Discovering information about William Ginne in Berkhamsted in 1484, 'innholder' and executor of Richard Kymbell.
CP40/890 Michaelmas Term, 1484, sorted by plaintiff (By Rosemary Simons)
f/d: d
Image: 1060
County: Herts
Case Type: debt
Plaintiff: Ginne, William, of Berkhamsted, innholder, executor of; (Kymbell, Richard)
Defendant: Kene, John, of Little Gadesden, husbandman; Hykbyd, Thomas, of Little Gadesden, laborer
As much as I have been able to find, so far.
It would appear that Gyn men did service to Edward, Black Prince, John of Guant, Ralph Basset and probably Sir John Peryent as well.
In 1347, an
"Indenture between the prince and Robert de Kymbell and Christiana, his wife, witnessing that the prince, by assent of his council, has leased to them for their lives and a year after their death all the lands and tenements which William le Tournour of Berkhamstede, deceased, held for life of the prince's lease, to wit, the houses and tenements built in William's time on lands near the river over against the church of North Berkhamstede, 334 acres 1 rood 12 perches of arable land of the demesne lands of the manor of Berkhamsted in the fields called Dodeswell, Northcherchesfeld, and Northmellefeld, 15 acres of meadow in Longmede, 5 acres of meadow in Brodemede, 4 acres of meadow in Hoggesmore near the 'tumbrell,' 15 acres of pasture lying between the ox-house of the manor and Le Northmen, and 4 acres of pasture lying between the demesne lands and the river over against Le Northcherche, at a yearly rent of 10l. 15s. l0d. payable by equal portions at Easter and Michaelmas by the hands of the bailiff of the castle and manor of Berkhamstede. And they shall have 'housbote' and 'haybote' in the prince's foreign woods, and all the dung from the castle and the stables which are to be built where the grange and ox-houses of the manor now are.
And Robert shall have a robe yearly of the livery of the prince's esquires. And the said Robert and Christiana grant that, if the rent be wholly or partly in arrear for a month after any of the said terms, then the prince may re-enter into the premises, and hold them, together with all the goods found there, until he be satisfied of the arrears. And both parties have agreed that when Robert and Christiana die they will leave the houses in as good repair, and the tillable lands as well tilled, as they were when they received them, or better, to wit, 89 acres ploughed for fallow (warelles) and turned over three times (rebines) for the next year's winter season, and 18 of them manured by sheep (la-faude).
Order to Roger le Graunt, the princes yeoman and constable and bailiff of Berkhamsted, and Robert, the prince's parker there, —in pursuance of the above indenture, —to deliver to Robert and Christiana the lands mentioned therein, and 'housbote' and 'haybote' in the foreign wood of Berkhamsted".
So, the lease of land to Robert de Kymbell and his wife, Christiana was directly from Edward, The Black Prince.
In 1351, an "Order to Roger le Graunt, the prince's yeoman and steward and constable of the castle of Berkhamstede,—inasmuch as the prince by advice of his council has ordained that Robert de Kynebelle and Christiana, his wife, who have taken at farm the prince's demesne lands of Berkhamstede for the term of their lives ...".
In the same year, 1351, a
"Petition from the parsons of the churches of Our Lady and St. Peter, Berkhamsted, shewing that they ought to have the crop of every thirtieth selion of all the lands of the demesnes in Castelfeld within the manor of Berkhamstede, their predecessors having been seised thereof time out of mind in right of the said churches, but Robert de Kynebell;, who holds the said field at farm, will not let them have the said profits, which thing they heretofore shewed to the prince and his council, who ordered the constable of Berkhamsted to make inquisition as to the truth of the matter, and it was found by a good inquisition that the facts were as they stated, whereupon the constable was ordered to cause them to have their said rights in accordance with the finding of the said inquisition, but has not yet done anything in the matter; and praying a remedy".
