In July 1487, Beatrice Smyth sued John Crote to enforce a marriage contract she claimed they had made around 1482 while Crote lay ill in a chamber in the tower of the parish church of St Michael Queenhithe, where he worked. Witnesses testified that after this bedside exchange of consent, however, the couple could notContinue reading “Beatrice Smyth c John Crote”
Tag Archives: Employers & marriage discussions
Thomas Byrch c. Elizabeth Barker
The examinations in this case do not much concern the marriage case in question, in which (we can infer) Thomas Byrch claimed that he had made a contract of marriage with Elizabeth Barker three years before, which she denied; Christopher Rotherey, the first person examined, appears to have been organizing a solemnization of marriage withContinue reading “Thomas Byrch c. Elizabeth Barker“
Alice Billingham c John (or Thomas) Wellis
In 1488, Alice Billingam sued John Wellis, claiming that they had contracted marriage on Valentine’s Day 1486. The witnesses for the case had interesting things to say about how an employer might try to find a husband or wife for a servant; what a young man or woman on the market for a spouse wouldContinue reading “Alice Billingham c John (or Thomas) Wellis”
Richard Cressy c. Alice Scrace
Cressy c. Scrace is an example of an uncontested lawsuit, where the point was not for the plaintiff to confirm or annul a marriage with the defendant but rather for both parties to have the court declare the validity of their union in the face of family hostility. It was not Alice Scrace, but herContinue reading “Richard Cressy c. Alice Scrace”
Christian Hilles c. Robert Padley
The town of Stanford Rivers, Essex, saw a drama of thwarted love and premarital pregnancy in 1489 and 1490. Christian Hilles and Robert Padley, two servants who worked for the same employer, courted seriously with one another between March and October 1489, exchanging gifts and talk of marriage. According to local rumour, they had aContinue reading “Christian Hilles c. Robert Padley“
John Kendall c. Isabel or Elizabeth Wylly
An apprentice goldsmith named John Kendall sued Isabel (sometimes called Elizabeth[1]) Willy to enforce a contract of marriage he claimed that he had made with her. Kendall’s witnesses presented only circumstantial evidence – that Willy had acknowledged multiple times that she had previously made a contract of marriage with Kendall and that she had receivedContinue reading “John Kendall c. Isabel or Elizabeth Wylly”
Agnes Eston c. John Crosby
In 1494, a young servant woman, Agnes Eston, sued John Crosby, a young man from London’s merchant elite. The two had been spending time alone in her chamber, with her employers encouraging the relationship and turning a blind eye to the impropriety. Eston alleged that the two had exchanged binding vows of marriage, but CrosbyContinue reading “Agnes Eston c. John Crosby”
Agnes Moyne and Margaret Broke c Christopher Kechyn
Christopher Kechyn, a carpenter of mature years, was busy in 1496, contracting marriage with at least three young women. This brought him in early 1497 before both the Consistory – where two of those women, Agnes Moyne and Margaret Broke, sued him to enforce the contracts they claim to have made with him – andContinue reading “Agnes Moyne and Margaret Broke c Christopher Kechyn”
Consistory 