but which will render me such a great service, that I cannot sufficiently thank you for, but which I truly do.

Your letter pained me deeply on account of the censure it appeared to passed [sic] on me; I know I have intruded on your kindness very much; in this instance I did it very reluctantly but I felt I had no alternative between it and the Workhouse, friends having done so much for me; and I trust a little time will cause you to think better of me.

Again I sincerely express my gratitude to you, and wishing you Mrs L. years of health and every enjoyment that prosperity can give, believe me

Your truly obliged

Richd Haworth

It's hard to believe that the lack of money to furnish his room would have seen Richard condemned to the workhouse.  Still, Samuel's relief was to last only a year.  Richard's death was to prove expensive:

Decr 17, 1862

My dear Sir,

Pray excuse the liberty I take of writing to you on occasion of the death of one of the inmates of this Hospital, Mr Richard Haworth.

His few friends are desirous he should be decently buried if the funds can be raised. Seeing your name among the memoranda [?] left by him I thought you might not be indisposed to contribute a trifle towards the funeral expenses which cannot be calculated at less than £3 & towards which we have raised a little above £2.

Believe me I remain

Yrs respectfully

Emily C. Bromby

Emily was the daughter of the Master of the Charterhouse, John Healey Bromby, who was then 91 years old.  Once again, and for the very last time, Samuel Lightfoot obliged, and Emily replied:

18 December 1862

My dear Mr Lightfoot

I beg to acknowledge the receipt of 30/- so kindly sent by you towards the expenses of Mr Haworth's funeral. This will be quite sufficient to enable us to have him buried very respectably in the Sculcoates churchyard burial ground. Six of his Brethren will be his bearers & four more will follow him to the grave. It is just a year since his appointment & his patience under weakness & his gratitude towards all who showed him kindness have been very pleasing to us.

My dear father is very well but he does not venture out during the cold weather. He desires his very kind regards & hopes you are in the enjoyment of good health.

I perhaps ought to explain why I have taken upon myself to write & not my father but you will readily understand how glad we are to save him all trouble and he is glad of our assistance in the management of the CharterHouse.

Believe me to remain

Yours respectfully & obliged

Emily C. Bromby

The hero of this story is undoubtedly Samuel Lightfoot.  He died in 1870, aged 87.  As for Richard Haworth, a single line in our register has become a complex and deserving character.

John Healey Bromby

One of the most colourful Masters of the Charterhouse, John Healey Bromby was also the longest lived. 
He was born in Hull in October 1770 and after Cambridge and ordination he became Vicar of Holy Trinity in Hull in 1797.  As early as 1792 he was involved in the cultural life of Hull, as a founder member of an early Hull literary society, a "Society for the purpose of Literary Information", which had its first meeting on 19 June 1792. Other founder members included Dr. Alderson. In 1806 he married Jane Amis in London. One of their sons, Charles, became Bishop of Tasmania. Bromby gave lectures to the newly-formed Mechanics' Institute; three of them were published in a pamphlet in 1833, on “Time and its Uses” and “The Terraqueous Globe”. They were more moral than scientific. Bromby's career in the Church seems to have been limited by his politics, and one of his sermons provoked the displeasure of the Archbishop of York for its liberal views. According to his obituary: "In politics he was an advanced Reformer, at a time when the Liberal cause was an unpopular one, and during the first thirty years of the present century he was rarely absent from any meeting held to discuss public affairs, and usually spoke with vigour on behalf of his cause.” As well as his published sermons he also wrote an English translation of Plutarch's Treatise on Music, which was not published until after his death.

The portrait of Bromby (above) was painted by Hull artist Thomas Brooks in 1843.  The Hull Packet of 15 September described the likeness as "absolutely startling".  A limited number of engravings were made from it, one of which is in the National Portrait Gallery's collection.  The painting was bought by the Charterhouse in the 1980s and now hangs in the Master's house.

