Difference between revisions of "MRP: 6th March 1665/66, Letter from William Finch to Sir GO, London"

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[http://www.archive.org/stream/surveyoflondon09londuoft#page/n7/mode/2up London County Council, Survey of London, Part IX, Parish of St. Helen, Bishopsgate, pt. 1 (London, 1924)]
 
[http://www.archive.org/stream/surveyoflondon09londuoft#page/n7/mode/2up London County Council, Survey of London, Part IX, Parish of St. Helen, Bishopsgate, pt. 1 (London, 1924)]
 +
 +
Finch, Henry, ''A true relation of the twenty weeks siege of London derry, by the Scotch, Irish, and dis-affected English,:
 +
with the daily proceeding passages thereof: as also the number of men killd, and taken prisoners on both sides. Related in two letters from Captaine Henry Finch, one of the captains of London derry, and one of the aldermen of the city. To his friend in London'', Printed by R.I. for S.G. and A.W. and are to bee sold at the Exchange, and at Westminster, 1649
 +
 +
Bolton, Jeremy, 'Microhistory in early modern London: John Bedford (1601–1667)', Continuity and Change (2007)
 +
- "This article represents an exercise in microhistory applied to early modern London. Deploying prosopographical methods, it reconstructs the life history of one John Bedford (1601–1667) from his birth in Huntingdon to his death in the West End of London. Much of his adult life was spent in the London parish of St Dionis Backchurch, with an interlude in the Irish town of Londonderry. Bedford fled from Ulster at the outbreak of the Irish Rebellion in 1641. His unusually detailed will provides the bedrock of this narrative, and his reconstructed life sheds important light on ties between London and Ulster, on debt and credit relations and on the methodological strengths and limitations of community studies that focus on a specific place."<ref>Bolton, Jeremy, 'Microhistory in early modern London: John Bedford (1601–1667)', Continuity and Change (2007), 22 : pp 113-141; the article mentions William and Henry Finch, and their link to their father, Henry Finch in Londonderry, Ulster</ref>

Revision as of 22:21, January 30, 2012

6th March 1665/66, Letter from William Finch to Sir GO, London

BL, Add. MS. XX, XXX, ff. ?

Editorial history

18/12/11, CSG: Page created






Abstract & context


William Finch (b. ?1630, d. 1672) wrote to Sir George Oxenden on March 6th, 1665/66, from London.

Finch was a former apprentice of Sir Thomas Chambrelan. Chambrelan, London merchant and friend of Sir George Oxenden, bequeathed William Finch a mourning ring in his will, written in June 1670,[1]

William Finch was a relatively young merchant at the time of writing, having finished his apprenticeship about the mid-1650s.[2]

According to J.R. Woodhead, William Finch was the son of Henry Finch of Londonderry and of Mary Sadler. He married Hesther (alias Esther) Flesher, daughter of the London merchant, John Flesher.[3]

William Finch first appears in EEIC Court Minutes in October 1656, when in his mid-twenties. He was proposed by Samuel Putt as co-security for £900 of calicoes Putt had bought, on which Putt now sought a payment extension.[4] He may have been associated commercially with Rowland Ingram and Sir William Ryder, as well as with Samuel Putt. Certainly, he gave £50 to M:r Samuel Putt in his will, written in 1671.[5] His life was relatively short, reaching only the age of forty-two.

He lived on the East side of Bishopsgate Street in the parish of St. Helen's, Bishopsgate, from at least 1659 till his death in 1672. His residence appears in the 1666 London hearth tax returns with ten hearths.[6] In his will he described himself as a merchant of London.[7] "1672, July 4. M:r William Finch, in the Church in the north quire Closse to S:r Thomas Gresham's monument."[8] A marble wall monument was erected in the church memorialising him and his wife Esther, who died two years later.



