Henry Ardern to Sir Robert Plumpton

196 Henry Ardern¹ to Sir Robert Plumpton [1504]           (No. 136, p. 83)

Right worshipfull father,^a in my most hartyest manner I recomend me
vnto you, desiryng to here of your prosperous welfayre, the which I
besech Jesu contynew & increase vnto his pleaser. Father, so yt is ?at
I lent my lady your wyfe, of whose sole God have mercy,² ciij markes &
a ryall, of which sume I have receiued all save iiij markes, the which
remaynes still in my lady your wyffe handes. For the which matter I
sent a letter vnto my lady your wyffe, on whose soule Jesu haue mercy,
by Olyver Dickenson, your servant,³ for the same money, for ?e which
I besech you for to be gud father vnto me, ?at I may haue yt at my
need; & if <it>, or I did you any good, I am right glad, & shalbe glad
to be at your comandement after the old maner. Also, father, I pray
you ?at I may be recomended vnto my brother, your sone, with all
your servants. Father, I pray you remember the suertyshipe ?at belongs
vnto, to my brother your sone. No more at this tyme, but I besech
you, as dayly wellwiller, ?at I may have knowledg by the bringer herof
how ?at ye do in your great matters, the which I pray Jesu give you
good speed, who have you in his gloryous keeping.

Henry Ardarn^b

Endorsed: Unto the worshipfull knight Sir Robert Plumpton

     ^a Right worshipful father deleted.

     ^b Appended: Copied ?e 18 day of Aprill 1613.

     ¹ A man of this name was groom of the chamber to Henry VIII in 1526. He may
have been a grandson of Thomas Ardern of Marton, Yorks, who married a daughter of
Nicholas Gascoigne of Lasencroft. Stapleton suggests that Henry married Sir Robert?s
daughter Eleanor, L & P, iv, 1939 (8); Test.Ebor., ii, 195; 196n; Stapleton, 194n.

     ² Sir Robert?s first wife, Agnes, died soon after 10 July 1504. In Sept. 1505 he married
Isabel Neville, 189, 199, 200; Stapleton, cxiv?xv.

     ³ Possibly of a yeoman family living in and around the village of Timble, near
Harrogate, he served his master during Sir Robert?s imprisonment in the Counter 24
April to 5 Aug. 1510. Six Dickinsons were witnesses on Sir Robert?s behalf at the trial at
York, Ronald Harker (ed.), Timble Man: Diaries of a Dalesman (Nelson, 1988), 10. I am
indebted to Mrs Audrey Hammerton for this reference.

LETTER CLVIII.

Unot the worshipfull knight, Sir Robert Plumpton.

    Right worshipfull father, in my most hartyest maner I recomend
me unto you, desiryng to here of your prosperous welfayre, the
which I besech Jesu to contynew and increase unto his pleaser.
Father, so yt is that I lent my lady your wyfe, of whose soule
God have mercy,^a viii marke and a ryall, of which summe I have
received all save iiij marke, the which I sent a letter unto my lady
your wyffe, on whose soule Jesu have mercy, by Olyver Dicken-
son, your servant, for the same money. For the which I besech
you for to be gud father unto me, that I may have yt at my need;
and if it, or I, did you any good, I am right glad, and shalbe glad
to be at your comandement after the old maner. Also, father, I
pray you that I may be recomended unto my brother, your sone,
with all your servants. Father, I pray you remember the surety-
shipe that belongs unto, to my brother your sone. No more at
this tyme, but I besech you as dayly wellwiller, that I may have
knowledge by the bringer herof, how that ye do in your great mat-
ters, the which I pray Jesu give you good speed, who have you
in his gloryous keeping.

    (Anno 1504-5.)                                                HENRY ARDARN.^b

    ^a Sir Robert Plumpton, kt. married his second wife, Isabel Neville, about 18 Sept.
21 Hen. VII. 1505, and we know that his first wife, Agnes Gascoigne, whose death is here
referred to, was living as late as 10 July, 1504; (See Letter CLIV.) so that his letter
will have been written in the intervening year.

    ^b Henry Ardern was probably a younger son of the family of that name settled at
Park Hall, near Birmingham, com. Warwick; but I am unable further to identify him,
or to state which of the daughters of Sir Robert Plumpton he married. His con-
nection with the Poles would seem to indicate that the match with Randal Mainwaring
had been broken off, and that he married Eleanor Plumpton, then residing with her
sister Mrs. Pole.