Whitby will - John Rushton
William Vescy had lived at Whitby. He was a merchant
and his forebears had tenanted the big house at
Sleights. Even earlier, his ancestors may well have
been the barons Vescy who were lords of Malton,
Brompton and Alnwick in the 12th century. During the
Middle ages, you were more likely to make money if you
had it already. William made his will in 1407. He left
the Abbot of Whitby 26s8d, and the monks in the great
monastery on the east cliff another 26s8d. Sleights
came under Ugglebarnby chapel so he left 13s4d to
its building. The bridge between Ugglebanby and
Sleights was given 6s8d. Could that possibly be down
in the bottom of Littlebeck.
His trade seems to have taken him far afield. He
wanted the road repaired between Tadcaster and York,
and the bridge of Sutton near Elvington .His other
bequests were unusual. There was three shillings for
every anchorite and anchoress within the liberty of
York city. There were seven deliveries of sea coal
for the Whitby poor. Seven marks was available for a
man to travel in his place to the shrine of St James
of Compostella beyond the seas. Others were to make
his pilgrimages with alms and expenses, to holy
places at Lincoln, Walsingham, St Edmundsbury,
Canterbury,Broxeholm, St Pauls London, Hayles, York,
Beverley, Bridlington, Scarborough, Thorp Basset, and
Whitby. Here was a man without heirs but much
conscience
OTHER ARTICLES
• Captain Cook and his early life in Staithes and Whitby
• Paying the rent in Herrings at Whitby - John Rushton
• Famous fishing families - the Whitby Storr family and the Leadleys
• Filey and the gales of 1860,1867,1869 AND 1880
• Scarborough ships in the baltic - an article by John Rushton
• A Whitby Pirate - John Stephenson
• Whitby landslip - Henrietta Street
• Gristhorpe man - the reaction of victorians - John Rushton
• Whitby history - The journal of Captain Cook - extracts from Tahiti
• Article by John rushton on scarboroughs earliest residents
• Stories from Robin Hood's Bay and Whitby
• The Whitby whale fishing industry
• Trawling and overfishing - Filey fishing
• History article by John Rushton on scarboroughs early industries
• A scarborough Merchant - An article on scarboroughs maritime history by John Rushton
• History of the Whitby whaling industry
• Charles Dickens account of Filey and Scarborough graveyards
• Shipbuilding at Scarborough - the wooden barques and schooners
• Tindalls the shipbuilders by John Rushton.
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