Hugh Pagham to Sir William Plumpton

12 Hugh Pagham to Sir William Plumpton, 21 June [?1465]¹         (No. 18, p.
      162)

Myne owne speciall & singuler master,^a with all my hole heart and
service I recomend me vnto your best beloued good mastership, humblie
thanking it for all that I am bound to thank itt for. Please it the same
to knowne that from my departure out of London after Christmas
<in> to Good Fryday last was, kam I not to my lodging were ye saw
me last, ne neuer since that time herd I word nor wryting from you;
nor ouer that, I vnderstand not by any wryting that my brother, the
tresurer,² hath sent me sith that time, that he receaued the letter which
I sent him by your mastership. Wherefore I send John Hawkins, bearer
hereof, now to se your greatliest desired welfare, trusting that by
him againward I shall hastely be ascertained thereof withall your
commaundments & desires, which I shall euer be desireous to obserue,
as fer as my simple power may to atteine, with the mercy of the Lord,
whom I beseech to haue your singuler and best betruted mastership in
his most [p. 163] safe gard and gouernment, graunting it as much
prosperitie, hertes comfort, and welfare as your gentl heart, with his
pleasure, best shall like to desire.

     Scribbled in hast with mine owne hand, in default of other helpe,
att London, the 21 of June, which day your dayly bedewoman my
huswif desired þat by this sedule she may humblie be recomended to
your most loving mastership; and to signify you how God bred her to
be deliuered of <her> son, Nicholas, on Tewsday the 4 <of> this
month; and how that on Saturday last was my daughter Agnes accepted
into the habitt of St Dominikes ordre att Dertford, like as the said
bearer kan enforme your mastership; which also lyke to knowe how
that now of late I was with my Lady Ingols[t]horpe, whose ladyship is
well recouered of the great sicknes that she endured many day past; at
which time my mistris Isabell Marley³ was in good hele, thankid be
God, and lett me witt how she likes right wele and greatly is bounden
to my lady.⁴

     My master Rauf Haukins & mistresse his wife, now being lodged att
[b]e Lions, my mistres F.S. now being att Wulwich with her brother &
sister kin and others your wellwillers, servants & bedfolkes in this
country were in hele att the mekeing hereof, thanked be God. I
conceiue th<ere> is displesure hanging that ye saw not my lord
chamberlaine⁵ vpon his being in the North, aswell for that ye comfort
not my said maistresse S., ne none of her frends, in the matter ye know
of, for the which I haue bene often called upon sith Paske. It were to
be done, as me seemeth, to mak writing from you to my maistres
S., thanking her of her trew and loving heart, excuseing the non
accomplishment of her desire, in such wis as ye can well enough, and
soe to put her out of dispaire; for as I vnderstand, she hath offers great
by right worshipfull in the matter. Touching the 48li 13s 4d, I haue
opened the specialties thereof vnto John Hawkins, to whom in that
behalfe please your maistership to giue vaith and credence.^b

Hugh Pagnam

Endorsed (p. 162): To my right especiall & singuler good mastre Sir
William Plompton kt
probably came of a Kentish family, hence his daughter’s profession in the Dominican
convent at Dartford Abbey, J.W. Kirby, ‘Women in the Plumpton Correspondence:
Fiction and Reality’, in I. Wood & G.A. Loud (eds), Church and Chronicle in the Middle Ages:
Essays Presented to John Taylor (1991), 229; Idem, NH, xxv, 114.

     ^a Marginal note: 18 letter.
     ^b Marginal note: Copied 12 January 1612, Tewsday.

     ¹ The letter must have been written before 1469 when Sir William acknowleged his
secret marriage to Joan Wintringham, and after the death of Sir Edmund Ingoldesthorpe
in 1456, note 4, below; App. III.

     ² The writer and his brother, John, treasurer of the cathedral church of York 1459–77,

     ³ Probably the daughter of Richard Marley and Sir William’s niece, Alice, daughter
of Godfrey Plumpton.

    ⁴ Godfrey Greene’s letter 14 Feb. 1463/4 suggests that Sir William desired a place for
his kinswoman in the household of Joan, Lady Ingoldesthorpe, 9; App. III.