In 1849 Bromby's parishioners at Holy Trinity presented him with this silver inkstand (recently gifted to the Charterhouse) to commemorate his 50 years of incumbency.  It can just be seen in the portrait of him, on the right.  It has an inscription which notes their "unfeigned esteem" for him and that "a purse of 300 guineas" accompanied it.  It reads very much like a retirement present.  But Bromby had no intention of retiring; he stayed on as Vicar of Holy Trinity until 1867.

Perhaps it was the politics which were the problem when the Mastership of the Charterhouse became vacant in 1847.  Days after the death of Thomas Dikes an anonymous letter was circulated to the Council advocating Bromby for the job.  In his favour was supposedly the fact that he was “venerable” i.e. elderly, and deserved a less onerous job. He had also, the letter said, suffered financially because of his politics, which were now back in vogue. Perhaps the problem was Bromby's age - he was 78.  A month later the Council had two candidates to consider; Bromby, and George Moore Carrick.  They chose Carrick.
Carrick died two years later.  Bromby was quick to offer himself for the job. Even before Carrick was buried he wrote to the Mayor saying that he would be honoured to be appointed (and that his financial position was not as bad as had been said two years earlier). The Mayor, Thomas Palmer, passed the letter to the Hull Packet newspaper with a covering note to the effect that Bromby was announcing his candidacy. The editor was not enthusiastic about the prospect, saying, in effect, that Bromby was too old for a job which involved “active duties”. Bromby was not the only man to throw his hat in the ring with such speed. Six others declared themselves candidates, including John Scott, Vicar of St. Mary's, Hull. There was a remarkable amount of public interest in the contest, for reasons which seem to have been political.  The Council meeting at which the election was to take place had a full attendance, and the public gallery was crowded. The voting was by a system common at the time; after each round the person with the fewest votes was eliminated, until finally Bromby beat Scott by 4 votes. Bromby was 80 at the time.

Although he already held three livings, Bromby seems to have taken his role as Master seriously.  When inmates were fined for damaging water closets, the Master personally cancelled the order.  He produced a set of rules for the inmates, copies of which survive.  They seem rather tyrannical today, but were reasonable enough at the time.
In May 1866 Bromby wrote to the Advisers pointing out that there were currently 70 rooms in the Charterhouse, with the inmates receiving 6s. a week, coal, turves, water and medical assistance, and there was not enough
revenue to pay these allowances to an increased number of inmates. He proposed that part of the land at Hessle be developed as “villa residences”, leased out at £20 per acre per annum. To the annoyance of the advisors, who felt he was overstepping his authority, Bromby already had the plans drawn and lessees signed up. One of the leases was to go to Mr. Francis Reckitt, “biscuit manufacturer”, another next door to Mr. James Reckitt, “starch and biscuit  manufacturer”.  The increased income paid for 12 new rooms to be built.
John Healey Bromby's longevity created some startling records. On 28 November 1862 the bells of Holy Trinity Church “rang a merry peal” because he had “completed the 65th year of his office as Vicar of Holy Trinity parish.”  Two years later the paper reported another “merry peal” as the “Venerable Vicar” embarked on his 68th year in the job.  However, he resigned as Vicar in 1867 and bowed out of public affairs - but remained Master of the Charterhouse, becoming in 1868 the oldest clergyman in the Church of England.  He died of bronchitis on 25 March 1868.  His obituary says, “All who had the pleasure of his acquaintance to the end of his life will acknowledge that the cheerfulness and affability which were ever salient points in his character never deserted him.”  He was buried in North Ferriby, after a funeral procession which started at the Charterhouse. The newspaper reported that although no special announcement was made, “the inhabitants [spontaneously] left their places of business at the busiest time of the day, and lined the route of the cortege.”

