The Last Will of Robert Holgate alias Halgate, Doctor of Divinity and late Archbishop of York,

Proved December 5th 1556

The version The Last Will of Robert Holgate alias Halgate, Doctor of Divinity and late Archbishop of York, here reproduced is that of the copy in the York Minster Library, which agrees with the copy at Somerset House, Modern spelling has been substituted, and the whole has been broken into paragraphs.  Other versions in print, which differ in detail from this, include that prepared by Mr. J. W. Clay which appears in Volume CXVI of the Publications of the Surtees Society, and that copied in 1663 into the Wragby Parish Register, together with the rental for 1572 of the estate, and printed in Volume CV of the Publications of the Yorkshire Parish Register Society.  Although there are seven executors named, the will was in fact proved by four of them, Gargrave, Broxholm, and Spencer.

In the Name of God Amen.

The 27th day of April in the year of our Lord God 1555 I Robert Holgate alias Halgate Doctor of Divinity and late Archbishop of York, sick in body and whole of mind thanked be God, make my last Will and Testament in manner and form following;

First I bequeath my soul to Almighty God our Lady Saint Mary and all the holy company of heaven and my body to be buried in the parish church within the parish whereof it shall please Almighty God to take me out of this transitory life to His great mercy where I will that my funeral shall be done without worldly pomp pride or vanity, 

And I do give to the parson of the church where I shall chance to be buried after my death forty shillings for my mortuary and to pray for me.

And I will that forty shillings shall be distributed and given to the poor people in the day of my burial.

Also I will that my servants shall have so much moneys paid to them again as they have laid out for me or lent me:

Furthermore I give bequeath and devise to my Executors of this my last Will and Testament their heirs and assigns for ever the site and precinct of the late priory of Old Malton in the County of York and all the demesne lands tenements possessions & hereditaments in Old Malton Wykeham & Howhouse in the County of York, and the site precinct and demesne land and tenements of Yeddingham in the County of York and the manor place in the town of Yeddingham in the said County of York, and all my lands tenements and hereditaments in Huggate in the said County of York now in the tenure of Thomas Steiring, and all my lands tenements possessions and hereditaments called Bisset house and Bisset lands lying in the parishes of Hemsworth and Felkirk in the said County of York and all the chantry house and all other buildings lands tenements possessions and hereditaments sometimes pertaining and belonging to the late Chantry of St. Thomas or any part of parcel thereof being in the parishes of Hemsworth Badsworth or elsewhere in the said County of York and all my house & tenement called the Treasurers house & all my buildings houses lands tenements possessions and hereditaments in the close of the cathedral church of York and in the City of York and Bishopthorpe in the County of the said City of York and all my site precinct houses buildings orchards gardens lands and tenements in Newcastle upon Tyne in the County of the said Newcastle some time belonging to the late priory of the White Friars in Newcastle aforesaid now dissolved & parcel of the possessions thereof lately being, and all other my lands tenements reversions services rents commons waifs strays views of frankpledge court franchises liberties possessions and hereditaments in Old Malton Wykeham Howhouse Yeddingham Pickering Lythe Huggate Bisset Hemsworth Felkirk Badsworth and elsewhere in the City of York, Bishopthorpe & elsewhere in the county of the said City of York and in Newcastle upon Tyne in the said county of Newcastle, to the intent use and purpose that my said Executors or the overlivers of them shall within two years after my decease found erect or make or cause to be founded erected made and incorporated one hospital of one Master and Twenty Brethren & Sisters in Hemsworth in the said county of York to continue for ever,

And that the Master thereof shall be a Clerk and within the holy order of priesthood at such time as he shall be thereto nominated or appointed & shall be nominated & made perfect Master of the said Hospital by the gift and grant of mine Executors whilst any of them do live And after their death by the free gift and grant of the parson of the parish church of Hemsworth aforesaid for the time being and of the two churchwardens of the same church and of four of the most honest parishioners of the said church for the time being.

And the said Master of the Hospital hereafter to be elected shall from time to time during his life and incumbency in the same Hospital continually be resident tarry and dwell upon the same Hospital and shall not absent himself from the said Hospital above one month in any year hereafter upon pain of privation and losing of the said Hospital except it be for great urgent and necessary causes &. such as shall be allowed & approved by all those which shall have authority and power to make and appoint the Master of the said Hospital at every vacation thereof.

And the poor people which shall hereafter be put into the said Hospital for Brethren & Sisters thereof shall be by the parson of the parish church of Hemsworth and the two churchwardens of the same church and four of the most honest parishioners of the parish of Hemsworth aforesaid for the time being chosen & taken out of the poor parishioners of the said parish of Hemsworth & of Felkirk Kirkby & Wragby next adjoining admitted and put into the said Hospital for Brethren and Sisters of the same provided that there shall be none admitted and put into the said Hospital for Brethren & Sisters thereof but such as be fully of the age of threescore years or more or else blind or lame persons at the time of his or their admission.

