What did a retired senior administrator

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William Hallum sues Norton Priory for his Corrody, January 1360

(Latin)

At the county court of Chester held on Tuesday the morrow of the Epiphany, 33 Edward III (7th_{January, 1360), William son of John de Hallum arrained an assize}

of novel disseisin1_{against Walter de Weverham, prior of St Mary of Norton,}

concerning a corrody2_{in the priory.}

According to William the corrody, taken from the cellarer and kitchener, should have consisted of:

1. Weekly allowance

Ten white loaves of the greater weight, called Miches. Ten loaves of the lesser weight called Dunloves. Thirteen gallons of the better conventual ale. 2. Daily allowance

Service from the kitchen in all dishes with, with pottage and pittance at lunchtime (prandium)3_{and also at supper (}_cena_).4_{He was to}

receive as much as two canons would get. He should also have service from the kitchen for his servant, to the amount that a servant of the prior would receive in one day.

3. Lighting, fuel, bedding, etc. One pound of candle a week.

A piece of turbary5_{in a good and suitable place on the prior’s}

marsh, for fuel. It was to be taken under the supervision of someone appointed by the prior. The amount shall be the same as Walter Pacy, William’s

predecessor, received during his lifetime. That is, the right to dig turves or clods (glebas) as much as one man can dig in four days, or as four men can dig in one day.

Straw for bedding and other necessaries, as much and as often as he shall need it.

(TNA CHES 29/67 m. 36) © PHW Booth, 1990

Note: William Hallum was employed as receiver of the Cheshire lands of Henry of Grosmont, duke of Lancaster, 1360-61.6_{His office was in Halton castle, near the priory, the}

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official and the priory, of which the duke of Lancaster was hereditary founder and patron. Hallum first appears in the Cheshire records in 1325.7_{By 1349 he had a}

daughter, called Goditha.8_{On 10}th_{June 1353, he served on a jury to inquire into waste}

in the lands of Howel ap Oweyn Voil, a ward.9_{The duke granted him an annuity of}

twenty marks, payable out of the manor of Halton, by 10th_{April 1361.}10_{On 11}th_May

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1 This was a legal procedure for getting possession of some property that the plaintiff had recently had taken away from him/her.

2 A corrody was a way of raising money for a Religious House, by giving accommodation, food and drink to an elderly layman, for life, for a one-off payment. The terms of the agreement were detailed, as can be seen here.

3 The midday meal. 4 The early-evening meal.

5 The defined right to dig turf on the moss. 6 TNA SC 6/772/1 m 2d.