The Andrew Marvell connection

Andrew Marvell is one of the two most famous sons of Hull (the other being William Wilberforce), known more now as a poet than as the MP for the city.  His statue stands near the grammar school which he attended.  But here we refer to him as Andrew Marvell junior, because his father was Master of the Charterhouse.
The Reverend Andrew Marvell was Rector of St German's in Winestead, a small village not far from Hull.  Winestead was the seat of the Hildyard family.  While they were living there, Marvell and his wife, Anne Pease, baptised 5 children; Anne (1615), Mary (1616), Elizabeth (1618), Andrew (1621) and John (1623).  The youngest died shortly after his first birthday, on 20 September 1624.  Ten days later Rev Marvell was appointed Master of the Charterhouse.  So the future poet and MP came to us when he was 3 years old.
A blue plaque on the Master's House tells the world that it was home to this famous Marvell.  But was it?  We know that the original hospital buildings stood until 1642, when they were demolished during the siege of Hull at the start of the Civil War.  It was, at least partially, rebuilt in 1649 and completed in 1673.  It is highly likely that The Master's House was part of that rebuilding.  Another, much-publicised, connection is with the mulberry tree in the garden, where the young Marvell is said to have sat.  The tree does seem old enough, but we have no actual evidence.
Marvell's connection with the Charterhouse was forgotten for a long time as a result of the failure of historians to do proper research.  A particular culprit was Augustine Birrell, a Liberal politician who turned to essay-writing and wrote a book about Marvell in 1905.  He described Marvell senior as Master of the Grammar School and made no mention of the Charterhouse, causing confusion which was still very much in evidence in 1921 when the city held celebrations for the 300th anniversary of the poet's birth.  Festivities centred on the school, and a commemorative book contained a long essay by Birrell repeating the error.  It wasn't until Pierre Legouis went back to the sources in the 1960s that the truth was told.  (The moral of this story - don't trust confident amateur historians.)
When he was only 13 young Andrew left for university in Cambridge.  His subsequent career has been extensively written about, and although he became MP for Hull in 1659 and remained in that post until his death in 1678, he spent little time here.
His mother died in 1638; his father remarried but died himself in 1641. 

Noteworthy deaths

Residents of the Charterhouse (or "inmates" as they were called) are very seldom mentioned by name in the records.  Only the trouble-makers tend to be given that honour.  Even in the 19th century register we get only basic data, including date of death, with no further information (with one exception, as we shall see).  Of course, most people died of old age or illness; but it appears that they were of no interest as individuals to those in charge, even when their lives or deaths were remarkable.
It takes a trawl of local newspapers to discover the stories that the records omit.  There is no mention, for instance of John Cowen, despite his well-publicised legal battle to get back the right to vote when, in 1896, Charterhouse brethren were judged to be paupers and were deprived of it.  He was successful. at least temporarily, and when he died, in February 1897, at the age of 82, the funeral (the first part of which was held at the Charterhouse) was given a long write-up by the local paper.
Another resident who warranted an obituary was James Henry Wright, who died on 21 March 1904.  He had been a master shipwright and a leading light in the "Good Intention Society", a trade union for the profession to protect their prices from undercutting.  He had been involved in a famous strike by shipwrights in 1857.
The Hull Daily Mail devoted quite a few column inches to the life and death of Thomas Stainton Cartwright on 11 February 1939.  He was just 5 months short of his 100th birthday.  The minutes of the Charterhouse trustees don't mention him
We know of 5 residents who died in tragic circumstances in the 19th century.  The earliest was in February 1836.  An inquest was held into the death of Elizabeth Brown, an 81-year-old lady who apparently had dementia.  She had "escaped" from the Charterhouse and wandered as far as Anlaby Road, where she was found drowned in a drain.
In 1850 the death of John Jackson was certainly noteworthy for the press.  He was an interesting character - "notorious" according to the inquest report. For many years he was a "radical" bookseller, living and working in Bowlalley Lane. There are newspaper references to John "Radical" Jackson as early as the 1830s - his "stern republicanism" was referred to in a letter to the Hull Advertiser published on August 5, 1836. In 1833 he was jailed for non-payment of taxes, and he was in prison again in 1841.  His death was horrific.  The door to his room was forced when a fire was discovered; Jackson was found dead, sitting in his chair with his clothes burnt off, and the bed and curtains alight.
In 1875 there was another fire-related death.  Retired tailor John Odlin was found in his room with his head "under the grate" and badly burned.  The local paper thought it worth a mention; Charterhouse records did not.
Twenty years later Alice Booth also died of burns.  In February 1895 she brushed against the copper in the washroom.  The door in base of the copper which gave access to the fire which heated the water had been left ajar and Alice's clothes caught fire.  A window-cleaner put out the fire and Alice was treated for her burns at home before being admitted to hospital.  She lingered for two weeks before dying of her injuries.
There was another tragic death in the same year.  Our register records that Robert Brock, aged 81, died on 7 January 1895. But a note adds: "Presumably; body having been found in the Queen's Dock". Robert's death certificate and a letter tell us more of the sad story. 7 January was the date he went missing from the Charterhouse. Presumably there was a search; if there was, it was unsuccessful. On 26 January, and again on 30 January, it seems that the Master assumed he was dead and was writing to the the council's Charterhouse Applicants Committee asking them to fill Brock's vacant room. A letter survives from the Town Clerk in reply on 31 January saying that they were deferring a decision "in the hope that some news may be heard of Brock". His body was not found for more than two months; it was recovered from the dock on 15 March. There was an inquest, and the verdict was that he had drowned.