Suggested links



To do


(1) Transcribe this letter

(2) Check London visitation pedigrees, 1664 for William Finch/Hester Flesher references



Images

South West Prospect, Church of St. Helen's, Bishopsgate, XXXX


BOOK PLATE SW Prospect St Helens Bishopsgate LCC Survey Pt9 1924 IArch DL 300112.PNG



William Finch, wall monument, 1672


BOOK PLATE Plate 66 William Finch Wall Monument LCC Survey Pt9 1924 IArch DL 300112.PNG



William Finch, floor slab, 1672


BOOK PLATE Plate 112 William Finch Floor Slab LCC Survey Pt9 1924 IArch DL 300112.PNG



Image credits & copyright information


(1) 'The south-west prospect of the church of S:t Helen', Plate 5, in London County Council, Survey of London, Part IX, Parish of St. Helen, Bishopsgate, pt. 1 (London, 1924)

(2) 'William Finch, wall monument, 1672', Church of Saint Helen's, Bishopsgate, plate 66, in London County Council, Survey of London, Part IX, Parish of St. Helen, Bishopsgate, pt. 1 (London, 1924)

(3) 'William Finch, floor slab, 1672', Church of Saint Helen's, Bishopsgate, plate 112, in London County Council, Survey of London, Part IX, Parish of St. Helen, Bishopsgate, pt. 1 (London, 1924)



Transcription


This letter has not yet been transcribed




Notes

Finch, William, J.R. Woodhead (1966)


"FINCH, William

Co Co Bishopsgate Within, 1670-2 Little St Helens, 1672 (1) MER, fr, 1660, by R (£50) (2) b 1630, d 27 Jun, bur 4 Jul 1672 at St Helen (3) Will PCC 87 Eure pr, 8 Jul 1672 f Henry Finch of Londonderry, Ireland, m Mary Sadler of London, mar Hester, da and co-heir of John Flesher of London, merchant (4) Merchant (5) Personalty, 1677/8, "as found charged in his book", £64,946, incl EIC stock £1,400 (6) City property, land Ireland (7) Da Anna Maria mar Samuel, s and heir of Thomas WESTERN (8)

(1) Will (2) CSB, II, 423b, MER, Fr List, p 183 (3) LCC Survey of London, No 9 St Helen Bishopsgate (1924), p 54 (4) LVP, 1664, p 62 (5) Will, CSB, II, 243b/Inv (6) CSB, II, 243b (7) CSB, II, 243b/Inv (8) LVP, 1664, pp 63, 149"[9]



Will of Sir Thomas Chambrelan, 1670


"I give to my loveing ffreinds M:r John ?Pliye M:r William ffinch and M:r Thomas Papillon Merchants To each of them Tenn pounds to buy mourning"[10]
- William Finch was a former apprentice (as was Thomas Papillon)



Henry Finch, Londonderry


Order for 215 l. 2 s. 7 d. to Finch, for Victual and Ammunition.

"Upon Mr. Goodwin's Report from the Committee for Irish Affairs, That Mr. Henry Finch hath transported to Londonderry, and there delivered, Victual and Ammunition for the Regiments thereabouts (as is certified by the Mayor of that City, and divers of the Colonels, under their Hands and Seals, being Commissioners for that Place), to the Value of Two Hundred Fifteen Pounds, Two Shillings, Seven Pence: It is this Day Ordered, by the Lords and Commons in Parliament, That the said Mr. Henry Finch shall be paid the said Sum of Two Hundred Fifteen Pounds, Two Shillings, and Seven Pence, out of the Adventurers money for Ireland, and such Monies as shall be next raised for the Service of Ireland."[11]

'The Garrison of the City of Londonderry

18th August 1643

In the Garrison of the City of Londonderry

The Muster Roll of Henry Finch???s Company of Foot

(These men were in the main from the Parish of Faughanvale Co Londonderry)

Captain Henry Finch
Lieutenant George Cooke
Ensign George Downinge..."[12]

