Beschreibung:

Contemporary legal manuscript, headed 'A decla[ra]con uppon what consyderacon the late Duke of Som[er]set gave the late prebende of horton unto John Seymour', rehearsing that the late Duke gave the Park of Sharpham [near Glastonbury], Somerset, to John Seymour for "avauncement of lyvyng... wherof he was possessyd accordynglye", and that afterwards the Duke exchanged certain manors with the Bishop of Bath and Wells, who asked that Sharpham Park might be part of the exchange; Somerset then desired John Seymour to surrender the Park, affirming that John Seymour would be assured "of a better thyng"; and that not long afterwards the Duke and Sir Nicholas Poyntz concluded a marriage between John Seymour and the Poyntz's eldest daughter, whereupon the Duke gave Seymout the prebend of Horton "faythefully p[ro]mysyng the sayd poyntz to make the same JS in better condycon to lyve", with which Sir Nicholas "hylde hym selfe pleased"; and 'A declaracon for the Conveyaunce of the tytle of horton', which states that at first Doctor Knight, later Bishop of Bath and Wells, was prebendary and made a lease of the mansion house with the demesne to Mr Brooke, now Lord Chief Baron, by which means the prebendary was in the disposition of the late King Henry VIII who gave it to James Lomolyn; that the Duke then made suit to the King who allowed Horton to him and the Duke's compensation to Lomolyn was registered in "ffayre Bo[o]kes" with a deed for an annuity, giving him in "redye money" 200 marks over and above the annuity £315 to be paid out of certain manors of the Duke, for which consideration James Lomlyn gave the prependary back to the King who gave it by letters patent to the Duke "who enyoyed the same untyll hys fyrst trobbeles" and that upon "the Duke sayd ffyrst enlargement he was restored to vj thousande poundes by yere whereof the seyd horton was p[ar]cell as by the Statute therof confymyd yt dothe appere", and upon the restitution and John Seymour's marriage "the Duke by hys dede redye to be shewyd gave the seyd horton" to Seymour and his heirs reserving a rent "where unto the seyd J S preythe to be restored without ferder trobbles for he nethe ben in trobbles suffycnentlye alredye to his great losse & hynseraunce"; with apostils and notes in another hand, presumably that of legal counsel, concerning particular aspects of Seymour's claim and the matter in general, 4 pages, folio, no date