MRP: 20th December 1666, Letter from John Lewis to Sir GO, London

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20th December 1666, Letter from John Lewis to Sir GO, London

BL, Add. MS. XX, XXX, ff. ?

Editorial history

06/02/09, CSG: Completed transcription
18/12/11, CSG: Page created
22/12/11, CSG: Posted transcription to wiki






Abstract & context


John Lewis wrote to Sir George Oxenden in a letter dated December 20th, 1666.

At the time of writing, his seventeen hearth London residence was in "Litell britten South", in the parish of St Bartholomew the Less, though the location he specified in his letter was simply London.[1] However, at the time of his death in 1671, his London residence was in fashionable Lincoln's Inn fields.[2]

The letter had both business and social purposes The primary purpose was to chase up some small investments made earlier by Lewis, but he also provided news of the naval war and of the great fire in London. The "sad disolation of y:e late merciless fire" had brought him to town "to look after my pticular Concernmen:ts, & dispose of my house w:tch providence had spared from soe great a Consumaton." He was spending Christmas in London, due to foul weather and against his own desire. As a result he was without his two young daughters, though his wife was with him, she having come to London for the funeral of her mother.

The letter writer was Sir John Lewis (b. ?, d. 1671), a senior London merchant and ironmonger. At the time of writing the letter he was in his mid to later forties. He can be clearly identified as the writer of an earlier letter[3] to Sir George Oxenden, since Sir George Smith wrote an accompanying letter, dated March 24th, 1665/66, stating:

These few lynes are only to accompany the inclosed from S:r John Lewys who now is in Yorkshire[4]

Sir John Lewis had acquired Ledston(e) Hall and estate, in Yorkshire, either in 1653, or about 1660.[5] It was a large property, which had formerly been owned by Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford. It was assessed at thirty-one hearths in XXXX.[6] A building of this size was in the same league as George, Lord Berkeley's home in St. John's Clerkenwell (thirty-two hearths, 1666),[7] and considerably larger than the Oxenden family home at Deane in East Kent (seventeen hearths, 1664).[8]

Tim Mowl and Brian Earnshaw suggest that John Lewis, on the purchase of the estate, "promptly built a second, more orderly, Bolsover," referring to the family seat of the Cavendish family thirty-five miles to the south, which they describe as "part Gothic, part Florentine, infused with Jacobean symbolism." They describe Ledstone Hall, following Sir John Lewis building works, as having a "huge forecourt, eleven bays wide by five deep," which "is topped by a resounding salvo of nine scrolled and pedimented gables; all except one are of simple convex profile like the trio over the hall in Great Court at Bolsover."[9]

Sir John Lewis (alias Lewys) (b. ca. 1615, m. 1654, d. 1671) was a London merchant, who had spent ten years in the East Indies between 1643 and 1653, first as a factor for the English East India Company and from 1648 as chief in Persia. He accumulated substantial capital in his ten years overseas, and had spent part of this on acquiring and improving the estate of Ledston in Yorkshire.[10]

Sir John Lewis' commercial activities in the mid-1650s, following his return from ?Persia, are not well documented, though he appears to have remained engaged in trade with the East Indies until his death.

In 1656 he delivered a private paper to Cromwell arguing for a joint-stock in preference to free trade.[11] He was thus in opposition to the arguments of Maurice Thompson and others. Nevertheless, he was a subscriber to the Williams Adventure, a private joint-stock, which ran in parallel to the English East India Company.[12] He was elected a committee to the new joint stock on its formation in 1657 and was reelected in 1659, 1660, 1662, and 1664.[13]

In the 1660s, he was a part-owner of the ship the Loyal Merchant, along with Sir George Oxenden, Sir George Smith and others.[14] He was also a part-owner of the Blessing with Sir Richard Ford, Edward Bolle and others.[15]

Samuel Pepys reported travelling by water on Saturday March 22nd, 1661/62:

Down to the Lewes, Captain Dekins, his ship, a merchantman, where we met the owners, Sir John Lewes and Alderman Lewes, and several other great merchants; among others one Jefferys, a merry man that is a fumbler, and he and I called brothers, and he made all the mirth in the company. We had a very fine dinner, and all our wives’ healths, with seven or nine guns apiece; and exceeding merry we were[16]

He was Master of the Ironmongers Company, 1657-58, a member of the Council of Trade in 1660, and of the Council of Foreign Plantations in 1661. He was made knight and baronet in 1660 after attending Charles II at Breda on behalf of the City of London.[17]

He was the son of ?Richard Lewis of XXX and of XXXX, daughter of XXXX.[18]

He married Sarah Foot, the third daughter and co-heir of Sir Thomas Foot, in 1654.[19] His father-in-law, Sir Thomas Foot, was a London merchant and XXXX, who had been Lord Mayor of London 1649/50.[20]

He died in ca. 1671.[21] There is a marble memorial to Sir John and his wife in the parish church All Saints, Ledsham, near Leeds in West Yorkshire.[22]



Suggested links


See March 1665/66, Letter from John Lewis to Sir GO (letter sent with Sir George Smith's letter)
See 24th March 1665/66, Letter from George Smith to Sir GO, London