And I will that my Executors shall build and make within two years after my death a sufficient house and lodging for the Master of the said Hospital to dwell in and a long house with so many several partitions as will serve the said Brethren and Sisters for their cohabitation & dwelling in the same Hospital; 

And I will that the Master of the said Hospital for the time being shall yearly receive and have towards his living twenty Marks in money & every one of the said Brethren and Sisters so for the time being shall yearly have and receive fifty-three shillings fourpence towards their living And if mine Executors shall have after my decease goods chattels or lands or revenues sufficient to perform and fulfil my said will before & after expressed & to make the said twenty marks yearly twenty pounds then I will the said Master of the said Hospital for the time being and his successors for ever shall yearly have twenty pounds and every one of the said Brethren and Sisters of the said Hospital for the time being shall have four pounds yearly for ever

And I will that my Executors after my death shall sell all my messuages. lands tenements possessions and hereditaments lying & being in the close & county of the City of York and of the t6wn of Newcastle upon Tyne for the performance of this my last will & testament and in likewise all the lead which covereth the house and buildings within the site of the late priory of Old Malton to be seld by my Executors for the said purpose & intent:

And furthermore I do make constitute & ordain Sir William Peter Knight, Mr. Thomas Gawdy Serjeant at the law, Sir Thomas Gargrave . Knight, Edward Wotton doctor of Physick, John Broxhame Gent, John Golding Clerk, and Thomas Spencer of Old Malton Executors of this my last will & testament.

And I bequeath to the said Sir William Peter Knight 100 marks, And to the said Mr. Thomas Gawdy Serjeant at law forty pounds and to everyone of my said Executors before named twenty pounds, And I will that every of my said Executors shall have all his costs & charges borne of my goods chattels revenues& profits at all such time & times as he shall go ride travel labour & take pains endeavour diligence or attendance upon about or for the executing doing or performance of any act deed or thing comprised in this my last will & testament.
And I will that none of my Executors shall keep any goods chattels or revenues or other profits of mine in their hands but that they shall make all the other of my executors privy of the same. And that they shall bestow the same by the consent of all my other executors to the glory of God 
and health of mv soul: 

And I ordain and make my Lord the Earl of Arundel supervisor of this my last will & Testament humbly beseeching him to take the pains to see the same fully to be performed & executed by my said Executors whose Lordship I do give & bequeath forty pounds.

And also I do bequeath unto Mr. John Throgmorton one of the Masters of Requests twenty pounds: And to Mr. Cordaw our Sovereign Lady the Queen’s Solicitor twenty pounds that they the said Mr. Throgmorton and Mr. Cordall will be means to her Grace’s highness that if it please Almighty God to call me in the mean season to his infinite mercy out of this tempestuous & troublesome world my Executors may duly enjoy & have all my plate goods chattels & lands according to the right &as they ought by the laws & statutes of this her Grace’s noble Realm:

And I bequeath to Sir Nicholas Throgmorton Knight twenty pounds to be assistant to see this my last will duly performed: In Witness whereof &c: William Boswell, Richard Wheatley Clerk Thomas Wotton John Spencer Thomas Brown and others.

1. Sir William Petre (1505 ?-1572), at one time tutor to ‘the brother of Anne Boleyn, was active in the suppression of the Gilbertine’ Order. He became Secretary or Stat£” and took an active part in State affairs under Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary and Elizabeth.
2. Thomas Gawdy, the elder, of the Inner Temple, Member of Parliament for King’s Lynn in 1547 and for Norwich in ,1553; was called to the degree of Serjeant-at-Law in 1552. He died in August 1566. 
3. Sir Thomas Gargrave (1495-1579) was born in the Pear Tree Acres, Wakefield, and lived at Kinsley Hall, Hemsworth. He was Member of Parliament for York 1547-55. For many years he was a member of the Council of the’ North. He was also Speaker of the House of Commons.
4. Edward Wotton (1492-1555) was President of the College of Physicians 1541-43. In 1552 he published in Paris his Edoardi Wottoni Oxoniensis de Differentiis Animalium libri decem which established his international reputation as a student of natural history.
5. After the Dissolution, John Broxholm; with John Bellow, was granted the site of the former Gilbertine Priory of St. Andrew, in Fishergate, York.
6. John Golding, at one time Prior of Ellerton, was one of the witnesses to the signature of Holgate to the Deed of Foundation of the York school.
7. Thomas Spencer was one of the witnesses to the signature of Holgate to the Deed of Foundation of the Old Malton School. In 1576 a Thomas Spencer acquired from Thomas Holgate property at Yeddingham and Everston.
8. Henry Fitzalan, twelfth Earl of Arundel (1511 ?-1580) a godson of Henry VIII, was deeply involved in the intrigues of the later Tudor times.
9. John Throgmorton was condemned to death for complicity in Wyatt’s rebellion. He was reprieved and shortly afterwards appointed Master of Requests. He was knighted in 1566 and died in 1580.
10. Sir William Cordell was made Solicitor. General in 1553. He was Master of the Rolls from 1557 until his death in 1581. 
11. Sir Nicholas Throgmorton (1515-1571). a brother of John, was imprisoned in the Tower of London. He was released at the same time as Holgate.  Throgmorton Street in the City of London was named after him.