Women and landholding in mediaeval Cambridge

Introduction

St John’s holds a substantial collection of mediaeval deeds, mostly transferred to the College in the 16th century when it acquired the estates to which they relate. These include lands held by the Hospital of St John the Evangelist, a religious house established in Cambridge in the 12th century to care for the poor. Run by Augustinian canons, it received small gifts of land and property from local townspeople, and when it was dissolved in 1511 these estates were granted to the College that was built on its site.

Such a large group of deeds, hundreds of which relate to land in Cambridgeshire, is an important source of primary evidence for many types of research, including family, local, social and economic history. The collection is currently (2021) being recatalogued, with descriptions arranged onto our searchable online catalogue, allowing connections to be made between items. This exhibition draws on a small number of deeds to show how the collection can be used to learn more about one element of social history, that of women as landholders in 13th and 14th-century Cambridge. It also offers glimpses into how they can be used for constructing family histories and patterns of local land holding. Pending online publication of the finished catalogue, researchers are very welcome to contact the archivist for further information.

Johanna & John de Giddinge

This bundle of deeds includes a grant of land in Fulbourn, made jointly by Johanna, daughter of William, son of William, and John de Giddinge, her husband. It is described as being made by their ‘unanimous assent and will’. The order of their names, with the recital of Johanna’s father’s and grandfather’s names, suggests the land being transacted came to the marriage through her.

In this type of deed, the wax seals attached are those of the grantors, so as the grant is by Johanna and John jointly, both their seals are appended. The deed is joined to two others by a tie wrapped around the seal tags, and being the largest is at the back of the bundle.

Ref: SJCR/D27.33

3 documents, including grant of land by Johanna and John de Giddinge

Isabella Rous

This pair of deeds, tied together just above the seal, bear witness to an unmarried woman holding land. In the first, dated 1347, Robert Rous of Ely grants a tenement to his daughter, Isabella, neighbouring one held by her brother. Twelve years later, in 1359, Isabella grants the land in turn, this time to a group of four men. Whereas Robert’s charter grants ‘a tenement’ (unum tenementum), Isabella’s grants ‘my tenement’ (meum tenementum), emphasising she holds it in her own right.

Ref: SJCR/D27.74-75

Grant of land to Isabella Rous by her father, granted by her in turn 12 years later

1) Margaret & Agnes to Warinus Templeman

This is the first in a short sequence of 13th-century deeds in which the same group of people are parties to transactions concerning the same piece of land. Through these, family relationships and the changing marital status of three sisters can also be traced.

Margaret and Agnes, daughters of Reginald of Newinham [Newnham], grant an acre of land in Grantchester to their brother-in-law, Warinus Templeman, a palmer. The sisters would have been coheiresses to Reginald, inheriting his lands jointly in the absence of a son. The land in this transaction comprises one rood which he took on marriage to their sister Cecilia, and three roods neighbouring it. For this, he will pay an annual rent of two pence. The document bears the seals of both Margaret and Agnes and on both it is possible to read the seal legend, in which each sister is described as ‘daughter of Reginald’. Of the two, Margaret’s name (on the left-hand seal) survives most clearly. The motifs on the seals are similar, both using a stylised lily, but Margaret’s is of the type more closely resembling an ear of corn.

Ref: SJCR/D25.81

Seals of Margaret and Agnes, daughters of Reginald of Newnham

3) Ralph, Margaret & Agnes to Hugh Waubert

Hugh then bequeathed the land to St John’s Hospital, giving rise to the document exhibited here, which is a confirmation by the original grantors. By this point, Margaret is married, so the grant is confirmed by her husband in conjunction with her and Agnes. The document states that by this charter, Ralph, son of Walter, Margaret his wife, and Agnes her sister, confirm to Hugh Waubert the grant which Warinus Templeman made to him. It carries the seals of Ralph, Margaret, and Agnes, and we can see that the women’s seals are the same as in the original grant to Warinus, showing that Margaret hadn’t gone to the expense of commissioning a new seal matrix when she married. Witnesses include two men who are most likely relations of the parties – John Waubert and Robert Templeman, both of whom witnessed the original grant by the two sisters to Warinus, along with John’s brother, William.

Ref: SJCR/D25.60

Hugh Waubert grants the land to St John's Hospital: confirmation of original grant

Margaret Rumbold

This deed is an example of a grant of land by a widow. Margaret Rumbold, ‘in her free widowhood’ (‘in libera viduatate mea’) grants land in the fields of Coton to William, son of Walter Wauberd (or Waubert), for an annual rent of one penny. The charter specifies that the property in question is Margaret’s own (‘half an acre of my land’), suggesting that it is the land which Margaret brought to the marriage as her dowry, or part of it. Areas of land are described by relating them to the geographical features and parcels of land that form its boundaries, with the names of landholders given. This can allow a picture of patterns of land ownership to be built up, and in this case shows that on one side the land abuts on land which Roger holds of the Lady Hawisia, or Hawise, of Chester. Hawise (died c. 1241-43) was a wealthy landowner, one of five sisters who were co-heiresses to their only brother, the Earl of Chester, when he died in 1232.

Ref: SJCR/D25.59

Grant of land in Coton by Margaret Rumbold, a widow

Margaret Rumbold & son

Here, Margaret Rumbold is again granting land to William Waubert, this time in Grantchester and to William together with his brother, Henry. William and Henry Waubert are parties to a proportionally large number of deeds in the collection. This transaction is made with the consent of Margaret’s son and heir, Henry, and the land is not described her as ‘her land’. This piece of land is bordered by lands held by two other women, Gunilde Seman and Margaret de Waleden.

Ref: SJCR/D25.47

Grant of land by Margaret Rumbold, with her son's consent

Margaret Rumbold's seal

The seal attached to the document above shows the device used by Margaret Rumbold, a stylised lily like that used by Margaret, daughter of Reginald of Newnham.

Ref: SJGR/D25.47

Margaret Rumbold's seal

Dionisia, widow of Roger of Newnham

Dionisia, widow of Roger of Newnham, renounces her rights over (‘quitclaims’) her part of the land which her late husband gave to William and Hugh Waubert, thus guarding William and Hugh against future claims from relatives of Roger that they had a greater right to hold the land. Her part is one third - ‘illam tertiam partem’ - the standard portion of land to which a widow had the right during her lifetime. The land in question in this transaction is in the fields of Grantchester above Clint in Middelfurlong. Dionisia quitclaimed the land in return for 6 shillings ‘in negotio meo’, which may mean ‘in my enterprise or business’ but more likely means ‘in my need’. The first witness to the deed is ‘Robert herede’, Robert (her) heir.

Ref: SJCR/D25.86

Quitclaim by Dionisia, widow of Roger of Newnham