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!
