| Description | Sign. and seal of Joh. Cater. Witn., Hum. Burton, Tho. Bewley, Tho. Lant, Geo. Perkins.
The deeds, Nos. DR0429/220-1, show the feoffees borrowing to pay off the debt on the church. The name of Throckmorton (DR0429/220) shows the connection between the ancient family of that name, whose chief Warwickshire seat is Coughton Court, and the city. It will be remembered that John Throckmorton was Recorder of Coventry when Queen Elizabeth visited the city in 1565, and that Job Throgmorton, of Haseley, and others concerned in the Martin Mar-prelate controversy of 1589 for some time hid their printing press at Coventry. Whether the Throckmortons had a house in Coventry or no I cannot tell, but there is a feature worth noting about the chimney-piece of the house - now Smyth's - in High Street. The mot to over the fireplace is "Dieu done tout" (see illustration in "Troughton Sketches"), and I vainly searched for any family with whom these words are associated, until by chance on seeing over Coughton Court I espied a box for firewood with this legend carved on it and underneath T.G. and V.G., 1637, evidently the initials of a man and wife, probably connections of the Throckmorton family.
Samuel Bryan (DR0429/222) must have been the son of Dr. John Bryan, who appears to have been rector of Allesley, according to Colville ("Warwickshire Worthies"), and suffered imprisonment in Warwick Gaol for preaching.
There appears a new feature in these leases (DR0429/227 and 228) which is evidently a proviso against the permanent conversion of turf into arable land.
The "open vestry" (DR0429/222) first appears in 1639 (DR0429/174) during the vicariate of Robert Proctor, but earlier still, in 1612 (DR0429/139) the expression "the house of the governors" ... called the vestry" seems to indicate that the affairs of the parish were managed by a select body such as is now the case. There is no evidence that I am aware of showing the practice of a still earlier time. |