See Sir John Lewys will



To do


(1) Check transcription against physical manuscript at BL

(2) Verify the writer is Sir John Lewis. Lewis was a common name and there is no identification of other partners or places



Ledston Hall, Samuel Hieronymus Grimm, Inkwash on Paper, 1776


PAPER INK WASH Grimm SH 1773 BL AddMS15548 NonCom DL CSG 240112.jpg



Image credits & copyright information


Samuel Hieronymus Grimm, 'A view of the entrance front of Ledston Hall', ink wash on paper, 1773, BL, Add. MS 15548, f. 56
- Personal use licence from British Library[23]



Transcription


This transcription has been completed, but requires checking

[RH SIDE]
London: Decemb: y:e 20:th 1666

Honoured S:r

Having answered yo:s of y:e 6:th March 1664: y:e 16:th ditto 1665, & not having reced any from yo:w since, have at this time little of enlargement, more y:n to ?improve this opportunity by y:e tending of my humble service w:th these ?paxanessingers, & so reitterating former intreaties for y:e dispatching of those small ??Concernmen:ts x:th I made bold to trouble yo:w w:th; if it may ly in my power to make part of a retaliation heere, by any service, amongst many abler friends, yo:w shall find me really greatefull, & sensible of soe greate a kindnes, The not hearing from yo:w by land, as y:e not yet arrivall o:e this years ships puts us into some ?panink feares, but God, I hope, will bless us w:th auspitious tidings of y:m, & prosp: o:e royall Navy, a squadron or 2: being suddenly intended out in quest of o:e Insolent enimies, who hath made a strong Confederacy w;th both french & danes, y:e sad disolation of y:e late merciless fire brought me to towne to look after my pticular Concernmen:ts, & dispose of my house w:tch providence had spared from soe great a Consumaton & am now by fowle weather forced to keepe my Christmas in London, & not w:th my family more y:n my wife,[24] who came heither to y:e buriall of her mother[25], I shall at y:s time in large no more, but to intreate yo:e kinde respect & kindness to ?Lans y:e Comp:a linguister in Persia[26], & I doubt not but yo:w have done him justice in y:e wine business, as was by y:e Comp:a Comended to yo:w; y:e rest is y:e subscription of

[RH SIDE]
S:r
Yo:e most affectionate frend & humble servant
John: Lewis



Notes

St Bartholomew the Less, London hearth tax (1666)


"Litell britten South

Sr John Lewis 17 hearths

Smith side

Aldr Fox 7 hearths"[27]



Samuel Pepys, Sir John Lewis, Saturday 22 March 1661/62


"At the office all the morning. At noon Sir Williams both and I by water down to the Lewes, Captain Dekins, his ship, a merchantman, where we met the owners, Sir John Lewes and Alderman Lewes, and several other great merchants; among others one Jefferys, a merry man that is a fumbler, and he and I called brothers, and he made all the mirth in the company. We had a very fine dinner, and all our wives’ healths, with seven or nine guns apiece; and exceeding merry we were, and so home by barge"[28]



Inventory, Sir John Lewis, 1671


"1671, September 23-- Fifty-five sheets containing "The Inventory indented...of all and singular the goods, chattelles, rightes and credittes which late belonged unto Sir John Lewis, knight and baronett, late cittizen and ironmonger of London, deceased"; sworn before Sir Richard Ford, knight, Lord Mayor of London. The whole estate amounted to 9, 962l. 4s. ?5d., not including a sum of ??3, 894l. 1?s. ?d. representing "doubtfull and desperate debts." For his house in Lincoln's Inn Fields he paid the yearly rent of 85l."[29]



Sir John Lewis, summary of will, proved 1671


"Sir John Lewys, Knight and Baronet, 21 June 1670, proved 1 December 1671. Memorandums for settling my estate. Mentions daughters Elizabeth and Mary Lewys. My manor or Lordship of Marr. Lands in tenure and occupation of my brother Capt. Edward Lewys. Lands in Bawne, Bentley and elsewhere, purchased from Sir John Rany and Mr. Sheppard. I give and bequeath unto each of my own sisters, Mrs. Mary Wortley, Mrs. Anne Rumball, Mrs. Isabella Johnson, the Lady Jane Holliers and Mrs. Elizabeth Haynes, to each fifty pounds per annum, rent charge, yearly issuing out of all my lands &c. To Mrs. Sarah Chadwick forty shillings per annum during her life. To my wife all her own wearing jewels forever and, so long as she shall live a widow, surviving me, the use of all my plate and household stuff in my house at Ledston ; but at the day of her marriage or death to belong unto my executors in trust for my said daughters. My Lady Butler, my aunt in Ireland, and her son Francis and each of her two daughters, Mary and Jane. Mr. Richard Kay of Barnbrough and my cousin his wife. My cousin Mr. Francis Lewys and his wife. My father in law Sir Thomas Foote. My brother in law Sir Francis Rolle and lady. My brother in law M r Arthur Onslowe and his wife. The Company of Ironmongers. Certain servants and attendants. Provision for hospital or almshouse near the church at Ledston. My body to be intotnbed in Ledsham church within my own " Quire," where I would have a vault made and two or three hundred pounds bestowed in a tomb and thirty pounds given as a dole to the poor at my funeral, as five pounds to him that shall preach my funeral sermon, besides a mourning gown, which I leave to the discretions of my executors, whom I appoint to be my father in law Sir Thomas Foote, my brother in law Sir Francis Rolle and Arthur Onslow Esq. and my own brother Capt. Lewys. Reference to a bond to give ten thousand pounds to the Earl of Huntington, with daughter Elizabeth, in case they be married. Duke, 145.

