Sir John Kendal to Sir John Paston

Add. 27446, f. 102

before 1503

Gairdner, Vol VI, item 1069; Fenn, Vol V, Henry VII item 34

LETTER XXXIV.

To the right Worshipful and
      my right entierly welbeloued Cosin
      and frende Sir John Paston
      Knight

RIGHT worshipfull S^r I Recomaunde me onto you J wryte
this onely unto you to aduise you that I was mynded that
my Cousin Clippesby berer herof shuld well haue maryed
here in thies parts wherin your nyce toke hevy Conceyte
thinking in hir mynde that I was not willing that my said
Cousin should marye with hir At that tyme J knewe not
what love was bitwix them But now J undrestand that bothe
there mynds is to mary to geders Whervnto on my parte J
am agreble and wel Content Desiring and praying you to be
the same And to be the better frende onto them at this my
prayer and instaunce And what pleasir as J may doo vnto
you in thies parts shal be redye in that I may at yo^r Desires
And I pray you to Recommaunde me to my Cousin yo^r nyce
And Jhu pres^rue you Writen at london the first day of
Juyn.

Your own the Priour of Saint Johns
S^r JOHN KENDAL.

10 by 5¼.

           Paper Mark,
          The Letter P,
        and a Caterfoil.
         Pl. xiii. No. 3.

John Clippesby, of Oby, in Norfolk, Esq. was a ward to the Duke of Nor-
folk, of whom William Paston, Esq. purchased the wardship and marriage.
The pedigree of his family says that he married “Custance or Constantia, a
daughter of . . . . . Paston of Norfolk.”

This lady must be, therefore, the natural daughter of the late Sir John
Paston, brother to the present Sir John, and his niece. See Letter L. of this
volume.

The date of this letter cannot be exactly ascertained; I suppose it to have
been written between 1495 and 1500, as no notice is taken of Lady Paston,
who died in the former year; and as the niece seems now to have resided with
her uncle Sir John.

The Monastery of St. John’s, Jerusalem, in Middlesex, was founded by Jor-
danus Briset 1100, and governed by a Prior, who must have been born a gen-
tleman of blood, and who was styled “Primus Angliae Baro.”

Sir John Kendal appears as Prior in 1491, and again in 1501; his letter
seems dictated both by kindness and affection towards the young people who
are the subject of it.

Autograph, Pl. xxx. No. 6.

The following extract from ?The Medallic History of England to the Re-
volution,” by Edwards and Sons, 4to. 1790, will not be here misplaced.

“The first contemporary medal is of Sir John Kendal, Turcopolier, or General
of the Cavalry of the order of Rhodes, now of Malta. This office being annexed
to that of Grand Prior of England, was generally held by Englishmen; and
there are fine medals of Sir Richard Shelly, the last English Grand Prior,
the Reformation annihilating that dignity. Obverse, head, JO. KENDAL.
RHODI TURCUPELLERIUS. Reverse, the Arms of Kendal, TEM-
PORE OBSIDIONIS TURCORUM MCCCCLXXX.

“This medal, which is evidently done in Italy at the time, (as the reader may
perceive by comparing its fabric with the early Italian medals in the Musaeum
Mazzuchellianum,) is cast, not struck.

“It was found in Knaresborough Forest, in the beginning of this century,
and passed into the Museum of Mr. Thoresby, who published it in his ‘Duca-
tus Leediensis.’ It is now in the Devonshire Collection.”

LETTER XXXIV.

To the right worshipful and my right entirely well-beloved
Cousin and Friend, Sir John Paston, Knight.

RIGHT worshipful Sir, I recommend me unto you. I write
this only unto you, to advise you that I was minded that my
Cousin Clippesby, bearer hereof, should well have married
here in these parts, wherein your niece took heavy conceit,
thinking in her mind, that I was not willing that my said
Cousin should marry with her.