The Charterhouse organ

The organ in the Charterhouse chapel is being dismantled this week.  Work is under way to fix problems of damp in the building; floors have been taken up at the west end of the chapel, and shown to have been in a dangerous state.  Now it's the turn of the east end, and that means removing the organ.  It's a delicate operation on an illustrious instrument.
The first hint of an organ in the chapel came in 1900 in a small notice in the local paper.  The Master, William Hay Fea, had complained that the harmonium currently in use was "inharmonious" and an organ was needed.  It couldn't be afforded; but part of the agreement reached with the Charity Commission for a new scheme of governance in 1901 was that an organ would be provided when funds allowed.  It seems that plans were already in place.  The local firm of Forster and Andrews was commissioned and the new organ was ready for its debut in 1902.
Forster and Andrews was a prestigious firm which existed from 1843 to 1956, and built organs all over the world.  Strangely the Wikipedia entry on them lists dozens of organs but omits the three they built, or worked on, in their own city; the City Hall in 1911, the Minster (then Holy Trinity), an older organ which F & A worked on several times in the 19th century, and, of course, the Charterhouse.

In March 1905 the Hull Daily mail reported that "The Hull Charterhouse now has an organ", despite the fact that it was three years old.  What was new was a stop referred to in the article as a dulciana, labelled on the organ itself as a diapason.  This had been presented by the Hull Cycling Club, of which the Master, Fea, was president.  In January 1906 there was a concert in the chapel which included an organ recital.  It's in the report of this that we get the first mention of Ethel Murray, who sang a solo in the concert.  A book a [Two Centuries of Music in Hull by Norman Staveley, Hutton Press, 1999] describes her only as "a blind teacher of singing and the rehearsal conductor of the HLMU in 1902".  Ms Murray also led a choir which was paid a small sum to sing at services (then on Sunday afternoons) in the Charterhouse chapel.  We have no record of when she began this (although it seems to have been in 1902).  In July 1903 the Hull Daily Mail carried an advertisement for "choir singers" for the choir, though only altos, tenors and basses were required.  Ethel carried on until the place was evacuated and closed in 1941 after bomb damage.  In an unprecedented move the trustees awarded her a small pension for her service.  She died the following year aged 79.