[Robert Lewys of Marre in Strafford Hundred, in the West Riding of York, four miles from Doncaster, was a descendant of an ancient Welsh family. His son John was recorder of Doncaster aud had a son Richard, who married Jane Brinsley and had with other issue the testator. Sir John Lewys of Lcdston, who was created a baronet in 1660. Sir John married Sarah, third daughter and co-heir of Sir Thomas Foot, Lord Mayor of London in 1G49, and by her had two daughters — Elizabeth, who married Theophilus Hastings, Earl of Huntington, and Mary, who married Robert Leak, Earl of Scarsdale. The testator was Master of the Ironmongers' Company in 1657. The next year he presented the company a standing cup" and cover weighing 58 oz., 13 dwts. On his death, 14 Aug. 1671, the baronetcy became extinct, and his widow married Denzil Onslow.

Walter K. Watkins.]"[30]



EEIC, 1650-1654


"[February 25, 1650] In Persia : George Tash, John Lewis, Thomas Best, and John Goodyeare."[31]



EEIC, 1655-1659


"John Lewis to [name not given] [November] 1656 (Public Record Office: C. O. 77, vol. viii, no. 47), in Ethel Bruce Sainsbury (ed.), A Calendar of the Court Minutes of the East India Company, 1655-1659 (Oxford, 1916), pp. 129-130

Understanding that His Lordship is on the Committee of the Council about the East India Company, he wishes to tell him privately what he has observed from his own experience:

1. It is very evident that, if this 'loose' trade goes on, the customs of Persia, with the large privileges on the Coast of Coromandel and other places which the Company has purchased at such great expense, both of treasure and blood, will be totally lost, as well as the island of Pulo Run lately delivered up to the Company by the Dutch.

2. Without doubt the trade is decaying exceedingly, as is shown by the decrease in the value of English commodities in India, which has fallen about twenty per cent., while those sold there for England have advanced in value about twenty per cent, but decreased at home above forty per cent, and within a short time will come to nothing.

3. In his own experience, the Company's ships paid the State above 20,000/. yearly, but this 'loose' trade does not bring in one fifth part of that sum; besides which the abundance of treasure secretly transported by private traders is a great prejudice to the Commonwealth.

4. With regard to defence, the ships employed are about half the burden and of less strength than the Company's were ; they are therefore unable to withstand an enemy, and each one strives to get out and home again before the other without respect to company, which the East India Company provided fully for,

5. These traders neither can nor will give security to the Commonwealth to maintain and support the trade except for so long as it serves their turn, which is of great discredit to the honour and profit of the nation. Although Lewis is [not ?] at present concerned in the trade, he is convinced that unless the Protector and his Council confirm them a company with due limitations, that so a joint stock may be underwritten, this 'so honourable and noble a trade wilbe lost'.

FOOT NOTE TO P. 129: John Lewis was engaged as a factor in December, 1643, and was employed mostly in Persia, becoming chief there in 1648. He returned to England in 1653 with a fortune, part of which was spent in acquiring the estate of Ledstone in Yorkshire (Cokayne's Baronetage, vol. iii, p. 126). In April, 1656, he was elected Alderman for Candlewick Ward, but a month later he paid a fine and was discharged. In 1657 he was master of the Ironmongers' Company, and at the close of the same year became a Committee of the East India Company, a post to which he was again elected in 1659, 1660, 1662, and 1664. As one of the commissioners sent by the city to the Hague with a congratulatory address to Charles II, he was knighted in May, 1660 ; while on Oct. 15 of the same year he was created a baronet. He married the daughter of Sir Thomas Foot (Lord Mayor, 1649-50). His death occurred on August 14, 1671, at the age of 56. (Information chiefly from the Rev. A. B. Beaven.)" [32]

"Reasons for a Joint Stock, tendered by John Lewis, November 17, 1656 (Public Record Office: CO. 77, vol. viii, no. 48).

