Page 56 - 3rdPub1

The Blaker Society © received for the sacred light of St Nicholas in Preston parish church, of which

Walter Knyght’s will is largely about settling accounts for monies

he had doubtless been an overseer, in charge of the stipes, offertory box,
comparatively recently, such overseers being appointed by houserow annually.
His having received an amount from Ralph Blaker that Ralph had in turn
received from Alice Cony may indicate that Ralph Blaker had been overseer in
the previous year: if so, that would show that Ralph was also a householder in
Preston.
We can assume that Richard Blaker (son of John) was alive in 1482, as
were the (unnamed) two sons of Ralph. For Preston Episcopi, the period of
greatest interest is thus before and after 1482. The Manorial Documents
Register lists:

1429 bailiff’s account Lambeth Palace Library ED 919
1429-1430 reeve’s account Lambeth Palace Library ED 920
1504 court book West Sussex Record Office Ep/VI/12/1
1537 court book West Sussex Record Office Ep/VI/12/3
1546-1553 2 court books West Sussex Record Office Ep/VI/12/4-5
1552 survey West Sussex Record Office Ep/VI/2/1 ff.36v-
39
1552 court roll Gloucestershire Archives D678/1 M5/3
1552 rental East Sussex Record Office BH/P
ES/ET/73B
1
At present our next notice of the Blakers at Preston comes in 1512, thirty
years after the two wills:

Source: Public Record Office: C 40/998
Title: Common Pleas Hilary 3 Henry VIII

Hilary 1512

Sussex’

to
r
r
Joh’es Prior monast ij s’ci Pancratij de Lewys p attorn’ suu’ op se iiij die v sus Ric’m Blaker
nup de Preston’ in Com’ p d’co yoman’ de pl’ito q’d reddat ei decem libras quas ei debet &
r
iniuste detinet &c’ Et ip’e non ven’ Et prec’ fuit vic’ q’d sum’ eum &c’ Et vic’ modo
2
mand’ q’d nichil h’et &c’ I’o capiat q’d sit hic a die Pasche in tres septimanas &c’ Ad
r
r
quem diem vic’ non mis’ br’e I’o sicut prius capiat q’d sit hic in octabis S’ce Trinitatis Ad
3
4
r
quem diem vic’ non mis’ br’e I’o sicut plur’ capiat q’d sit hic in Octabis S’ci Martini &c’

1 A demonstration of the ineffectiveness of this Register is the fact that none of the Pelham family court rolls,
including those for Preston, are included: see Pelham 1 and 2 pdfs from the British Museum catalogue. Of most
interest is the 1552 item, with a view to establishing who held land there immediately before the grant of 1555
2 2 May 1512
3 13 June 1512
4 18 November 1512