Perhaps the strangest workout the organ has ever had came in March 2017, when a group called the Electro-Acoustic Ensemble gave a concert in the chapel.  It was music from a particular, non-melodic, modernist period which was not to everyone's taste but proved that the old instrument could cope with anything.
We now hope that the experts will be able to put all the pieces back together again and we can look forward to hearing our cherished organ again by Christmas.

UPDATE:  It was successfully rebuilt and is back in action.

Here it's being played by James Webb on Sunday 14 November 2021.

Curious Bench Book entries

In an earlier post we discussed the case of John Hailes who, in 1571, had his allowance from the Charterhouse withdrawn when he was given the post of bellman.  A few years later two more entries in the Bench Book raise questions.  [The Bench Books are the minute books of the bench of "magistrates", the Mayor and Aldermen who made up the ruling council of the town.]  I've modernised the spelling.

"Item the 14th of September 1581 the said Mayor and Aldermen did with one full consent and assent order and agree that Christopher Harrison keelman (for and in consideration that he is both aged and blind) shall towards his sustenance have paid him forth of the revenues of the Hospital called God's house weekly so long as he liveth 12d to begin of Saturday next.  And the same to be paid by the master of the same Hospital or his assigns for the time being, the which shall be allowed him at his Audit."
It is not at all clear what this means.  There is no mention of a room for Harrison, simply an allowance of 12d a week out of hospital funds.  Was Harrison unable to live in the Charterhouse because he needed care?  It seems to be a breach of the rules.
The second extract also concerns a blind man.  It was decided on 6 July 1583 that "[blank] wife unto Ralph [blank] being a blind man and one of the brethren [of God's House], respecting her husband's infirmity that she may be at hand to help the same: She shall be placed amongst the brethren of the said Hospital in the place of Richard Jackling deceased, and that only during the said husband's life and then to depart forth of the said house and no more to have the benefit of that place: And yet if it shall please God to call any of the Sisters out of this transitory life before the death of her said husband: Then it is ordered and agreed by the consent aforesaid that she shall be then admitted amongst the Sisters in the place of that sister that shall die / and that then in the place where she is now placed there shall be a man admitted / and that from henceforth there shall not be any woman admitted into or placed in the house of the brethren, but at all times hereafter when any of that house shall die, there shall be in that place a man admitted and no more any woman."
Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this is that Ralph (the minute-taker obviously didn't catch the surname) had a room in the hospital but was married.  We tend to assume that only the single or widowed were awarded places, since no couples were admitted.  Here, a huge concession was made in allowing Ralph's wife a men's room, in what was clearly a separate wing of the hospital, and she was to be removed to the female wing if a vacancy arose; should her husband die before her, she was out.  It was stressed that this was not to set a precedent.
These Bench Book entries are rare but valuable.
(Thanks to Helen Good for the transcriptions.)

William Hay Fea

Despite being Master for over 20 years, William Hay Fea is one of the least known modern holders of the post.  He was born in Hull in
in 1850, the son of a local businessman.  After ordination he became curate of St. Bride's in
Stretford, Lancashire, and was Chaplain of Trinity House and incumbent of the Mariners' Church, Hull, when he was appointed as Master in 1898.  It seemed like a precarious job.  The Aldermen who still ran the Charterhouse were still in a prolonged wrangle with the Charity Commissioners over the nature of the job and the whole governance of the place, and Fea had to agree to the prospect of his salary being halved to £150 pa and his duties reduced to a strictly pastoral role if they got their way.  It was more than a year before the Aldermen received the Charity Commission’s verdict; they agreed that a new scheme was desirable and enclosed copies of a draft scheme of their own. The Committee’s meeting on 5 December 1900 was somewhat bad-tempered. Fea had his own opinions on the proposed scheme, but was told that he would be expected to support whatever the Council decided to do. Fea said that in supporting the Advisers’ scheme he had done everything that he was obliged to do, and could not now be expected to support different proposals. The Councillors replied that in that case he ought not to attend their meetings; Fea agreed and left.  In 1901 the new scheme of governance was imposed.  Fea was to get £250 pa.   