Without one, not only will the honour and reputation of the English nation, lately of high esteem in eastern parts, be lost, but also a considerable revenue from the customs of Persia, and the advantage of exemption from payment of duty or impost on merchandise imported or exported thence, which, with what may be claimed besides as due from the Emperor, is of great concern ; also exemption from payment of custom on the Coast of Coromandel. When the Company first sent to the East, their ships and people were welcomed by the Portuguese 'with cannon shott and engines of warr ', instead of with that civil treatment becoming merchants and a neighbouring Christian nation, for the Portuguese were endeavouring to usurp an absolute regal power in all eastern seas and would not admit of any competition in trade, thereby causing the English and Dutch to join forces for a time in order to defend themselves, or to offend their enemies. After purchasing the acquaintance of the Persians by trade, and finding the Portuguese implacable enemies, the Company made a confederacy with the Persian king, or rather with his minister, Imam Quli Khan, who was at war with the Portuguese, his near neighbours at Ormus. This island, not above six leagues from the shore and fortified with a very strong castle, the English assisted the Persians in besieging with several ships of war commanded by Captain Weddell, the Persians furnishing 'many thousands of men in great boates of their own country, that nation affording noe shipps '. For their help the English were to receive half the merchandise taken from the Portuguese, to be freed for ever from payment of all custom or duty upon their own goods exported or imported into Persian dominions, and to be granted half the custom paid on strangers' goods imported into Gombroon, the then intended principal seaport. Success crowned their joint efforts and in a short time they were masters of the fort, city, and island with a considerable proportion of rich booty ; but through the subtlety of the Persians and negligence of the English commanders, ' caroosing in their jollities when they shold have bin imployed in deviding the purchase/ the Company never obtained, according to credible information, one twentieth part of what they had a right to. The Portuguese being thus defeated, the scale of trade was, according to agreement, transferred from 'that soe noble and once famous cittie and island of Ormus, recorded in ancient story to be the principall magazeene of the world for jems, spice, and oderiferous perfumes' to Gombroon. Here a banksal or customhouse was established in which one of the Company's merchants had the honour to sit with the Persian Shahbandar or Customer clearing or dispatching goods, for which the Englishman had a farman from the King that also forbade the Shahbandar to act without the Company's knowledge and enjoined payment to the English at the end of the year of one half of what had been received on all goods shipped inwards, charges being first defrayed. But as the Persians began to delude and cozen the English when dividing the spoil taken at Ormus, so have they ever since continued in their deceitful practices, making every merchant's house, at their pleasure a customhouse whence they carried on business unknown to the Company, in order to defraud them at the end of the year and not pay them a seventh part of their just due. The advantages and benefits that have accrued yearly to the East India Company and the English nation are as follows: i. The amount received from the Shahbandar obtained from half the customs on goods imported, 3,000/.

2. The customs on English goods imported and exported at ten per cent., one with another, some paying more and some less, at which rate about 100,000/. being dealt for yearly, would produce 10,000/.

3. From a petty duty of 2½ per cent., payable by all merchants in Gombroon transporting merchandise from thence to Ispahan or other parts of the country, which with other petty customs on the way makes eight or ten per cent., 2,000/.

4, The freight of English shipping from thence, and the charge of English ships, about 1,000/. ; all which amounts to 16,000/., besides what was obtained from the sale of English goods, being not less than the prementioned sum. Secondly : What the Company was deprived of through the dishonest dealings of the Persians, viz.:

1. The overplus of half the customs more than they will pay or own to be due, one year with another, from the account of the Shahbandar of Gombroon given up to Itimad-uddaula for goods imported and exported, 70,000/., from which must be deducted the custom of goods exported not belonging to the English, the charge of the Customer and other officers in this employ, and the supplying the fort and castle with soldiers, etc., which may amount to 30,000/. ; so that there remains 40,000/ to be divided, ' our moyetie advanceing 20,000/. whereof we usually received as formerly declared 3,000/. ; soe that there resteth, which the Persians keep from us, 17,000/,'

2. From the custom of the Dutch goods, for, though the Emperor is pleased to remit them his share, yet he ought not in honour to give away ours, which at least would amount unto 6,000/., they importing not less one year with another in divers goods than 120,000/., the half custom of which at ten per cent, is 6,000/. Therefore by this account it appears that the English have been deceived by the Persians every year to the value of 23,000/. This by prudent care and some charge, countenanced by authority, might be prevented, or at least amended in such a measure as would be very advantageous to the English. The preservation of all these honours and advantages, besides many other immunities which the Company either did or should enjoy in Persia, Lewis feels it will be needless to urge (they being of such high concern), whilst persons of honour and integrity have the principal ordering of them. He is only ambitious to ' cast in my myte, out of a zeal or dutie which I owe unto my country '. These great privileges and considerations now enjoyed he believes will be utterly lost or taken from the Company, unless that trade is carried on by a joint stock, 'which only can render our negotiations there unto its pristine honour and repute, without which we may not, must not, expect any favour more then straungers.' The Dutch are watching their opportunity to obtain similar privileges and to oust the English by means of great promises and undertakings, having during the time Lewis was in Persia made sundry overtures to that effect. How great a pity and dishonour it would be for the English to be deprived of such great advantages and favour, purchased by the lives of many and at heavy cost to the Company, he leaves His Lordship to judge, but presumes to show briefly that the whole trade of India, as it is now carried on by any private man or sundry private companies at pleasure, will prove destructive to the advantage of the Commonwealth. In the first place, all persons in those eastern parts are as 'subtill, cunning and injenious dealing merchants as any under the cope of heaven '. Secondly, these men have more than the usual opportunities to prey upon English traders, both in buying from and selling to them, because of their many ships, all upon separate voyages, each competing against the other and striving to promote their own affairs. This competition is of great advantage to the Banyans, with whom the principal trading is done, for they know very well that the said ships cannot stay beyond the monsoon without suffering too great a prejudice, as the charge of their keep and the danger of the men dying, who are not easily replaced ; so that the English are forced both for what they buy and what they sell to submit to the pleasure of the Persian merchants, their own goods being reduced twenty per cent, below and the Persians' advanced twenty per cent, above the usual rate, and these ' much worse goods in theire sortments '. All merchandise from the East Indies, being in so many hands, has already fallen thirty, forty and fifty per cent, from its former price, the inference being that, if merchants get no profit they will not trade, and if this ' golden trade ' of India is suffered to perish for the want of prudent management, what a great loss it will be to the Commonwealth in annual revenue arising from customs, etc. Besides all this, it is only too probable that some of the single trading ships may follow the example of Cobb and Ayres, their voyages not proving advantageous, and seize upon some Indian junks and vessels trading into or from the Red Sea, many of these being richly laden ; which would be of very ill consequence to the English nation, and would be revenged upon our countrymen in India, from whom a liberal satisfaction would be taken and so honest men forced to suffer for knaves. Many other reasons might be given, but Lewis, imploring pardon for his prolixity, begs for a favourable acceptance of the foregoing, they being 'onely tendered for the good of his countrey'.[33]



