Brian Rocliffe to Sir William Plumpton

4    Brian Rocliffe to Sir William Plumpton, 5 November [1461]          (No. 10,
      p. 155)

My right reverent & honorable maister,^a all humble recomendation
praemised, please you that I receaued of your servant John Smith xl
marks and your letter to the tresorer¹ and barons of the exchequer for
respitt of your day to xvna Hillary,² which would not be graunted but
soe I haue gotten that one shall appeare for you att the day of
account, & soe to be appeared for in the pipe, and then for to be
prepared in the next tearme. And soe I haue labored a felow of mine
to be your attorney in the court, for I may nought be but of counsell;³
and he & I shall shew you such service att that time and afterwards
that shall be pleasing vnto you. And soe shall ye haue day or respitt to
the xv of Hillary next coming, then to be opposed of your greenwax,⁴
at which time ye may nott faile to send hider all your bookes and some
readie man for to answer vnto him, for I nor my said felow may nott
attend thereupon, and also to be here your selfe tha<n> or before to
pursue for your pardon, and to gree all your demandes att once. And
I trust to God for to gett you downe your greenwax, if that I may, thof
it cost you money, soe ye wrote vnto me. Beseeching our Lord to gif
you good speed against all your enemies and in all your matters.
Written in hast at Westminster ye fift day of November.

                                 Your servant          Bryan Rocliff^b

Endorsed: Vnto my right reuerent and worshipfull maister Maister Sir
William Plompton knight

     ^a Marginal note: 10 letter.

     ^b Marginal note: Copied 12 of December 1612, Sunday.

     ¹ Henry Bourchier, re-appointed 18 March 1460/1 held office until April 1462, HBC,
103.

     ² Sir William had been sheriff of Yorks in 1448 and of Notts and Derbys in 1452, List
of Sheriffs, 103, 162.

     ³ Brian Rocliffe’s appointment as third baron of the Exchequer was ratified 2 Nov.
1458; his office precluded his appearance as counsel in the exchequer court, CPR, 1452–
61, 482; App. III.

     ⁴ The summons of greenwax particularized those items for which the sheriff was held
responsible. He might be called to account years after the end of his term in office, M.
Blatcher, ‘Distress Infinite and the Contumacious Sheriff’, BIHR, xiii (1935–36), 149–50;
A.L. Brown, The Governance of Late Medieval England, 1272–1461 (1989), 63.

                                                    LETTER II.

       Unto my right reverent and worshipfull maister, Maister Sir Wil-
                                          liam Plompton, knight.

    My right reverent and honorable maister, All humble recomen-
dation praemised, please you that I receaved of your servant John
Smith xl marks, and your letter to the Tresorer and Barons of the
exchequer for respitt of your day to xvna Hillary,a which would not
be graunted but soe I have gotten that one shall appeare for you att
the day of account and soe to be appeared for in the pipe,b and
then for to be prepared in the next tearme; and soe I have labored
a felaw of mine to be your Atturney in the Court, for I may
nought be but of Counsell, and he and I shall shew you such ser-
vice all that time and afterward that shall be pleasing unto you.
And soe shall ye have day or respitt to the xv of hillary next
coming, then to be opposed of your greenewax; att which time ye
may nott faile to send hider all your bookes and some readie man
for to answer unto him, for I nor my said felaw may nott attend
thereupon, and also to be here yourselfe than or before to pursue
for your pardon,c and to gree all your demaundes att once. And
I trust to god for to gett you downe your greenewaxd if that I
may, thof it cost you mony; soe ye wrote unto me, beseeching our
lord to gif you good speed against all your enemies and in all
your matters. Written in hast at Westminster the fift day of
November.
    (5 Nov. 1461.)    Your servant, BRYAN ROCLIFF.e

    a 27 Jan.

    b See Madox's Exchequer for the mode of passing an account at the Exchequer,
and as to a Sheriff being apposed by the Barons upon the summonce of the Pipe. Sir
William Plumpton had been Sheriff of the county of York in 1448, and of Nottingham
and Derby in 1452.

    c Sir William Plumpton obtained his letters of general pardon and release, 5 Feb.
1461-2; wherein, among other designations, he is styled "nuper vicecom. com.
Ebor. mil. alias nuper vicecom. com. Nottingham et Derb. chivaler." (Vide Chartul.
continent. evidentias familae de Plumpton, No. 551.)

    d The estreats out of the Exchequer, sent to the Sheriffs to be levied, were sealed
with green wax.

   e Bryan Rocliff of Cowthorpe, com. Ebor. (See Memoirs.) He was made third
Baron of the Exchequer, 8 May, 1 Edw. IV. and therefore in condition to show ser-
vice to his client at the time of writing.