"[A.D. 1665. Chap. 2.] XCII. Whereas captaine Henry Finch, late of Londonderry, deceased, in pursuance of a commission from Sir William Parson, and Sir John Birlacy, sometimes Lords justices of Ireland, did in the month of Novemberone thousand six hundred and forty one, levy and arm a company of foot, consisting of one hundred men besides officers, in the county of the city of Londonderry, and maintained the said company for three years at his own charges, and continued the command of the said company against the rebells from the month of November one thousand six hundred and forty one, until the month of October one thousand six hundred and forty eight, and was then disbanded without receiving the least satisfaction, and yet nevertheless the arrears due to the said Henry Finch, for his service before the fifth of June one thousand six hundred and forty nine, have not been cast up, nor stated by the commissioners for execution of the said former act, partly by reason of some doubt conceived that the said company was not upon the stablishment of the Ulster army, whereas in truth the said company was received into the said establishment.....William Finch and Henry Finch, sons and administrators of the said Henry Finch deceased, shall be satisfied and paid, and are hereby enabled to demand, and receive satisfaction equally and proportionably, having respect to the arrears stated, and in like manner as any other commissioned officer who served before the fifth of June one thousand six hundred and forty nine..."[13]



EEIC, 1655-1659


"[October 22, 1656] Samuel Putt desires extension of time for payment of 900/. worth of calicoes he bought, and proposes himself and William Finch, formerly servant to Major Chamberlaine, as securities ; the Court agrees but wishes first to ascertain who Finch is, as they know nothing about him."[14]

"[February 6, 1657] Certain Committees are desired to examine and report on some benzoin bought by William Finch, which he declares is damaged."[15]

"[February 13, 1657] The generality leaving and about twelve Committees remaining, these, after consideration of the report on Mr. Finch's request for allowance on benzoin, refuse him any, but agree to accept him and Zachary Gardner as securities for the same"[16]

"[February 25, 1657] On information that all the benzoin brought home in the East India Merchant has been shipped out again, and that about 1,500 lb. is wanting to clear up Mr. Finch's parcel, the Court orders that Finch be allowed the impost, but Tomblings is first to explain how it is that there is more benzoin to export than was imported."[17]

"[March 11, 1657] Samuel Putt, Rowland Ingram, and William Finch are accepted as security for 430/. for six months, on condition that Finch pays in 100/. and gives a penal bond for the said 430/. by this day week."[18]
- Note that Rowland Ingram was presumably related to Sir Arthur Ingram, who was son-in-law of Sir Thomas Chambrelan, William Finch's former master

"[July 15, 1657] William Finch is granted extension of time for payment for calicoes, and he and Robert Ostler are accepted as security, they to give a penal bond ; but first Finch is to clear his debt of 309/. The Court, being satisfied how it happened that more benzoin was delivered than was imported, orders Finch to be allowed the custom and impost on his parcel of benzoin, which could not be exported by certificate according to his bargain."[19]



EEIC, 1660-1663


"[July 4, 1660] Francis Clarke, Nicholas Warren, and Philip Jegon, accepted as securities for pepper, and William Finch, Samuel Harris, Jacob Strange, Roger Scattergood, and George Smith as securities for calicoes."[20]

"[February 18, 1662] Certain Committees are desired to examine and make suitable allowance on cardamoms bought by Sir William Ryder and William Finch, on indigo bought by Mr. Thomson, and on tincall bought by Mr. Thetcher."[21]



Mr. Finch in Sir George Oxenden correspondence


In late March or early April 1666, Sir Henry Oxenden sold musk to Christopher Boone and M.r Finch:

upon the importunity of XXX [worm hole] our Cozn. Boone, I have sould your 2 great potts of muske to him & Mr. Finch at ye: same rates, but have bogt [??] back, ye: 3 long Potts, xxxxx beleeving wee shall have a better markt:[22]



William Finch, merchant, St. Helen's, Bishopsgate, London


"[BAPTISMS] [1660] Aug. 10 William s. of William Finch, Marchant, and Ester his wife"[23]

Aug. 14 John s. of William Finch, Marchant, and Ester his wife

born 6 Dec. Thomas s. of William Finch, Marchant

1666 April 8 William s. of William Finch, merchant, and Hester his wife;

1667 Sep. 7 Anna Marrea d. of William Finch, marchant, and Hester his wife

1668 Beniamen s. of William Finch, marchant, and Hester his wife

1670 Mar. 1 John s. of William Finch, marchant, and Hester his wife

1671 Samuell s. of William Finch, marchant, and Hester his wife

"VII.—MONUMENTS WITHIN THE CHURCH

Starting from the east end of the nuns' quire with the two altar tombs upon a slightly raised platform....