EEIC, 1660-1663


"[June 27, 1660] Captain Ostler, Nathaniel Heme, Sir John Lewis, Alderman Foote, William Weld, and John Midleton are accepted as security for calicoes and ginger."[34]




J.R. Woodhead (1966), Alderman Thomas Lewis


"LEWIS, Thomas

Ald Broad Street, 11-20 Jun 1661, disch, F £620 (1) St Mary Colechurch, 1647, St Helen, 1677 (2) VIN, appr, 1632, to Edward Darling (£300 bond), fr, 1640, L, 1645 (3) f George Lewis of Peckleton, Leic, gent, mar (A) 1647, Frances, da of Ald Zachary Highlord of St Olave Hart Street, (C) Elizabeth, da of Ald Francis Dashwood of St Botolph Bishopsgate, Turkey merchant (4) RAC stock £1,000 of original stock, 1671 (5) Land Bucks (? land agent for Samuel DASHWOOD) (6) MP Wycombe, 1679, 1679-81, 1681, 1689-90 Sheriff of Bucks, 1673-4 (7) ? Dissenter (8) Bro-in-law of Samuel DASHWOOD Son Thomas Lewis, MP Wycombe, 1690-5, 1695-6 (d) (9)

(1) Beaven, I, p 75 (2) Boyd 28161, VBk, St Helen (3) Beaven, I, p 75, VIN, Appr Pres, 6 Nov 1632, Co Bk, 1638-58, ff 11, 184 (4) VIN, Appr Pres, 6 Nov 1632, Boyd 28161, Pink MS 306, f 172, Lipscombe, Buckinghamshire, III, p 654 (5) PRO, T 70/100 (6) Lipscombe, Buckinghamshire, II, p 482, III, pp 653-4 (7) Pink MS 306, f 172 (8) H of L, MS 154 (m) (9) Boyd 14016, Pink MS 306, f 172"[35]



Ledston Hall, Yorkshire


"[1712. September.] 27. Morning, read, &c.; then, had Dr. Tomlin-son's company to Ledstone Hall, where most kindly received by the excellent and most pious Lady Elizabeth Hastings, who showed me some valuable books and pictures of relations, both of the Earl of Huntingdon's family and Sir John Lewis's, the benefactors ; amongst other, the Lady Davis's, (the Irish prophetess,) and a treatise of her husband's, (the Attorney-General,) concerning the Immortality of the Soul; these and the agreeable conversation tempted us to stay too long, that we were late enough home ; but, blessed be God, had good weather, (though sore rains this morning,) and tolerable way."[36]



Ledsham from Fairburn Ings, Yorkshire


There is a memorial to Sir John Lewis in the saxon parish church of Ledsham from Fairburn Ings, Yorkshire, withreclining white marble figures of both Sir John Lewis and his wife

See Photograph of Sir John Lewis monument, parish church, Ledsham from Fairburn Ings, Yorkshire

Effigy of Sir John Lewis holding a skull, All Saints Church, Ledsham, near Leeds, West Yorkshire.

http://www.godsowncounty.co.uk/02/yorkshire/ledsham-from-fairburn-ings/



Sir Thomas Foote


"By his wife Elizabeth he had four daughters; 1. —, married to Sir John Cutler, Bart. 2. Mary, (married to Sir Arthur Onslow, Bart.) buried at Westham, March 29, 1706. 3. Sarah, (married to Sir John Lewis, Bart.) buried at Westham, Feb. 5, 1706. 4. Priscilla, (married to Sir Francis Rolle, Knt.) buried at Westham, July 9, 1708. The arms on Sir Thomas Foot's monument are, Quarterly, 1 and 4. Arg. a chevron S. in the dexter chief point, a trefoil of the second—Foot. 2 and 3. O. a cross engrailed party per pale S. and G.—Brook, impaling Quarterly, 1 and 4. Az. two bends lozengy O. and G.—Mott. 2 and 3. S. a crescent within an orle of billets Or."[37]



Hyde House, Plaistow, Essex


"The Hyde-house.

