MRP: House in St. John Street, Clerkenwell
House in St. John Street, Clerkenwell
The Dalyson family had a presence in St. James, Clerkenwell from quite early in the sixteenth century. There is some tentative evidence that the family had a house and property in the parish in that century, however, it is unclear how they used any building or buildings in Clerkenwell relative to their several homes in Lincolnshire. Given the strong legal tradition in the family, Clerkenwell may have been a convenient extramural London location for access to the law courts in Holborn.
By the late 1620s it is clearly documented that Sir Maximilian Dalyson had a home in St. John’s Street, Clerkenwell, where his son William wooed Elizabeth.
Certainly a number of Dalysons, from both the Lincolnshire and the Kent arms of the family, were buried in the St. James, Clerkenwell parish church in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. On the Kent side they include William Dalyson, the grandfather of Elizabeth’s husband, Sir Maximilian Dalison, his son, and Elizabeth’s own husband. The elder William was buried in Clerkenwell in 1585, though his widow chose to be buried at Halling, beside her second husband. Sir Maximilian Dalyson, father of Elizabeth’s husband, continued the tradition, requesting in his will “to be buried in the parish church of St. James Clerkenwell as neare the place where William Dallison (sic) Esquire my ffather, and Dame Paulina Dalison (sic) my first wife were buried.”
When the time came Elizabeth buried her own husband in Clerkenwell, and was herself interred there twenty-three years later, despite the strong desire of her brother Sir Henry Oxenden that she might be buried with her birth family at Deane. On the Lincolnshire side they include Edward Dalyson, son of Sir Roger Dalyson of Laughton, Lincolnshire, who was buried in Clerkenwell in 1624.
Clerkenwell in 1620s and 1630s
Cromwell's History and Description of Clerkenwell (1828) cites Stow to characterise Clerkenwell in the late sixteenth century. Cromwell also uses primary sources dating from 16XX and 16XX to selectively characterise gentry and nobility in Clerkenwell. It would be worthwhile to view these primary sources in the original. Though neither the Dalyson nor the Oxenden family names appears in the 16XX data used by Cromwell, this could be due to his selectiveness with the data, or because houses were rented not leased nor owned
Further research required
- Examine maps of Clerkenwell from the first half of the C17th
- Look for contemporary descriptions of Clerkenwell in 1620s and 1630s
- Analyze hearth tax data for 1660s Clerkenwell to develop a social profile of the area during that period - Had it changed very significantly from the 1620s/1630s period? Was it affected by the development of Hatton Garden?
Sources
- 'Alumni Oxonienses, 1500-1714: Dabbe-Dirkin', Alumni Oxonienses 1500-1714: Abannan-Kyte (1891), pp. 366-405
- Cromwell, Thomas, History and description of the parish of Clerkenwell (London, 1828)
Hasted, Edward,The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent: vol. 5 (1798), pp. 56-70
Potential primary sources
Clerkenwell hearth tax data
- - St. James, Clerkenwell, part one, London Hearth Tax: City of London and Middlesex, 1666 (London, 2011), online
- - St. James, Clerkenwell, part two, London Hearth Tax: City of London and Middlesex, 1666 (London, 2011), online
Image credits
Tyrer, James, 'The inhabitants of Clerkenwell and its environsl', 1805; out of copyright image, sourced from Wikipedia article on 'Clerkenwell,' which sourced the image from Wikipedia Commons, a freely licensed media file repository