4. WILLIAM FINCH, 1672.

Wall-monument of marble with Ionic columns at the sides supporting an entablature and curved broken pediment with a cartouche of arms. In the middle is an inscription on black marble within an oval wreath of bay leaves. Below a projecting moulded shelf is a second inscribed panel between a pair of moulded corbels each with a cherub's head upon it. Below this again on an apron is a shield of arms and swags.

Arms:

(i) (Argent) a cheveron (sable) between three griffins passant (sable).

(ii) (i) impaling (argent) a cross engrailed (sable) between four pellets each charged with a pheon (argent).

The inscription is as follows:

Siste Gradum
Peripatetice, & paulisper contemplare,
Ornatissimi Microcosmi heu! breves reliquias
Nunc in pulverem redacti olim
Guilielmi Finch, Armigeri antiquâ & data
in Agro Cantij Familia oriundi
Naturæ & Gratiœ dotibus egregie nobilitati Ad Oris Corporisq.
Venustatem accessit maior Animœ pulchritudo optimis virtutibus insignitæ Quas in Christianæ Religionis testimonium et decus luculenter
usque exernit
Eximia in Deum. O. M. Pietate erga Sacros Pastores. summā
Reverentia, Fidelitate in Principem, Justitia in Proximum Conjugali
Paternacq Indulgentia Singulari in Familiares affectu integerrima pro
pensa in Omnes Benevolentia; Linguâ castus et candidus manu supra
fidem Liberalis; Nemini turpiter obloqui, aut obtrectare solitus omnibus
benefacere, inprimis Egenis absqb, prœcinente buccina, Eleemosynis pariter ac
Thesauris plenus, quos probe accumulatos in Terra plurimos prudens Mercator
in Cœlo recondidit, Vitam tandem commutandis aliquandiu mercibus pros
pere transactam 42 Ætatis annum emensus Jun 27. 1672
Meliori quæstu cum Morte comutavit.
Relictis & bonœ spei Parvulis cum dilectissima et
Amantissima Uxore quæ in perpetuam tam chari Capuis Me
moriam Monumentum hoc, constantissimi Amoris Pignus, extruendum curavit, Ipsa interim mœrore cum Illo consepulta

Abi iam attonitus Viator, & mirare
tam probum in tam pravo seculo Virum,
aut vivere potuisse, aut debuisse
MORI.

Esther Finch Foemina castissima, Viro morigera, et curæ domesticæ dulce levamen Liberorvm (quos septem reliquit) Mater provida, Sincera pietate, alacri erga tenuiores benignitate, libera litate in omnes, morvm denique sanctitate conspicva. Viri (dvm in vivis esset) decus simul et solamen; defvncti, Vidua svpra qvamdici potest moestissima. Vixit Annos 41. Menses 5. demp tis Diebus 11. Obiit Maii Die 4. ANNO SALVTIS 1673."[24]



St. Helen's, Bishopsgate, hearth tax, 1666: extracts


Bishop gat Street the East side

Chamberlin 10 hearths

Sr John Langham 30 hearths

Bishops gate west

Gressum Colledge 39 hearths

In Great St Hellens

Beniamine Skitt (sic) 12 hearths

Abraham Moone 12 hearths
John Fenn 5 hearths

Sr John Lawrence 26 hearths

William Finch 10 hearths

Little St Hellens

Barnidisston 11 hearths

Henry Spurstoe 10 hearths

Edward Bushell 11 hearths"[25]