At that time I knew not what love was betwixt them;
but now I understand that both their minds are to marry to-
gether; whereunto, on my part, I am agreeable and well
content, desiring and praying you to be the same; and to be
the better friend unto them at this my prayer and instance.
And what [such] pleasure, as I may do unto you in these
parts, shall be ready, in that I may, at your desires.

And I pray you to recommend me to my Cousin your
niece; and Jesu preserve you.

Written at London, the first day of June.

Your own, the Prior of St. John’s,
SIR JOHN KENDAL

               London,
              1st June,
   Between 1495 and 1500.
        10 and 15 Hen. vii.

John Clippesby, of Oby, in Norfolk, Esq. was a ward to the Duke of Nor-
folk, of whom William Paston, Esq. purchased the wardship and marriage.
The pedigree of his family says that he married “Custance or Constantia, a
daughter of . . . . . Paston of Norfolk.”

This lady must be, therefore, the natural daughter of the late Sir John
Paston, brother to the present Sir John, and his niece. See Letter L. of this
volume.

The date of this letter cannot be exactly ascertained; I suppose it to have
been written between 1495 and 1500, as no notice is taken of Lady Paston,
who died in the former year; and as the niece seems now to have resided with
her uncle Sir John.

The Monastery of St. John’s, Jerusalem, in Middlesex, was founded by Jor-
danus Briset 1100, and governed by a Prior, who must have been born a gen-
tleman of blood, and who was styled “Primus Angliae Baro.”

Sir John Kendal appears as Prior in 1491, and again in 1501; his letter
seems dictated both by kindness and affection towards the young people who
are the subject of it.

Autograph, Pl. xxx. No. 6.

The following extract from ?The Medallic History of England to the Re-
volution,” by Edwards and Sons, 4to. 1790, will not be here misplaced.

“The first contemporary medal is of Sir John Kendal, Turcopolier, or General
of the Cavalry of the order of Rhodes, now of Malta. This office being annexed
to that of Grand Prior of England, was generally held by Englishmen; and
there are fine medals of Sir Richard Shelly, the last English Grand Prior,
the Reformation annihilating that dignity. Obverse, head, JO. KENDAL.
RHODI TURCUPELLERIUS. Reverse, the Arms of Kendal, TEM-
PORE OBSIDIONIS TURCORUM MCCCCLXXX.

“This medal, which is evidently done in Italy at the time, (as the reader may
perceive by comparing its fabric with the early Italian medals in the Musaeum
Mazzuchellianum,) is cast, not struck.

“It was found in Knaresborough Forest, in the beginning of this century,
and passed into the Museum of Mr. Thoresby, who published it in his ‘Duca-
tus Leediensis.’ It is now in the Devonshire Collection.”

1069

SIR JOHN KENDAL TO SIR JOHN PASTON¹

To the right worshipful and my right entierly welbeloved
cosin and frende, Sir John Paston, Knight.

RIGHT worshipfull sir, I recommaunde me unto you. I
wryte this onely unto you, to advise you that I was
mynded that my cousin Clippesby,² berer herof, shuld
wele have maryed here in thies partes, wherin your nyce³
toke hevy conceyte, thinking in hir mynde, that I was not
willing that my said cousin shulde marye with hir.

At that tyme I knewe not what love was bitwix them, but
now I undrestand that bothe there myndes is to mary to
geders; wherunto on my parte, I am agreble and wel content,
desiring and praying you to be the same, and to be the better
frende unto them at this my prayer and instaunce. And what
pleasir as I may doo unto you in thies partes shal be redye, in
that I may, at your desires. And I pray you to recommaunde
me to my cousin your nyce. And Jesu preserve you.

Writen at London, the first day of Juyn.

Your own, the Priour of Saint Johns,

SIR JOHN KENDAL.

¹ [From Paston MSS., B.M.] Sir John Kendal was Prior of St. John’s from 1491
to 1501, and probably later, so that there is nothing clearly to fix the date of this
letter, except that it was written before the death of Sir John Paston in 1503.

² John Clippesby, Esq. of Oby.

³ Constance, daughter of William Paston, Sir John’s brother.

Before
1503