27. THE HOSPITAL OF THE SAVOY
The hospital of the Savoy, dedicated to the
honour of the Blessed Jesus, the Virgin Mary,
and St. John the Baptist, was founded by King
Henry VII in 1505 on the south side of the
Strand, (fn. 1) on the spot once occupied by the palace
of Peter of Savoy, uncle of Eleanor of Provence. (fn. 2)
The king seems to have died before the work
was really begun, and the fulfilment of the
scheme was left to his executors, who in 1512
obtained letters patent from Henry VIII empowering them to erect a perpetual hospital to
consist of a master and four other chaplains who
were to be a corporate body, with a common
seal, and received licence to acquire in mortmain
land to the annual value of 500 marks. (fn. 3) The
buildings, for which Henry VII had bequeathed
10,000 marks, (fn. 4) and which were intended to
accommodate 100 poor men (fn. 5) every night, must
have taken some time to complete, and this is
probably the reason why the first master, William
Holgill, and the chaplains were not appointed
before 1517. (fn. 6)
The statutes drawn up by the executors in
1523 give an interesting picture of the institution and its working. (fn. 7) The master was supposed
to superintend the house generally, and had
certain duties with regard to the management of
its property (fn. 8) ; the four chaplains exercised the
functions of seneschal, sacristan, confessor, and
hospitaller (fn. 9) ; there were besides two priests,
four altarists to assist in the services in the
chapel, a clerk of the kitchen, a butler, a cook,
an under cook, a door-keeper and an under doorkeeper, a gardener, a matron, and twelve other
women. (fn. 10) The master received a stipend of
£30 a year, each of the chaplains £4 and the
priests £3 6s. 8d., and the others in proportion, (fn. 11)
all except the master being fed at the expense
of the hospital. (fn. 12) The uniform of all officials,
male and female, was blue with a Tudor rose in
red and gold embroidered on the breast. (fn. 13)
Every evening an hour before sunset, the
hospitaller, the vice-matrons and others stood at
the great door and received the poor, who, on
being admitted, proceeded first to the chapel to
pray for the founder, and then to the dormitory,
where the matron and some of the women allotted
the beds to them, (fn. 14) and four others prepared the
baths and cleansed their clothing. The hospital
only provided a lodging for the night except in
the case of the sick, who were allowed to remain after the departure of the other men and
were tended by the doctor and surgeon and the
sisters. (fn. 15)
The daily accounts of the clerk of the kitchen
and the monthly accounts of the seneschal were
to be made in the counting-house, but those of
the master and all other officers in a room called
the exchequer. (fn. 16) Two rooms in the tower
opposite the great gate were appointed for a
treasury, in which were to be kept the chests
containing a reserve-fund of 500 marks, the
yearly surplus, the money for the daily expenses,
the legacies and gifts to the hospital, the jewels
and ornaments not in every-day use, and charters
and muniments. (fn. 17)
The visitation of the hospital was entrusted to
the abbot of Westminster. (fn. 18)
William Holgill, the first master, seems to
have been rather a privileged person: he received
a larger salary than was to be given to any
future master, (fn. 19) and in spite of the statute forbidding the master to accept any other office or
administration, (fn. 20) he was allowed to act as surveyor to Wolsey, (fn. 21) and afterwards to hold the
prebend of South Cave. (fn. 22) The income of the
hospital, £567 16s. 3¾d. in 1535, (fn. 23) can have
been barely sufficient to meet the necessary expenses, since when food rose in price Holgill had
to draw on the reserve fund, (fn. 24) and the commissioners who under Sir Roger Cholmley,
chief baron of the Exchequer, visited the hospital
in 1551, found that the revenues fell short of
expenditure by £205 4s. 2d., (fn. 25) and they had
evidently no fault to find with the way the establishment was conducted. (fn. 26)
The house was dissolved in 1553, (fn. 27) and its
lands given by the king to Bridewell and St.
Thomas's, Southwark, (fn. 28) but in 1556 it was refounded and endowed afresh by Queen Mary, (fn. 29)
whose maids of honour provided the beds and
other furniture. (fn. 30)
This new foundation had been in existence
only a few years when it was almost ruined (fn. 31)
by Thomas Thurland, the master, who was
removed in 1570, but not before he had burdened the hospital with his private debts by a
misuse of the common seal, granted unprofitable
leases, taken away the beds, and disposed of
jewels and other treasures of the house. (fn. 32)
During the Civil War the place was used for
the accommodation of sick and wounded soldiers, (fn. 33)
and the master was superseded by a governor (fn. 34) or
overseer. (fn. 35) At the accession of Charles II, the
hospital was restored to its former state, (fn. 36) but
some of the buildings were taken by the king in
1670 for the use of the men wounded in the
Dutch war, (fn. 37) and the promise to give them back
was not fulfilled either by him or his successors. (fn. 38)
It is probable that long before this time the
office of master had practically become a sinecure. At any rate Dr. Walter Balconquall, who
was master from 1621 to 1640, managed to
combine his duties of master of the Savoy with
those of dean of Rochester, and afterwards of
Durham. (fn. 39) The report of a commission under William III shows that the hospital had
outlived its usefulness, the relief of the poor
being utterly neglected, and it was proposed to
annex the mastership to the bishopric of Gloucester, and to pay pensions to twenty poor widows
as well as the salaries to the four chaplains, (fn. 40) but
nothing was done.