Possible primary sources

TNA


C 2/ChasI/B7/23 Short title: Bromfield v Finch. Plaintiff: Bromfield. Defendant: Finch and others. Document type: [Bill and answer or answers]. Between 1625 and 1660

C 6/108/17 Short title: Bayley v Finch. Plaintiffs: William Bayley and George Blackwell. Defendants: William Finch. Subject: property in Bushey, Hertfordshire. Document type: bill, answer. 1650

PROB 4/8273 Finch, Joseph, esq., of St. Buttolph, Bishopsgate, London, Citizen and Fishmonger 1670 31 Dec.
- Joseph Finch, fishmonger, according to J.R. Woodhead (1966), was unrelated to William Finch
PROB 4/21502 Finch, Mary, of St. Hellen, London ob. at [?Quarryes], Essex 1679 3 May
- Is this William Finch's mother, who was living in 1671, when William Finch wrote his will?

PROB 11/164 Russell 58-117 Will of John Flesher, Merchant of London 05 December 1633
- Possible father-in-law of William Finch, the letter writer to Sir George Oxenden
PROB 11/282 Wootton 524-574 Will of Robert Ostler, Merchant Tailor of Trinity London 08 October 1658
PROB 11/339 Eure 55-107 Will of William Finch, Merchant of London 08 July 1672
PROB 11/340 Eure 108-157 Will of Samuell Putt of Totnes, Devon 18 November 1672
PROB 11/393 Exton 131-172 Will of Edmund Putt, Merchant of Port and City of Saint Maria 02 October 1688



Possible secondary sources


London County Council, Survey of London, Part IX, Parish of St. Helen, Bishopsgate, pt. 1 (London, 1924)

Finch, Henry, A true relation of the twenty weeks siege of London derry, by the Scotch, Irish, and dis-affected English,:
with the daily proceeding passages thereof: as also the number of men killd, and taken prisoners on both sides. Related in two letters from Captaine Henry Finch, one of the captains of London derry, and one of the aldermen of the city. To his friend in London, Printed by R.I. for S.G. and A.W. and are to bee sold at the Exchange, and at Westminster, 1649

Bolton, Jeremy, 'Microhistory in early modern London: John Bedford (1601–1667)', Continuity and Change (2007)

