The first Whitley Charters (1) - Introduction

This is the first of perhaps several notes replacing two articles I put up in December 2020 and deleted today.

They needed to be completely re-written in the light of some of the information in the Dodsworth Manuscripts, that is Bodleian Library Dodsworth MS 133 and MS 155, copies of a lot of which that Library kindly sent me not long ago.

Not that what I put before was wrong, if you have read it. But that with the aid of the Dodsworth transcripts I am a lot closer to the original situation and would like to focus on what Dodsworth and also R H Beaumont wrote, on the basis that both of them actually saw the original deeds and that RHB had also seen Dodsworth's transcripts, copies of which I have also now been fortunate enough to see.

RHB's notes of this, here from his 1796 Family Tree (Box 1-157 in this Archive), are extremely accurate when compared to what is in the Dodsworth MSS

The story goes that between 1232 and 1240 (**) a person called John Muncebot obtained a grant of Whitley and assigned it over to William de Beaumont. But in some published books - and inevitably copied on various websites - John's name is Montbegon. 

** It is useful to keep in mind that the date has to be between about 1232, when John de Lacy became Earl of Lincoln, and 1240 when he died. In the published catalogue charter no 3 below (DD/WBD/IX/1) is dated "twelfth century" in error.

Ideally I should have gone to Wakefield and look at the original charter in West Yorkshire Archives (DD/WBD/IX/1), the primary source of the story. 

However, in the online catalogue, the name is Muncebot. Similarly in other reliable copies, the earliest known being that done in 1629 by Roger Dodsworth, who gives the name in different spellings such as Mouncebot, Montebot, and Mucenbote. We also have it in the handwriting of R.H. Beaumont, the Antiquary, writing in 1796, a man who must have seen not only the original but also Dodsworth's copies. 

The story is told in four charters.

1. A transfer by William de Dranfeld to his brother Thomas, of his interest in Whitley. The original charter is DD/WBD/IX/2.  Copies by Dodsworth at MS 133 fo. 117v and 155 fo. 153.

2. Sale by this Thomas to the lord, John de Lacy, earl of Lincoln and Constable of Chester. The original is DD/WBD/IX/3. Copies by Dodsworth at MS 133 fo.121/121v and 155 fo. 151v.

3. The grant by the Earl to the mysterious John, with authority to make it over to an assignee, specifically to William de Beaumont, if he so wished. The original charter is DD/WBD/IX/1. Copies by Dodsworth at MS 133 fo.114v and MS 155 fo. 151v, the witnesses being the same as to No.2, suggesting done on same occasion. Summary in a mixture of English and Latin also by R H Beaumont in the 1796 family tree (above). The variations to the name appear to be Muncebote, Mouncebot, Montebot.

4. A grant by the mysterious John expressly making William de Bellomonte his heir if he should have no heir by his wife.  Copies by Dodsworth at MS 133 fo.122 and MS 155 fo. 151v. In this case the original charter seems not to be in the WYAS catalogue, suggesting that it has either not survived to the present day, or perhaps that it is written or endorsed on another document. The witnesses include one person in common with the previous. RHB knew about this document, as he quoted its unusual wording:-

si devixero sine herede de corpores de Sponsa (top of image above)

We can see that the name is NOT Montbegon in the Dodsworth transcripts, nor in R H Beaumont's notes, nor in the modern catalogue record. Later I might look at some other copies or transcripts, which I think are all derived from one of the above, and consider who first suggested Montbegon and why, and whether there was ever a John de Montbegon or a John Muncebote.

I'd also like to say some things about the (feudal) service by which this property was held, and maybe whether it is safe to assume that it is the very place where Whitley Hall was to be built. 

EMB 15 July 2021