The only glimpses we get of Fea's early years in charge are intriguing.  Very quickly he insisted that the old harmonium in the chapel was not fit for purpose and got the new trustees to agree to a new organ.  This was to be a splendid instrument, enhanced by a stop paid for by the Hull Cycling Club of which Fea was president.  In 1903 a curious little piece appeared in the local paper; "The Master of the Hull Charterhouse keeps a banking account for the inmates, and pays them 5 per cent interest."  One wonders whether that was even legal.  But relationships with the trustees seem to have been fractious at times.  In 1908 the paper reported an exchange about a drunken visitor:

Fea stopped attending meetings of the trustees, communicating with them when necessary by letter.  This became evident in 1911 when an influential trustee, Francis Askew, complained.  He had tried to visit an inmate, who was a friend of his, on a Sunday morning and found the doors and gates of the Charterhouse locked.  Fea was in the habit of locking the place up during services and claimed that it was "for the safety and comfort of the sick and infirm" (who were the only ones not obliged to be in chapel) and because local youths made a nuisance of themselves by disturbing the services.  The trustees ordered that the practice must stop.  Never one to accept defeat easily, Fea wrote to the Charity Commissioners.  They took the side of the trustees, who pointed out that it could all have been sorted out quickly if Fea attended their meetings.

Fea did his best for the inmates.  He bought a magic lantern and put on shows for them in the chapel.  (He left it at the Charterhouse when he retired but asked the trustees for £15 for it.  They agreed.)  He arranged an outing for all of them to his mother's house in Cottingham to celebrate her 90th birthday.  He secured an increase in their allowances during the war and had to sort out the complications arising from Old Age Pensions and then war pensions.  On the downside, he also secured a ban on residents whistling and playing musical instruments.

Fea never married.  By March 1919 he decided to retire because of "age and ill-health", but asked for a pension.  The trustees agreed to £100 pa.  The residents presented him with a smoking cabinet and a silk umbrella.  William Hay Fea died on 3 January 1921.

The right to vote

On 22  May 1780 the Master of the Charterhouse, John Bourne, was ordered by the Aldermen "to leave them [the inmates] to their own free election of members to serve in Parliament".  The timing is rather odd; the general election was not held until the Autumn of 1780.  But most interesting is the fact that there were any residents who were entitled to vote.
Hull, in common with only a few constituencies around the country, had a "freemen" electorate rather than using the usual property qualification.  One could become a freeman in a number of ways, including inheriting or buying the privilege, or gaining status as a tradesman - the route presumably taken by a few Charterhouse brethren.  It meant that, in Hull, around 1,200 men had the vote.  That made it very expensive for the candidates, who had to pay to transport their potential voters to York, where the poll was held, and to bribe them (illegally, of course).  The vote was public.  The 1780 election resulted in William Wilberforce becoming Hull's MP.

Sir William St Quintin

The first reference to Charterhouse voters comes as early as a report by Matthew Bolton in 1716.

One candidate in the 1713 election was Sir William St Quintin . -------- "A poor old man - more than 80 years - residing in a miserable room, two pair back in a House in Munk Gate Ally, was ask'd by St Quintin and Maister's partie for his Vote. which he would not Promise to give; and on St Quintin being tould that his Personal appliemente might be of service, he took the opportune of going to see him. On finding the old man St Quintin said, "Well, my worthie friend, I want your Vote." The man looked at St Quintin thro' his Specktackle glasses and said, "You want my Vote, is that the ways you come to ask a Favor, I shan't give you it - that's flat." "Why not?" said St Quintin, "it would be better for you if you did, and I will tell you why. A Vacance is verie likelie to take place, I hear, in the Charter-House; now if you choose to do me a Favor I'll do one for you, for I'll get you the Room when the Inmate dies." The old man looked at Sir William thro' his Spectacles and said, "Mayster Quintum, I'm an aude man, and I feelit will be verie likelie the last Vote I shall iver give; I ha beene of opsit Principels to yours all the days of my Life, and what little Time itte plesith God for me to Live, so I shall Remain. A Charter House room to me would be a great Boon ------ " But he refused to give St Quintin his vote. The candidate was so impressed that he gave him a guinea and told him that he would send his carriage to take him to the poll so that he could vote for the other candidate, Daniel Hoare; and on polling day he did just that. The story concludes: ------ Let me give Sir William St Quintin credit for the following; a Room in the Charter-House became Vacant in about 2 months after the Election, and the poor old man became its Inmate, but onlie for a verie shorte Time, as in about another Month he entered that Bourne from which no Traveller returns!!!" 