At Plaistow there is an ancient mansion called Hyde-house, (now in the occupation of Mr. John James,) which is said to have been inhabited by the monks of Stratford after the dissolution of that convent. Over a gateway is the date 1579; and, on a wall near the house, that of 1559. In the windows are several coats of arms, in stained glass (fn. 51) . I suppose it to have been the same house which, in 1605, was held by Richard Tailor, doctor of physic; it is described, in an ancient survey of the manor of Westham, as a great mansion in Plaistow, with certain lands, among which is mentioned, a parcel of ground called Le Hide. In the last century it was the seat of Sir Thomas Foot, and afterwards of the Onslows."[38]



Elizabeth Hastings, eldest daughter of Sir John Lewis


"Elizabeth Hastings (1654-1688) was the eldest daughter and coheir of Sir John Lewis, baronet, of Ledstone Hall, Yorkshire, and his wife Sarah (Catherine S. Patterson, "Hastings, Theophilus, seventh earl of Huntingdon (1650-1701)", The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography)."[39]



BHOL, Sir John Lewis


"Feb. 6 [1662] Petition from Sir John Lewis, Sir Richard Ford, Edward Bolle and others their partners in the ship Blessing, Jo. Shaw master, concerning the Customs in the various classes of goods in said ship, viz., Amsterdam, French and English. Referred: to the Customs Commissioners to examine the fact and certify what has formerly been done in cases of this nature in such part of this business as was before the Act of Navigation. "The case seems extraordinary and the equity of it depends cheifly upon the proofe that the goods returned be the same with those shipt out.[ [Early Entry Book VII. p. 36.]"[40]

"March 24. [1662] Same from Treasurer Southampton to the Customs Commissioners concerning the cargo of the ship Blessing, John Shaw commander, and belonging to Sir John Lewis, Sir Richard Ford, Edward Bolle and others: to permit "what goods are forraigne to come in paying onely what they received back, to to be repaid if transported againe; and what they shipp out, of our owne comodities, they may have them in free inwards and outwards [upon] making it appeare the duties were paid upon the first exportation," the said ship having been freighted for the Spanish West Indies about two years since, and having after many dangerous attempts for liberty of trade there been driven to return to the Downs, bringing back with her most of the goods she carried out. Early Entry Book III. pp. 60-2"[41]



John Bell, Armenian (connected to William Bell)


"Jonne Belly the Armenian is arrived and gone for Persia, with our letters for settling him in the wine office according to your order.
Jacob Callender the Armenian, whom you advise to have paid you there for his passage and 2 barrells amber, we have dismissed without any further demands."[42]



Possible primary sources

TNA


C 6/41/65 Short title: Bush v Lewis. Plaintiffs: Edward Bush. Defendants: John Lewis. Subject: money matters, Middlesex. Document type: answer only. 1659
C 6/192/122 Short title: Wilson v Wilson. Plaintiffs: Richard Wilson. Defendants: Thomas Wilson, Francis Tindall, Sir John Lewis baronet, Sir Joseph Ash baronet and Lewis Palmer. Subject: property in North Wheatley, Nottinghamshire. Document type: bill, answer. 1669

C 10/56/30 Bush v. Lewis: Middx 1658
C 10/58/38 ohn Lewis and John Meade v James Stonier, Samuel Foote, Roger Halton and Humphrey Beane: money matters, Middlesex. Bill and answer 1659
C 10/69/87 Sir John Lewis baronet and Jane Lewis widow v Josiah Prymate, Jeremy Elwes, Thomas Levett, George Lilbourne, George Grey, George Grey and Cuthbert Morley: Harraton and others, Durham. Answer 1663
C 10/73/77 Sir John Lewis baronet v Edward Bush: money matters, Middlesex. Bill and answer 1664
C 10/89/44 Dashwood v. Crome, Everott, Lewis: Middx 1669
C 10/109/85 Sir John Lewis baronet v Edward Bush: money matters. Answer and demurrer 1665
C 10/154/78 Sir John Lewys baronet and Valentine Croame v Thomas Wren: unspecified lands and others. Answer 1670
C 10/169/51 Foote, bart., Rolls, knight, Onslow & Lewis: Yorks 1671
C 10/469/153 Holden v. Lewis, Newgate, Medly and Crome: Middlesex 1662
C 10/469/170 Sir John Lewis baronet v Edward Bush: money matters, Middlesex. Bill only 1664
C 10/471/39 Dashwood v. Everett, Lewis: Middx 1668
C 10/474/161 Edward Lewis v John Hind and Rose his wife, Denzil Onslow and Dame Sarah his wife, Sir Thomas Foot knight and Sir Francis Rolls knight: Marr, Yorkshire. Bill only 1672
C 10/488/141 Sir John Lewis baronet, Sir James Muddiford baronet, Sir George Smith knight, Sir George Oxendon knight, Thomas Hussey and others v Nicholas Millett, William Kennon, George Male, William Stevens, John North, Samuel Roberts and others: money matters, Middlesex. 1666

PROB 11/337 Duke 102-158 Will of Sir John Lewys 01 December 1671
PROB 11/344 Bruce 1-53 Will of Edward Lewis, Merchant of London 09 April 1674
PROB 11/364 Bath 123-185 Will of Edward Bolle of London 11 December 1680



