John Pullein to Sir Robert Plumpton

165 John Pullein to Sir Robert Plumpton, [6 November 1502]      (No. 153, p.
        95)

[p. 96] Sir, after my duety remembred vnto your mastership, please it
you the same to know þat by instant labour I have gotte a copie of the
wryt of thassisse & playnt agaynst you, to þe intent therby to haue a
wryt of error,¹ which wryt, by the advise of your counsell, which I had
togither, is put to making; and for the expedition therof it shall want
no dyligence nor calling vppon. For þe costs & expences about thes
busines wilbe great.² Therfore I wold ye prepared money to send vppon
all goodly hast; & your learned counsell thinketh verily, if the law
maybe indefferently hard, þat þe proceeding in the sayd assies is error.
 It is so þat Mr Frawyke is made cheife iustice of the common place,
and therfor ye must myse his counsell; & þat I forthynke. Sir, I haue
deliuered your letters, as well to Mr Under Tresorer³ as to Blackwall; &
Mr Tresorer⁴ shewed me aparte how your wryting was, & [I] desired
him, seeing your great troble & cost, to spare the payment þat ye owed
him for a season; & þat he sayd he myght not doe in no wyse, because
he had appoynted such summes of money as ye owe him to pay it to
[other]^a persons. And further sayd þat he could not do no other wayes
but attempt the law against you & your suerty if ye pay not according
to your wrytting. I intreated him as specially as I could to spare you
for a season, but it wyll not be. Therfore make schift to pay him, or
els you & your surty wilbe sued. Euer after this as I may have knowledg
in all your [matters]^b to your comforth, I shall wryt [p. 97] to your
mastership, with the grace of almyghty God, who send you & all yours
ther healths also. From Lyncolnes Inn, this Sunday next after All Saints
Day. Sir, for all other matters this berer can shew you at large, for a
proteccon & what your lerned counsell sayd therin.

Your beadman     John Pullan^c

Frynds þe bishop of Rochester⁵ & Doctor Wargham⁶

Endorsed (p. 95): To the right worshipfull Sir Robart Plompton knight

     ^a MS your.

     ^b MS knowledg.

     ^c Appended: Copied the 23 of Aprill 1613.

     ¹ An error in the wording of a writ might be sufficient cause for the reversal of a
verdict, Hastings, 158n.

     ² The greater proportion of legal fees was for administrative costs. Though fees for
consultations and court appearances were not high, they were paid frequently: ‘Even
with prominent counsel little and often was the rule’, Hastings, 108; Ives, CL, 306.

     ³ Sir Robert Lytton, 147.

     ⁴ Thomas Howard, earl of Surrey, HBC, 103.

     ⁵ Richard Fitzjames, bishop of Rochester, ibid., 240.

     ⁶ William Warham, provided to the bishopric of London 1501, ibid., 240.

LETTER CXXXI.

To the right worshipfull Sir Robart Plompton, kt.

    Sir, after my duety remembred unto your mastership, please it
you the same to know, that by instant labour I have gott a copie
of the wryt of thassisse and playnt agaynst you, to the intent
therby to have a wryt of error; which wryt, by the advise of your
counsell, which I had togither, is put to making : and for the ex-
pedition therof, it shall want no dyligence, nor calling uppon.^a
For the costs and expenses about thes busines wilbe great, therfore
I wold ye prepared money to send, uppon all goodly hast. And
your learned counsell thinketh veryly, if the law may be indef-
ferently hard, that the proceeding in th sayd assies is error. It
is so that master Forwyke is made Cheife Justice of the Common
place,^b and therfore ye must myse his counsell ; and that I for-
thinke. Sir, I have delivered your letters, as well to Mr. Under
tresorer,^c as to Blackwall ;and Mr. Tresorer shewed me aparte
how your wryting was. I desired him, seeing your great troble
and cost, to spare the payment that ye owed him for a season; and
that he sayd he myght not doe in no wyse, because he had ap-
poynted such summes of money as ye owe him, to pay it to other
persons; and further sayd, that he could not do no other wayes
but attempt the law agaynst you and your suerty, if ye pay not
according to your wrytting. I intreated him as specially as I could,
to spare you for a season, but it wyll not be ; therfore make
schift to pay him, or els you and your surty wilbe sued. Ever
after, this, as I may have knowledg in all your matters to your
comforth, I shall wryt to your mastership, with the grace of Al-
myghty God, who send you and all yours ther healths also. From
Lyncolns Inne, this sunday next after All Saints day. Sir, for all
other matters this berer can shew you at large, for a proteccion,
and what your lerned counsell sayd therin.

                                                                Yor beadman JOHN PULLAN.
        Frynds the Bishop of Rochester d and Docter Warghhan. ^e
    (6 Nov. 1502.)

    ^a By deed bearing date 7 May, 17 Hen. VII. 1502, John Ingilby, esq. as the heir of, or
surviving feoffee in some settlement made by SirWilliam Plumpton in the reign of Edw. IV.
conveyed his estate in the manors of Plumpton, Idill, Steveton, Garsington in Craven,
and Little Studley, near Ripon, to Robert Bubwith, clerk, and Richard Burgh, Chaplain,
to which Thomas Ros, Richard Goldsbrough, John Acclome, and James Ros, esqs.
subscribed as witnesses (Chartul. No. 818) ; and at the assizes held at York in the
month of September in that year, the parties thus enfeoffed had recovered the manor
of Plumpton against Sir Robert Plumpton. (See Memoirs.) It was now sought to
discover error in the proceedings, and at the same time application was made for Sir
Robert Plumpton to be appointed a Knight of the King's Body, in order that he might
have in the meanwhile the privilege of being protected against civil process and arrest.

    ^b Thomas Forwyk, Chief Justice C.P. Writ tested 30 Sept. 18 Hen. VII. [1502].
Obiit 17 Oct. 1506, buried at Finchley. Dugdale in his Origines Judiciales has made
the year of his appointment 1503, by a mistaken calculation of the Annus Domini corres-
ponding with the regnal year of Hen. VII.

    ^c Sir Robert Lytton, kt. Under Treasurer of England.

    ^d Richard Fitz-James, Bishop of Rochester. Appointed 17 May, 1497.

    ^e Edward Vaughan, Treasurer and Prebendary of St. Paul's. Appointed Bishop of
St. David's 13 June, 1509.