Rainsford and Dighton families of Clifford Chambers

Description

Exemplification of record of proceedings Harris v. Pugh from the common pleas enrolled at Westminster before Oliver St. John and Peter Phesant, justices of the common Bench, on the morrow of the Holy Trinity, Trinity Term 1649, roll 2102, as follows: Oxford. Thomas Pugh was summoned to answer John Harris on a plea of cattle-stealing. Harris complained through his attorney Edward Astyn that Pugh had on 21 November 1648 at Bagbrooke [Begbrooke] co. Oxford, in a place called Crosse Layes taken four heifers of his and wrongly detained them, whence he claimed damages of £20. Pugh, represented by his attorney Timothy Box, admitted taking the heifers and claimed justification; he had acted by right of his then wife Anne and on behalf of ffrances Spencer, inasmuch as the place where the cattle-stealing was supposed to have taken place included 4 acres of pasture in Begbrooke and at the material time Sir William Spencer, Knight and baronet was seised of a messuage and 4 virgates of land in Begbrooke, of which the said place was part. And this William Spencer by indenture dated 24 June 1645, which Pugh produced in court, had granted to Anne and ffrances by the name of Anne Lovell, one of the daughters of Edward Lovell of Woodstock, co. Oxford, gentleman, and ffrances Spencer her daughter, a life annuity of £40 charged on Begbrooke ffarme and all those 4 virgates of land then late in the occupation of Alice Manninge [or Maneringe] widow deceased, payable in two equal portions at two usual feasts of the year, with the condition that if the payments of this annuity fell into arrear, William Spencer should pay a penalty of 10s. a month for each month of the arrears until the next payment was due, when it should be lawful for Anne and ffrances to enter the said premises and distrain on the stock for arrears and penalty. And on 1 September 1647 Thomas Pugh had married Anne according to the rites of the Church of England, and he and she and her daughter were thus lawfully seised of the annuity of £40 for the term of the lives of Anne and ffrances. And in these circumstances when £20 of the annuity due at the feast of the Annunciation 1646 was not paid, Thomas Pugh admitted taking two heifers in distraint. And as for the other two heifers, subject of the plea, he admitted taking them also on the ground that the place where the beasts were supposed to have been taken included 4 acres of pasture in Begbrooke, and the said Sir William Spencer was at the material time seised of the manor of Yarnton, co. Oxford and of a moiety of the manor of Begbrooke and of one messuage and 4 virgates of land, of which the said place was part. And by indenture dated 13 May 1647 between himself of the one part and Anne and ffrances by the name of Anne Lovell of Yarnton, daughter of Edward Lovell of Woodstock, and ffrances Lovell als. Spencer, the daughter of Anne and William Spencer of the other part, which indenture Thomas Pugh also produced in court, in consideration of £100 paid him by Anne and for other good reasons and valuable consideration, he William Spencer had granted to Anne Lovell and ffrances her daughter a life annuity of £40 charged on the manor of Yarnton and the moiety of the manor of Begbrooke and on all lands of William Spencer situate in the towns, fields and precincts of Yarnton and Begbrooke, payable in two equal portions at two usual feasts, with the same condition as to arrears including the right of distraint for unpaid dues and penalties. And as Thomas Pugh had since married Anne Lovell, and the payment due to her and her daughter at St. Michael Archangel 1647 was unpaid and in arrear, he Thomas Pugh admitted taking the second two beasts in distraint according to the terms of the grant. And he was willing to prove that Anne and ffrances were still alive at Begbrooke. John Harris on the other hand said that Thomas Pugh ought not to claim that he was justified in taking the beasts, inasmuch as at the material time a certain Thomas Spencer was seized of the one messuage and 4 virgates of land in Begbrooke and on 30 October 1648 [but cf. date below] had demised it to him John Harris for a term of 7 years, by virtue of which demise he had entered in and was still in possession of the premises. And he had put two heifers out to graze in the 4 acres of pasture in question, when Thomas Pugh on 21 November took them and had since illegally detained them. And as for Thomas Pugh's second claim, John Harris contested it on the same grounds [giving the date of the demise by Thomas Spencer as 30 September 1648, cf. date above]. These statements Harris was prepared to prove and he sought judgement and damages. Thomas Pugh repeated his previous claim that William Spencer was seised of these lands and placed himself on the country, John Harris likewise. The Sheriff was therefore directed to impanel a jury in three weeks of the Holy Trinity, when the case was adjourned to a day in three weeks of St. Michael, if the justices had not previously come to Oxford to hold the Assizes on Saturday 30 June 1649. And on this day came John Harris through his attorney aforesaid. And the justices in Assize directed that a record should be made in these words of proceedings on the day and at the place mentioned, before Philip Jermyn and Robert Nicholas, two of the justices for pleas in the upper Bench before the Custodians of the Liberties of England. John Harris and Thomas Pugh both appeared in person, and of the jurymen the following: George Makepeace, Hercules Ayres, Richard Greeneway, Richard Cherrey, Edmund Wing and Nicholas Constable. And as the rest of the jury did not appear, the following additional jurors were impanelled from those people present, viz: Peter Hall, John Hall, Simon Carpenter, William Joyner, Henry Adeane and John Sandridg. And the jurors said on oath that William Spencer was not seised of the manor of Yarnton or of a moiety of the manor of Begbrooke or of the one messuage and 4 virgates of land in Begbrooke, as John Harris claimed. And they assessed John Harris's damages, apart from costs, at six pence, and costs 40s., both to be recoverable from Thomas Pugh, also £6.9s.6d additional costs, a total of £8.10s. -d. And Thomas Pugh in mercy etc. Which all and singular the justices had exemplified at the request of John Harris. In testimony whereof etc. Witness Oliver St. John at Westminster, 28 November 1649. Seal: wanting; linen bag remains.