British Library


Lewys (John). Sir. Bart. Warrants signed by Sir J. Lewys as Admiralty Commissioner 1660
Add. 63788 B ff. 135-136

Lewys (John). Sir. Bart.; Committee of the E. India Co. Letters to Sir G. Oxenden 1662-1666.
Add. 40696 f. 179 b
Add. 40700 f. 190
Add. 40711 f. 32 b (copy)
Add. 40712 f. 31 (copy)

Ledston Hall. co. York. Views 1816-17.
Add. 36394 ff. 193-196
Add. 40713 f. 63 (copy)



Possible secondary sources


'Ledston Hall, Yorkshire', County Life, 21 & 29 June 1907

'Lewys, of Ledston', John Burke, Bernard Burke, A genealogical and heraldic history of the extinct and dormant baronetcies of England, Ireland and Scotland, 2nd ed. (London, 1844), p. 313

Guide to British Historical Manuscripts in the Huntington Library. (San Marino: The Huntington, 1982)
  1. 'Hearth Tax: City of London 1666: St Bartholomew the Less ', London Hearth Tax: City of London and Middlesex, 1666 (2011). URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=118512 Date accessed: 24 January 2012
  2. PROB 11/337 Duke 102-158 Will of Sir John Lewys 01 December 1671
  3. March 1665/66, Letter from John Lewis to Sir GO
  4. 24th March 1665/66, Letter from George Smith to Sir GO, London
  5. Tim Mowl and Brian Earnshaw give the date of purchase of the estate of Ledston Hall as 1653, though English Heritage in its listing details for the building states circa 1660 (Tim Mowl, Brian Earnshaw, Architecture without kings: the rise of puritan classicism under Cromwell (Manchester, 1985), p. 169; 'Ledston Hall', IoE 428817, http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/Details/Default.aspx?id=428817, viewed 24/01/12)
  6. David Hey, 'Introduction: the West Riding in the Late Seventeenth century', p. 26, pub. in http://www.hearthtax.org.uk/communities/westriding/westridingintro.pdf, viewed 24/01/24
  7. 'Hearth Tax: Middlesex 1666: Clerkenwell (1 of 2)', London Hearth Tax: City of London and Middlesex, 1666 (2011). URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=118828 Date accessed: 22 January 2012
  8. 'Sir Henry Oxenden, 17 hearths, Borough of Winghamwell, The Hundred of Wingham In the Lath of St Augustine The Upper Halfe Hundred Borough of Wingham Street', in - Kent Hearth Tax Assessment Lady Day 1664: CKS: Q/RTh Transcribed and computerised by Duncan Harrington
  9. Tim Mowl, Brian Earnshaw, Architecture without kings: the rise of puritan classicism under Cromwell (Manchester, 1985), p. 169
  10. John Lewis to [name not given] [November] 1656 (Public Record Office: C. O. 77, vol. viii, no. 47), in Ethel Bruce Sainsbury (ed.), A Calendar of the Court Minutes of the East India Company, 1655-1659 (Oxford, 1916), fn., p. 129
  11. Reasons for a Joint Stock, tendered by John Lewis, November 17, 1656 (Public Record Office: CO. 77, vol. viii, no. 48), in Ethel Bruce Sainsbury (ed.), A Calendar of the Court Minutes of the East India Company, 1655-1659 (Oxford, 1916), pp. 130-134
  12. This is the footnote text
  13. This is the footnote text
  14. See Bill of Complaint in Court of Chancery by 'S:r John Lewis of London Kn:t and Barronett, S:r James Maddifford Kn:t and Barronett, S:r George Smith of London kn:t S:r George Oxenden Knight Thomas Hussey of London Esq Henry Sparstow of London Esq Daniell Pennington [??] Jonathan Dawes, Phillip Mirell [Mirsell?] and Richard Binly of London Merchants and part owners of the good shipp called the Loyall Merchant of London' (C10/488/141)
  15. 'Feb. 6 [1662] Petition from Sir John Lewis, Sir Richard Ford, Edward Bolle andothers their partners in the ship Blessing, Jo. Shaw master, concerning the Customs in the various classes of goods in said ship, viz., Amsterdam, French and English', Early Entry Book VII. p. 36., cited in William A. Shaw (ed.), 'Minute Book: February 1662', Calendar of Treasury Books, vol. 1 1: 1660-1667 (1904), pp. 327-332. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=80040 Date accessed: 24 January 2012
  16. http://www.pepysdiary.com/archive/1662/03/22/index.php, viewed 24/01/12
  17. XXX Latham & XXX Mathews, XXXX (XXXX, XXXX), p. XX
  18. This is the footnote text
  19. IGI states that Sarah Foot was christened on August 19th, 1632, at St. Benet, Gracechurch, and that she married John Lewis on August 29th, 1654, at St Nicholas, Cole Abbey, London. Daniel Lysons states that she died in 1706, and was bured at Westham (alias West Ham, Essex) (Daniel Lysons, 'West Ham', The Environs of London: volume 4: Counties of Herts, Essex & Kent (1796), pp. 245-272, fn. 56. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=45476 Date accessed: 24 January 2012