The Reform Act of 1832 changed the situation.  No more freemen were created, but those who remained kept their entitlement.  As they died off one would expect that Charterhouse men would be ineligible to vote.  There were still freemen, however, by the middle of the century.  The 1852 election which saw the Liberals James Clay and Lord Goderich returned for Hull was so blatantly corrupt that an enquiry was launched.  Among those giving evidence were freemen of the Charterhouse.  The Hull Advertiser, reporting on the process in April 1853, included the testimony of Anne Loft, wife of Benjamin Loft: "My husband is too infirm to come.  He is in the Charter-house.  He is a freeman.  He voted Clay and Thompson and I received 30s for him.  At the last election he voted Clay and Goderich, but did not get any money."  Incidentally, the Conservative agent in the 1852 election was Richard Mitchell, a hairdresser, who, 15 years later, became a resident of the Charterhouse himself.  Politics seem to have played a part in a number of admissions.

 When there were no more freemen it was successfully argued, through two more Reform Acts in 1867 and 1881, that the men of the Charterhouse fulfilled the property qualification.  The lands with which the founder had endowed the hospital were still owned in the name of "the Master, Brethren and Sisters of the Charterhouse" and it was accepted that this made the men property owners.  This lasted until 1896, when a legal objection was raised by the Liberals.  These men were, it was argued, disqualified on the basis that they were paupers.  If this was accepted, the men of the Charterhouse would, at a stroke, have lost their right to vote.  The decision would also affect the residents of Trinity House.  One resident, John Cowen, refused to accept this.  He had been involved in politics all his life, as an agent and organiser, and he knew his way round the system.  He took his case to the Revision of Voters' Lists hearing - but the barrister ruled against him.  Cowen appealed, but a year later, after an initial decision to confirm the ruling, it was overturned and voting rights were restored.  Cowen died in February 1897.  Later that year the original decision, disenfranchising the Charterhouse men, was confirmed and they had to wait until 1918.  The women, of course, did not fulfil the property qualification in the 1918 Act and had to wait until 1928.

On 26 November 1923 there was a by-election in the Hull Central constituency where the Charterhouse was situated.  The sitting MP, Joseph Kenworthy, had been a Liberal but crossed the floor to join Labour and resigned to fight a by-election.  The Hull Daily Mail ran a story about "The 'Father' of the Charterhouse":

"By half past ten between six and seven hundred people had polled at Scott Street station, representing what one official described as 'a hundred per cent poll'.  The Scott Street station was also the centre for members of the Charterhouse where election enthusiasm has been more than usually keen.  During the campaign the old people have had an opportunity of hearing all three candidates, and there have been some keen debates on the merits and de-merits of the various parties.  The majority of the old people support either the Liberals or Conservatives, but a few of the younger men and women have expressed themselves in favour of the Socialists.  Arrangements had been made for the old people who were able to votes to be conveyed to Scott Street by motor-car, and as early as half past nine, some of them had made the trip to the polling booth.  The oldest member of the Charterhouse to register his vote was Mr William Hakney [should be Hakeney] who is ninety years of age."

Kenworthy won.

