John Shawe is the only Master of the Charterhouse to have left us his own account of his time in the role. In 1663-4 he wrote a memoir of his life for his son which includes interesting details of the decade he spent there. The original memoir has been lost, but a copy was published in 1882, along with copious notes, edited by Rev J R Boyle. I have extracted the relevant sections.
Memoirs of Master John Shawe, a sometime Vicar of Rotherham, Minister of St. Mary's, Lecturer of Holy Trinity Church, and Master of the Charterhouse at Kingston-upon-Hull. Written by himself in the year 1663-4. Edited by the Rev. J.R. Boyle.
-- In the same year, 1653 [should be 1651 - ed] I was made Master of the Charter-house (or hospital called God's house) near Kingstone-upon-Hull, by the grant of the Maior and Aldermen of Hull, under their hands and common seal (which place was promised to me, at my first coming to Hull, in 1644, and I think was unjustly detained from me so long, and I as unjustly removed from it now; to which I think I have still right (as well as I have seal and their grant) both in law and in conscience). At my first admission to be master of the Charter-house, I found the house in £100 debt; I found no money to begin withall, and but about 12 poor people belonging to it, (tho' by de la Poole's [sic] foundation, 26 ought to be maintained thereby). I observed that by the Duke of Suffolk, Michael de la Poole's foundation (for he was the Founder and donor thereto) there did belong only ten pounds per annum, and a house to the master; but the former masters had taken all the fines (when any leases of lands belonging to the poor of the Charter-house were let) to themselves, which fines were a great part of the revenew; and so came the house thereby partly, to be in such debt, when I came to it; I considered that I had not that temptation of want that others had, and that by the foundation only £10 per annum belonged to the master; and that the fines were belonging of right to the poor, as well as the rents; I resolved, therefore, that no penny of the fines should ever be taken by me, or ever cleave to me or my posterity, (nay, most part of my ten pounds a yeare I gave to the poor, one way or another), for I naturally (gnesios, Phil.2:20) cared for those poor, took great delight in their well doing, and had more care of their revennues than of my own estate; so that, within 7 years (of the 9 years) that I continued master of the Charter-house, (where I dwelt, and still preached at the High Church in Hull as before), I paid the £100 debt, and encreased the number of the poor to 40 persons; I encreased the weekly pay of every one of the poor more than formerly it had been; I encreased also all their extraordinary pay, at certain times in the yeare; I laid out about six hundred pound in building (or adding to the buildings of the Charter-house); so that I made it as handsome a habitation, as any minister had in the north of England; and when I came away (not renouncing my title thereto) I made my accounts, and left with the Maior (Mr. Crowle) and the Aldermen, for the use of the poor, 253 pounds, and some odd moneys, for which I have their receipt, and if I had continued but 4 or 5 years master there more, I could well have maintained a hundred poor people, but what will now become of their revenue, the wise God only knows, (the good Lord, who is the father of the poore, provide for, preserve and blesse the poor of that house!). I caused to be writ in great letters, on some part of the inside of the Charter-house, which I had built, for a memorial to my successor (who I wish had been better) these verses, which I think are there still
Successor dear, if thou dost here / A fair house find, built to thy mind, / without thy cost, / Serve God the more, care for these poore; / Seek their true good, both soul and foods, / No labours lost
Recollecting the names of the four last masters of the Charter-house before me, (for I could recover no more), I caused likewise to be there writ underneath, thus:
Masters, of old, next, since, late, now, I saw / here, Briscen [Briskin], Wincop, Marvel, Stiles, and Shawe.
Several pages follow of Shawe's account of his family and of his complex relationship with people in power. In 1661 he was banned from preaching in Holy Trinity Church, but was allowed by the King to continue as Master of the Charterhouse, "and live in that habitation".
-- So, I returned to the Charter-house, and preached to the poor under my charge there, every Lord's day; and the people of Hull flocked to the Charter-house constantly, so that their churches were empty; whereupon the officers sent (every Lord's day morning early) soldiers to beset the Charter-house round, so as not to suffer any town's people to come thither; yet the people one way or other got to us, so as one Lord's day the officers and soldiers took 300 Town's people in the Charter-house, with whom they being much incensed, they drew up their bridges, and shut the Town's gates and kept the people whom they found there from their houses and familys, til the next morning; and about 60 of them were in the Charter-house all night, some in beds and some by the fire; only some of them as they came near the gates that night, drinking at an Alehouse as they went, and being asked where they had been, answered at the Alehouse (which was true), and these only were let into their houses that Lord's day night. I finding that my house was every Lord's day thus begirt, and myself by their order inhibited to come into the town of Hull, to convers with the people there, and seeing the clouds arise, many dangers impendent, and myself left (an almost) incapacity to do good there, did make up my accounts for the revennues of the Charter-house to the Maior and Aldermen; and delivered up to them (as I said before) 253 pounds and odd moneys for the poore (though I delivered not up my grant and seal to them, nor my right to the Charter-house).
Shawe left the Charterhouse on 20 June 1662.
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