- "This article represents an exercise in microhistory applied to early modern London. Deploying prosopographical methods, it reconstructs the life history of one John Bedford (1601–1667) from his birth in Huntingdon to his death in the West End of London. Much of his adult life was spent in the London parish of St Dionis Backchurch, with an interlude in the Irish town of Londonderry. Bedford fled from Ulster at the outbreak of the Irish Rebellion in 1641. His unusually detailed will provides the bedrock of this narrative, and his reconstructed life sheds important light on ties between London and Ulster, on debt and credit relations and on the methodological strengths and limitations of community studies that focus on a specific place."[26]
  1. Sir Thomas Chambrelan will
  2. 'A Court of Committees for the United Joint Stock, October 22, 1656' (Court Book, vol. xxiii, p. 547), in Ethel Bruce Sainsbury (ed.), A Calendar of the Court Minutes of the East India Company, 1655-1659 (Oxford, 1916), pp. 118-119
  3. 'Finch, William', in J.R. Woodhead, 'Fabian - Fyge', The Rulers of London 1660-1689: A biographical record of the Aldermen and Common Councilment of the City of London (1966), pp. 67-74
  4. 'A Court of Committees for the United Joint Stock, October 22, 1656' (Court Book, vol. xxiii, p. 547), in Ethel Bruce Sainsbury (ed.), A Calendar of the Court Minutes of the East India Company, 1655-1659 (Oxford, 1916), pp. 118-119
  5. William Finch will
  6. 'Hearth Tax: City of London 1666: St Helen Bishopsgate ', London Hearth Tax: City of London and Middlesex, 1666 (2011). URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=118780 Date accessed: 21 January 2012
  7. PROB 11/339 Eure 55-107 Will of William Finch, Merchant of London 08 July 1672
  8. W. Bruce Bannerman, The registers of St. Helen's, Bishopsgate, London (London, 1904), p. 319
  9. 'Finch, William', in J.R. Woodhead, 'Fabian - Fyge', The Rulers of London 1660-1689: A biographical record of the Aldermen and Common Councilment of the City of London (1966), pp. 67-74
  10. Sir Thomas Chambrelan will
  11. 'House of Lords Journal Volume 6: 23 September 1643', Journal of the House of Lords: volume 6: 1643 (1767-1830), pp. 230-232. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=37353 Date accessed: 30 January 2012
  12. http://www.ulsterancestry.com/ShowFreePage.php?id=194, viewed 30/01/12
  13. Statutes passed in the parliaments held in Ireland, vol. 2 (Dublin, 1794), p. 59
  14. 'A Court of Committees for the United Joint Stock, October 22, 1656' (Court Book, vol. xxiii, p. 547), in Bruce Sainsbury (ed.), A Calendar of the Court Minutes of the East India Company, 1655-1659 (Oxford, 1916), pp. 118-119
  15. 'A Court of Committees for the United Joint Stock, February 6, 1657 (Court Book, vol. xxiii, p. 558), in Ethel Bruce Sainsbury (ed.), A Calendar of the Court Minutes of the East India Company, 1655-1659 (Oxford, 1916), p. 142
  16. 'A General Court of Adventurers in the Fourth Joint Stock and the United Joint Stock, February 13, 1657' (Court Book, vol. xxiii, p. 560), in Ethel Bruce Sainsbury (ed.), A Calendar of the Court Minutes of the East India Company, 1655-1659 (Oxford, 1916), p. 145
  17. 'A Court of Committees for the United Joint Stock, February 25, 1657' (Court Book, vol. xxiii, p. 561), in Ethel Bruce Sainsbury (ed.), A Calendar of the Court Minutes of the East India Company, 1655-1659 (Oxford, 1916), pp. 144-145
  18. 'A Court of Committees for the United Joint Stock, March 11, 1657' (Court Book, vol. xxiii, p. ?), in Ethel Bruce Sainsbury (ed.), A Calendar of the Court Minutes of the East India Company, 1655-1659 (Oxford, 1916), p. 149
  19. 'A Court of Committees for the United Joint Stock, July 15, 1657' (Court Book, vol. xxiii, p. 580) in Ethel Bruce Sainsbury (ed.), A Calendar of the Court Minutes of the East India Company, 1655-1659 (Oxford, 1916), p. 155
  20. 'A Court of Committees, July 4, 1660' (Court Book, vol. xxiv, p. 273), in Ethel Bruce Sainsbury (ed.), A Calendar of the Court Minutes of the East India Company, 1660-1663 (Oxford, 1922), pp. 22-23
  21. 'A Court of Committees, February 18, 1662' (Court Book, vol. xxiv, p. 462), in Ethel Bruce Sainsbury (ed.), A Calendar of the Court Minutes of the East India Company, 1660-1663 (Oxford, 1922), p. 184
  22. 1st April 1666, Letter from Sir Henry Oxinden to Sir GO
  23. W. Bruce Bannerman, The registers of St. Helen's, Bishopsgate, London (London, 1904), p. 39
  24. Minnie Reddan and Alfred W. Clapham, 'St. Helen's Bishopsgate: Monuments within the church', Survey of London: volume 9: The parish of St Helen, Bishopsgate, part I (1924), pp. 52-79. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=98362 Date accessed: 21 January 2012
  25. 'Hearth Tax: City of London 1666: St Helen Bishopsgate ', London Hearth Tax: City of London and Middlesex, 1666 (2011). URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=118780 Date accessed: 21 January 2012
  26. Bolton, Jeremy, 'Microhistory in early modern London: John Bedford (1601–1667)', Continuity and Change (2007), 22 : pp 113-141; the article mentions William and Henry Finch, and their link to their father, Henry Finch in Londonderry, Ulster