   ⁵ William Hastings, chamberlain of the household 1461, Ross, Edward IV, 74–5 and
passim.

LETTER X.

To my right especiall and singuler good mastre Sir William
Plompton, kt.

    Myne owne speciall and singuler master, with all my hole heart
and service I recomend me unto your best beloved good master-
ship, humblie thanking it for all that I am bound to thank itt for.
Please it the same to knowne that from my departure out of
London after Christenmes into good fryday last was kam, I not to
my lodging were ye sew me last, ne never since that time herd I
word nor wryting from you; nor over that, I understand not by
any wryting that my brother the tresurer ^a hath sent me sith
that time, that he receaved the letter which I sent him by your
Mastership: whearfore I send John Hawkins bearer hereof now to
se your gretliest desired welfare, trusting that by him again ward I
shall hastely be ascertained thereof, with all your commaundements
and desires, which I shall ever be desireous to observe as fer as
my simple power may to atteine, with the mercy of our lord, whom
I beseech to have your singuler and best be trusted mastership in
his most safe gard and goverment, graunting it as much prospe-
rite, hertes comfort, and welfare as your gentl heart with his plea-
sure best shall like to desire. Scribled in hast with mine owne
hand in default of other helpe att London the 21 of June, which
day your dayly Bedewoman my huswif desired that by this rude
sedule, she may humblie be recommended to your most loving
mastership, and to signifie how God bred her to be delivered of
her son Nicholas on Tewsday the 4 of this month, and how that
on Saturday last was my daughter Agnes accepted into the habitt
of St. Dominike ordre att Dertford, like as the said bearer kan
enforme your mastership; which wold also lyke to knowe how
that now of late I was with my lady Ingolshorp, ^b whose ladyship
is well recovered of the great sicknes that she hath endured many
day past, at which time my mistris Isabell Marley was in good
hele, thankid be God, and lett me witt how she likes right wele and
greatly is bounden to my lady. My master Rauf Haukins and
mistresse his wife, now being lodged at the lions, my mistres F.S.
now being Wulwich with her brother and sister kin and others
your well willers, servants, and bed folkes in this country were in
hele att the makeing hereof, thanked be God. I conceive there is
displesure hanging that ye saw not my lord Chamberlaine ^c upon
his being in the north, as well for that ye comfort not my said
maistresse S. ne none of her frends in the matter ye know of, for
the which I have bene often called upon sith Paske: it were to be
done as me seemeth to make writing from you to my maistres S.
thanking her of her trew and loving heart, excuseing the non
accomplishment of her desire in such wis as yee can well enough,
and soe to put her out of dispaire, for as I understand she hath
offers great by right worshipfull. In the matter touching the
?48 13s. 4d. I have opened the specialties thereof unto John
Hawkins, to whom in that behalfe please your maistershipp to
give faith and credence.

    (21 June, anno circiter 1465.)        HUGH PAGNAM. ^d

    ^a John Pakengham treasurer of the cathedral church of York from 1459 to 1477,
in which year he died. See his monumental inscription, Drake's Ebor. p. 499.

 ^b Joan Lady Ingaldesthorp, relict of Sir Edmund de Ingaldesthorp, who died 2 Sept.
1456, and sister of John Earl of Worcester. Her daughter was married to John Nevill,
Earl of Northumberland, and after 1469 Marquis Montague.

    ^c William Lord Hastings, Lord Chamberlain to King Edward IV.

    ^d Hugh Pagnam was probably an ancestor of the family connected with the county
of Kent in the reign of Edw. VI., when a Hugh Pakenham owned jure ux. the
Moat in Ightham. His correspondence with Sir William Plumpton apparently
had for its motive the urging on a declaration of marriage to the lady named
Mistress F.S. on whom Sir William Plumpton had made a favourable impression.
This letter will therefore have been written before the secret marriage of Sir William
had been divulged in 1468. Mr. Rocliffe's labour to "Lady Inglestrop," spoken of in
Letter VII. was, it may be conjectured, simply with a view to the obtaining a place in
the household of the great lady for Mrs. Isabel Marely, a niece of Sir William Plump-
ton, as we find her residing with the "Lady Ingolshorp," and greatly bounden to her
at the date of this letter.