mb 2d (24 August)
| <...> said Iurie said that the said Thomas Godfrey <...> the xxiiijth daie of August last past clense & scowre <...> within his grounde att the Bearegarden on the <...> did repaire and wharfe the banckes <...> hath forfeicted for everie rod | iij s. iiij <.> |
| It is againe ordered that the said Godfrey shall before the xxvth daie of December next well and sufficientlie caste clense and scowre all the said sewar within his said grounde, and repaire and wharfe sufficientlie the banckes thereof as aforesaid vpon paine to forfeict for everie rod then vndone | vj s. viij <.> °done° |
...
This may be the earliest appearance of Thomas Godfrey, deputy keeper of the royal game of Bears, Bulls, and Mastiff Dogs, in the Sewer Commissioner reports.
Record title: Surrey and Kent Commissioners for Sewers' Court Minutes and
Orders
Repository:
LMA
Shelfmark: SKCS/035/01
Repository location: London
Most of the pre-1642 records of the Surrey and Kent commissioners for sewers are now deposited at the London Metropolitan Archives. The LMA online catalogue succinctly describes the sewer records as follows: 'Early Commissioners of Sewers were solely concerned with land drainage and the prevention of flooding, not with the removal of sewage in the modern sense. In 1531 an Act of Sewers was passed which set out in great detail the duties and powers of Commissioners and governed their work until the 19th century. Gradually a permanent pattern emerged in the London area of seven commissions, five north and two south of the Thames, with, after the Great Fire, a separate commission for the City of London.... Letters Patent for the Surrey and Kent Commissioners of Sewers were issued in 1554. Its minutes begin in 1570 and it was the earliest of the London Commissions to be established on an organised basis. The area of its jurisdiction ran from East Molesey in Surrey to the River Ravensbourne, and included Lambeth, Southwark, Bermondsey, Newington, Deptford, Rotherhithe, Clapham, Battersea, Camberwell, Vauxhall, Wandsworth, Putney, Barnes, Kew, Lewisham, Walworth, Kennington, Nine Elms, Peckham and New Cross. The area of jurisdiction remained the same throughout the three centuries during which it functioned.'
The membrane with the year date is missing for this roll so the date has been assigned tentatively by the LMA. No day or month is indicated.
1638; English; parchment; 2 membranes; 250mm x 750mm; unnumbered; written on both sides; damaged, large tear at top of both membranes; no longer attached at head.
© London Metropolitan Archives (City of London), SKCS/035/01