f [145v] (5 February)
...
Towchyng the cause at the sute of Edward Allen esquire plaintiff against Will{ia}m Henslowe defendant Thomas Mowseherst of Mareffeild in the county of Sussex yeoman aged lvj yeares or theareaboutes maketh othe, that the sayd defendant William Henslowe is an aged man about the age of three score and eight yeares, and hath been sick ever sithence the feast of St Batholomewe last past & seavenight before untill this present tyme, & yett is very sick & weake & keepeth his bed not able to helpe himself, And that the said defendant by reason of his long sicknes is become deafe, & his sences & vnderstanding so decayed that he cannot well heare, nor understand the ‸⸢said⸣ complainantes bill (being read vnto him) to make answer therevnto./
Thomas Mowsehurst was perhaps connected to William through his marriage to Anne (or Agnes) Mowsehurst; see Chancery Court Pleadings: Jacob Meade v. Agnes Henslowe, Mary Moushurst and Elizabeth Moushurst, and Edward Alleyn, 1624. It is as yet uncertain of the exact relationships between the Mowshursts of Marefield and Buxted.
For an abstract of this record and details of its transcription in other printed sources, see the related EMLoT event.
Record title: Affidavit of Thomas Mowsehurst in Edward Alleyn v. William
Henslowe in the Court of Requests
Repository:
TNA
Shelfmark: REQ 1/132
Repository location: London
Alleyn presented his bill to the court of Requests on 31 January 1623/4, charging William Henslowe with occupying and detaining from him his house within the Bear Garden at the Barge, Bell and Cock which he held by an agreement with Philip Henslowe dating back to around 1610; see Court of Requests Proceedings Alleyn v. Henslowe, 1623/4. Shortly afterwards, Thomas Mowseherst swore this affidavit that William had been ill since the previous St Bartholomew's Day, was bedridden and too sick to answer Alleyn's bill of complaint. William Henslowe had died by May 1624; see Appendix 4: VIII.
1623–4; English; paper; ii + 208 + ii; 320mm x 203mm; unfoliated; fair condition; vellum binding in poor condition; handwritten label on front cover: 'Court of Requests. | AFFIDAVIT BOOK | 21 & 22 Jas. I. | Easter 21 to Trinity 22 Jas. I.' and title on spine: 'Requests | AFFIDA- | VIT | BOOK | 21&22 | Jas.I.'
The National Archives (UK), ref. REQ 1/132