It seems that this 'Robert de Kynebell' was a farmer of the manor of Berkhamsted but that his tenure fell into arrears. The date of record is around 1355. The lands held were returned to the prince 'by surrender of the said Robert'.
Just before this time, in 1353, a 'Richard Raven and Margery, his wife' claimed property that belonged to 'Master Robert de Kynebelle and Christian' and paid 100 marks of silver for them to abandon their claim.
The manor of Berkhamsted was the main residence of Edward, the Black Prince and 'Richard Raven' was a key member of his staff being his yeoman and cook and having been on at least one expedition with him to France. He also received several other grants of land from the prince.
In 1355, a William Gysne (and others) were witnesses to a "release by Hugh de Poyntz, brother of Sir Nicholas de Poyntz, lord of Corymalet, to Robert Kynebell of Berkhampstead and to Christiana his wife of all his right and claim in the manor of Dullyngham, CO. Cambridge, which he had for life of the grant of the said Sir Nicholas, for 101. yearly". (Calendar of Close Rolls, Edward III, pg 188 (archive.org))
Afterwards, it looks like the majority of the lands of Robert Kimble (Kymbell, Kynebell) then passed to a Henry Berkhamsted in around 1358.
This was confirmed in 1365 by a "Grant to Henry de Berkhamsted, the prince's yeoman and usher of the hall, for past and future good service, of the demesne lands pertaining to the manor of Berkhamsted, which were at one time held of the prince at farm by Robert de Kynebell;, to hold the same for life, without rendering anything to the prince therefor".
All of this was going on around the time of The Black Death in England and just prior to the 1381 Peasant's Revolt.
A 'Nicholas Kymbell' served under John of Gaunt and Edward, the Black Prince in 1370 and again in 1381 under John of Gaunt in Gascony, Edward, the Black Prince having died in 1376. John of Gaunt was Edward, the Black Prince's younger brother, they being two of five sons of King Edward III who survived to adulthood.
A 'Richard Gyn' had served in the role of archer also under John of Gaunt as well as Ralph, Lord Basset of Drayton (c. 1335 - 1390) in France in 1373 but we don't know where Richard was from. (See note) So, there is the connection to Basset showing up as it has in reference to the grant of custody to William Gyn, in 1401 in Moulton, Northampton granted by Ralph de Basset of Drayton. (See note)
There is a good possibility that these men, having been on expedition in France with Edward, the Black Prince may have known each other. So it is likely both of these men were also acquainted with 'Richard Raven' who was Edward, the Black Prince's cook.
One person ties all of these people together, that is Edward, the Black Prince himself.
Edward, The Black Prince also knew Sir John Peryent (b. 1350), having brought him from France to England. Sir John served King Richard II, King Henry IV and Henry V as well as Queen Joan of Navarre, the second wife of Henry IV. Sir John also "provided men-at-arms to Henry IV at Cirencester to suppress an armed insurrection". King Richard II was son of Edward, The Black Prince and Joan, Countess of Kent. Richard II and Henry IV were cousins, not brothers and not father and son, as one might expect. Henry IV, who was John of Guant's son and his son, Henry V were of the House of Lancaster, a cadet branch of the house of Plantagenet. All this made for a very messy succession. King Henry V, at age 29, was also the winning combatant at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415.
So, did Sir John Peryent know the Kymbells? There's no way to know this.
However we do know that in 1395, a 'Richard Kimbell' held tenements in St Giles London.
Later on, in 1440, there also seems to be a connection between Peryent and Gynn, both having hired servants with the same last name (Perot).
Still later, in 1485, a 'William Ginne' was executor to the will of a 'Richard Kymbell', as is stated in the WAALT finding above. There is no mention of where either man was from.
For references, see: background_notes:
1. Kimble_Kimbell_Kymbell_Kynebell: kimbell_notes.txt
2. Kimble_Kimbell_Kymbell_Kynebell: Great Kimble notes.txt
3. Richard_Raven_Notes.txt