In 1702, however, Lord Keeper Wright
visited the house and removed the chaplains
because, in contravention of the statutes, they
had omitted to subscribe to the oath on taking
office and had not resided within the hospital. (fn. 41)
As no master had been appointed since Dr.
Killigrew's death in 1699, (fn. 42) the hospital was now
without master and chaplains, and was declared
by Wright to be dissolved. (fn. 43) Although it was
exceedingly doubtful whether a visitor possessed
such powers, (fn. 44) the Lord Keeper's action was
effectual, and the hospital of the Savoy came thus
to an end.
According to the statutes of 1523 the master
was to be elected by the chaplains, (fn. 45) but from the
time of Thurland the sovereign seems to have
appointed (fn. 46) in reality, though the chaplains went
through the form of election. (fn. 47)
The Savoy in 1535 (fn. 48) held rents of assize in
London, the manors of Shoreditch, 'Colkennington' (Kenton), and Goldbeaters, and some land
in Shoreditch, co. Middlesex; the manors of
Dengie, Helion Bumpstead, Aveley, Tailfeers,
and Gerons, (fn. 49) co. Essex; the manors of
Langley and land in Greenstreet, co. Herts; the
manors of 'Denham-Duredent' and Marsworth,
co. Bucks; the manors of 'Topcliffe,' 'Byrdlyns,'
'Nedehall in Hynton,' 'Alyn,' and land in
Fulbourn, co. Camb.; the manors of Hastingleigh, 'Corston' (Cuxton?), Combe Grove, and
'Frannycombe,' co. Kent; the manors of
Tibshelf, co. Derby, and of Bewick, co. York. (fn. 50)
The advowson of Dengie church also belonged
to the hospital. (fn. 51)
At the second dissolution of the house its
possessions, which appear to have been worth
£2,497 a year, with the exception of Dengie
manor, seem to have been entirely different. (fn. 52) They
comprised some land at Mile End, co. Middlesex,
the manor of Dengie and rent of the manor of
'Sow,' co. Essex; rent out of Shabbington
manor, co. Bucks; the manor of 'DentonGowerty,' co. Lincoln; Stanton under Bardon,
co. Leicester; 'South Dowes' Hospital,
Abington Mills, Harpale Mills, East Haddon,
and lands in West Haddon, co. Northants; the
manor of Garstang, rent out of the manor of
'Rannworth,' co. Lancaster, Howorth Grange, the
manors of Acklam and Houghton, Sutton Grange,
Woodhouse Grange, Cudworth, 'Kirkstall Inge,'
'Shelton-Coates,' (fn. 53) and Ryhill in co. York and
the manor of 'Hallatreholm' in co. Durham.
Masters of the Savoy Hospital
William Hogill, appointed 1517, (fn. 54) occurs
1529 (fn. 55) and 1541 (fn. 56)
Robert Bowes, appointed 1551 (fn. 57)
Ralph Jackson, appointed 1556 (fn. 58)
Thomas Thurland, occurs 1559 (fn. 59) 1561, (fn. 60)
deposed 1570 (fn. 61)
Dr. William Mount, died 1602 (fn. 62)
Dr. Richard Neale, appointed 1602 (fn. 63)
Dr. George Montaigne, appointed 1608, (fn. 64)
occurs 1617 (fn. 65)
Walter Balconquall, appointed and resigned
1618 (fn. 66)
Marc Antonio de Dominis, archbishop of
Spalato, appointed 1618, (fn. 67) resigned 1621 (fn. 68)
Dr. Walter Balconquall, elected 1621, (fn. 69) occurs
1640 (fn. 70)
Dr. Sheldon, occurs 1660, (fn. 71) resigned 1663 (fn. 72)
Dr. Henry Killigrew, elected 1663, (fn. 73) died
1699 (fn. 74)
A fine seal of this hospital is attached to a
charter of 1559. (fn. 75) It represents St. John the
Baptist, his head surrounded by a nimbus. The
saint stands on a mount replenished with herbage
and flowers; he holds in his left hand the Agnus
Dei and a banner flag and points to the lamb
with his right. In the field on the left is a
Tudor rose; on the right a portcullis, chained and
ringed; above these two sprigs. Legend:—
S'. COE . MAGISTRI . ET . CAPELLANORV . HOS
[PITAL] IS SAVOYE