  20. Henry Fitz-Gilbert Waters, Genealogical gleanings in England, vol. 2 (?Boston, or ?Cambridge, MA, 1901), p. 1275
  21. PROB 11/337 Duke 102-158 Will of Sir John Lewys 01 December 1671
  22. http://histfam.familysearch.org/getperson.php?personID=I77714&tree=London, viewed 24/01/12
  23. http://www.bl.uk/aboutus/terms/copyright/index.html, viewed 24/01/12
  24. John Lewis' wife was Sarah Foot, the third daughter and co-heir of Sir Thomas Foot, who had been Lord Mayor of London in ?1649 NEED TO CONFIRM (Henry Fitz-Gilbert Waters, Genealogical gleanings in England, vol. 2 (?Boston, or ?Cambridge, MA, 1901), p. 1275)
  25. John Lewis' mother-in-law was XXXX. See Missing faces
  26. CHECK THE NAME. This may be an Armenian. Several years earlier, a letter from the English East India Company in London to Surat had stated: "Wee have received a peticion from one William Bell an Armenian, whoe hath formely lived as an interpreter to Mr William Garway and Mr Buckridge in Persia. Hee hath peticioned to us, to recomend him to you, that hee may bee imployed as one of those for the making of wine in Persia, to which his request wee condiscend, and referr him unto you." ('Company in London to Surat, 10 August 1663, E/3/86 Extract from ff. 150-150v.' in Vahé Baladouni, Margaret Makepeace, Armenian Merchants of the Seventeenth and Early Eighteenth Centuries: English East India Company Sources, (Philadelphia, 1998), p. 54)
  27. 'Hearth Tax: City of London 1666: St Bartholomew the Less ', London Hearth Tax: City of London and Middlesex, 1666 (2011). URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=118512 Date accessed: 24 January 2012
  28. http://www.pepysdiary.com/archive/1662/03/22/index.php, viewed 24/01/12
  29. H.M.S.O., Report on the manuscripts of the late Reginald Rawdon Hastings, Esq., of the Manor house, Ashby de la Zouche (London, 1928), p. 402
  30. Henry Fitz-Gilbert Waters, Genealogical gleanings in England (Parts I-xxiii,xxv, vol. 2 (XXXX, XXXX), pp. 1274-1275
  31. 'A Court of Committees for the Fourth Joint Stock, February 25, 1650' (Court Book, vol. xx, p. 494), in Ethel Bruce Sainsbury (ed.), A Calendar of the Court Minutes of the East India Company, 1650-1654 (Oxford, 1913), p. 24
  32. John Lewis to [name not given] [November] 1656 (Public Record Office: C. O. 77, vol. viii, no. 47), in Ethel Bruce Sainsbury (ed.), A Calendar of the Court Minutes of the East India Company, 1655-1659 (Oxford, 1916), pp. 129-130
  33. Reasons for a Joint Stock, tendered by John Lewis, November 17, 1656 (Public Record Office: CO. 77, vol. viii, no. 48), in Ethel Bruce Sainsbury (ed.), A Calendar of the Court Minutes of the East India Company, 1655-1659 (Oxford, 1916), pp. 130-134
  34. 'A Court of Committees, June 27, 1660 (Court Book, vol. xxiv, p. 271), in Ethel Bruce Sainsbury (ed.), A Calendar of the Court Minutes of the East India Company, 1660-1663 (Oxford, 1922), p. 22
  35. 'Lewis, Thomas', in J.R. Woodhead, 'Lambert - Lytler', The Rulers of London 1660-1689: A biographical record of the Aldermen and Common Councilment of the City of London (1966), pp. 104-101
  36. Joseph Hunter (ed.), The diary of Ralph Thoresby, author of the topography of Leeds (1677-1724), 2 vols. (London, 1830), reproduced on website of the Thoresby Society, http://www.thoresby.org.uk/diary/1712.html, viewed 24/01/12
  37. Daniel Lysons, 'West Ham', The Environs of London: volume 4: Counties of Herts, Essex & Kent (1796), pp. 245-272, fn. 56. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=45476 Date accessed: 24 January 2012
  38. Daniel Lysons, 'West Ham', The Environs of London: volume 4: Counties of Herts, Essex & Kent (1796), pp. 245-272, URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=45476 Date accessed: 24 January 2012
  39. http://www.warwick.ac.uk/english/perdita/html/ms_HUNHAL16_context.htm, viewed 24/01/12
  40. William A. Shaw (ed.), 'Minute Book: February 1662', Calendar of Treasury Books, vol. 1 1: 1660-1667 (1904), pp. 327-332. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=80040 Date accessed: 24 January 2012
  41. William A. Shaw (ed.), 'Entry Book: March 1662', Calendar of Treasury Books, Volume 1: 1660-1667 (1904), pp. 371-383. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=80053 Date accessed: 24 January 2012
  42. '71. George Oxinden, John Goodier and Gerald Aungier at Swally to Company in London, 12 March 1664/65', G/36/86 Extract from f. 181, in Vahé Baladouni, Margaret Makepeace, Armenian merchants (Philadelphia, 1998), p. 58