The right to vote was hard-won, and residents still cherish that right.

Bring up the bodies?

"It is known that several of the de la Poles sought burial in the Charterhouse (which effectively became the family’s northern mausoleum). Sir William de la Pole (died 1366) and his wife Katherine (died 1381) were buried beneath the high altar in the priory church and their son Michael, 1st Earl of Suffolk and his wife Katherine in the chancel."  So says John Cook, writing in 1882.  What happened to the graves of such an illustrious family?

The priory was closed in 1539.  Writing in the early 1540s, John Leland reported (in his Itineraries),"The Charter House of the De la Poles foundation, and an Hospital of their Foundation standing by it, is without the North Gate. The Hospital standeth. Certain of the De la Poles were buried in this Carthusian Monastery: and at the late suppressing of it were found divers troughs of Lead with Bones in a Vault under the High Altar there. Most part of this Monastery was builded with Brick, as the Residue of the Buildings of Hull for the most part be."  [spelling modernised]  The lead coffins indicate high status burials.  But what happened to these coffins?  No one knows.

Carthusians have always buried their own dead without coffins, usually in the cloister garth.  This is consistent with what was found in the early 19th century, when the land which once belonged to the Priory was developed into what is now Sykes Street.  On 3 June 1809 the Hull Advertiser reported that human skeletons had been found, oriented east - west, and that "masses of wall of immense thickness" were discovered when digging for the foundations of new houses.  The skeletons were no doubt those of the monks who had lived and died in the Priory.  But, like the aristocratic remains found many years before, they appear to have been discarded.  Archaeology had not yet developed as a science, and no plans were made of the site.  Perhaps before any future redevelopment of the area there will be an attempt to excavate it properly.

John Hailes, bellman

From the Bench Book, 1571

[In the margin] John hailes appointed to be bell man. & the annuitie he haithe of the hospitall to Sease.
Item the day and yeare abovesaid the said maior & aldermen did give and bestowe the office of the Bell man to John Hailes he to enter to yt at michelmas next. And that from thensfourthe the xls whiche he haithe yerely of benevolence paied him by the maister of the Hospitall shall be paied him no more for that the said office is thought to be a competent Lyvinge for him. (Transcription by Helen Good.)

John Hailes is the first named inmate of the Charterhouse in the records - perhaps.  The 1571 Bench Book is the first to mention the hospital at all, and doesn't call it the Charterhouse, probably because at that stage, only 32 years after the dissolution of the priory, the term was not routinely applied to the hospital.  We can be confident, however, that it's Michael de la Pole's foundation which is referred to.  The only rival at this time, the Trinity House almshouse, was not under the control of the Mayor and Aldermen.

This short paragraph presents us with several unanswered questions.  John Hailes has an annuity from the hospital; can we be sure that he is an inmate?  There was no provision in the founding document to pay an allowance to anyone who didn't have a room in the hospital, so we must assume that he is.  And that allowance was 40 shillings a year.  Presumably he had been awarded his place because he qualified as "aged poor".  Yet here he is being given a job which carried pay of at least 40s.  Did the withdrawal of his allowance also mean that he lost his room in the hospital?
What was a bellman?  (The clerk wrote the term, twice, as two words rather than one, but that seems irrelevant.)  It was unlikely to have been simply the task of ringing a bell to mark the time at the hospital for services.  That would not have carried a salary as large as the inmates' allowances, and it probably would not have required the endorsement of the Mayor and Aldermen.  There are two possibilities in this period.  A "bellman" could be either a town crier or a night watchman.  The second seems more likely.  As with all these questions we can't be sure, but for centuries the job of patrolling the streets of a town at night was given to elderly men.  In the days before police forces the watchmen would carry a bell (and later a whistle) to alert householders to trouble.  Was this John Hailes' new job?
Despite the questions, John Hailes has the honour of being the earliest named beneficiary of Michael de la Pole's foundation.