SIR JOHN AYLEF.
Sir John Aylef was an eminent Surgeon and probably born about 1490. Diligent search has been made for his parentage, but without success. In his will he refers to seven “poor” people “being of my kynn dwelling in Grenewiche,” and from the fact that he had a grant of arms instead of inheriting a paternal coat, as also the silence of his immediate descendants when registering the pedigrees at the Heralds’ Visitations (who must have known but did not care to register Sir John’s father), it may be assumed that he was of humble origin.
He was admitted to the freedom of the Barbers prior to 1522 and served the office of Warden 1530, 1532 and 1535, being chosen Master 1538. At this time he was Surgeon to Henry VIII and had cured him of a fistula, for which the king granted him the manor of Gryttenham in Wiltshire, part of the lands of the Abbey of Malmesbury. Henry also bequeathed by his will 100 marks to Aylef.
Mr. Aylef, being elected on 1st August, 1548, served the office of Sheriff 1548–9, and in Wriothesley’s Chronicle under date 1549 we read—
The third daie of March being Shrove Sondaie Mr Henry Amcottes Lord Maior of London was presented to the Kinges Maiestie at his pallace at Westminster. And after the oration made by Mr Recorder to his Maiestie and aunswere again by my Lord Chauncelor unto the maior and aldermen, the Kinges Maiestie made my Lord Maior, Knight, and Mr William Locke, Alderman, and Mr John Ayliffe, barbar surgeon, sheriffes of London for this yeare, were made knightes also in the Chambre of Presens, the Kinges Maiestie standing under his cloath of estate.
SIR JOHN AYLEF
From the original painting by Holbein,
at Barber’s Hall.
Two days afterwards Sir John had a grant of arms from Sir Thomas Hawley, Clarencieux, and shortly after was elected Alderman of Dowgate Ward. He seems to have relinquished his profession of a Surgeon and to have become a Merchant, holding the important office of Master of Blackwell Hall, one of the greatest commercial centres of the period, and residing at the Hall, in the parish of St. Michael Bassishaw.
On the 28th May, 1550, he was chosen the first Alderman of the newly-created ward of Bridge Without, some interesting particulars of which may be seen in Stow’s Survey (ed. 1633, p. 446); while in Wriothesley’s Chronicle, under date 1550, we also read—
Memorandum. Wednesday in the Whitson weeke, at a Court of the Aldermen kept in the Guyldhall, Sir John Aliffe, Knight, and master of Blackwell Hall, was sworne an alderman of the Bridg ward without, and to have the jurisdiction of the Borough of Southwark, and 2 deputies to be appointed there to assist him, which was the first alderman that ever was there, which was done by the advise of my Lord Mayor and thˀ Aldermen, for the better order to be kept there, and for the more quietnes of the Mayors hereafter to come, and the good order of the Kinges subjectes there, accordinge to the lawes of the City; and the Fryday after he rode with my Lord Mayor all the precint of Southwarke, my Lord Mayor havinge a certeine nomber of the honest persons of the borough at the bridg-house, to whom he shewed theyr alderman, and appointed deputies under him, and so hereafter to see a good order to be kept in the Borough, as in other wardes of the citye of London.
Sir John subsequently removed to his old ward of Dowgate (and continued Alderman there till his death, his successor being chosen 12th November, 1556). After his election as Alderman he was translated to the Grocers’ Company, of which ancient guild he was crowned Upper Warden, 9th June, 1556, in view of his election as Lord Mayor for which he stood next in nomination, and to which office, had he lived but a few weeks longer, he would in all probability have been chosen. He was married to Isabel Buckell of Warwickshire, and by her had four children, John, Erkynwald, Mary and Alice. His son John and great grandson George, were both knighted. His widow, Dame Isabel, had a grant of arms by Thomas Hawley (3 & 4 Ph. & M.) ar. a fesse vaire or and az. betw. three doves ppr. bearing in their beaks a branch gu. Sir John Aylef’s funeral is thus recorded in Machyn’s Diary, 1556—
The xx of October was bered ser John Olyff knyght and altherman, and sum-tym he was surgantt[314] unto kyng Henry the viijth, and after he was shreyff of London; and he had levyd tylle the next yere he had byn mayre, for he tornyd from the Surgens unto the Grosers; and bered at sant Myghelles in Bassynghall, with a harold of armes bayryng ys cott armur, and with a standard and a pennon of armes, and iiij baners of emages, and ij grett whytt branchys, and iiij grett tapurs and . . . . . dosen of torchys; and mony powre men had gownes; and with a elmett, targat, and sword; and the crest a crowne and a holyfftre[315] standyng with-in the crowne.
For the inscription on Sir John Aylef’s tomb, which formerly stood in St. Michael’s Bassishaw, see page [89].
Sir John Aylef’s will, dated 26th September, 1556, was proved 24th December, 1556. He was, he says,
At this present somewhat sicke in bodye;—ffirst and principally I give and com̃end my soule unto Almightie god and to my Savior and Redemer Jesus Christ his onely begotten sonne by and throughe the merittꝭ of whose bytter passion I truste to have Remission of my synnes and to the holie goste three parsons and one god and to all the holye & blessed companye of heaven, and my bodye to be buried in holie grave in suche decent order as to the goode discretion of my Executors hereafter named shalbe thought mete and convenient for myne Estate and degree withoute pompe or glorie.
To the parson of St. Michael Bassishaw for tithes and oblations forgotten 20s. To every priest singing in that church 10s. To the clerk of the same church 5s. To the sexton 3s. 4d. To the repair and maintenance of that church £5. To the parson of Pricklewell, Essex, for tithes and oblations forgotten, 20s. To the reparation of that church £4. To the chapel of Bridewell in London £5, and one vestment for a priest to say mass there when the chapel should be made ready. His goods and chattels in London he directs to be divided into three parts, whereof one-third to his wife, one-third to his daughters Marie and Alice and the other third to his executors to the performance of the will. Having already given his sons John and Erkynwald £300 apiece, he gives £100 more to each. To Elizabeth Harvard £10. To Robert Buckle (his wife’s brother) £10, and to each of his children 40s. To William Symson, his servant, £10. To John More, his servant, £10. To John Etonfelde £5. To Gyles Strowden, his clerk, £3. To Christopher Vaughan, his clerk, £2. To Thornton, his clerk, £2. To Bromefelde, his clerk, £2. To Millecent, “my Wyfes kinswoman servant in my howse,” £20. To “Joane her sister my maide,” £20. To every one of his servants in London and the country 20s. To Thomas Eson, if he remain in Lady Aylef’s service, £5. To George Vaughan,[316]—
My boke of Guydo and all my Instrumentꝭ Boxes and other that dothe in any wise belonge to Surgerie. To Mr. Vykarie £5. Item I bequethe to the company of Grocers for a repaste tenne poundꝭ. Item to their clerke xxs. Item to their bedell xxs. Item I give to the companye of barbors for a repaste at my buryall fyve poundꝭ and to the beddell of the same company of barbors tenne shillings Item I give to the governors of the hospitalls belonginge to the citie of London to make them a dynner at my buryall fyve poundes and to every of the beddles of the said hospitallꝭ one blacke Coote and iijs iiijd in money.
To the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge £10 each, “to be distributed to the comfort of the poore Scolers wthin the said univˀsites.” To poor householders in St. Michael Bassishaw “where I dwell” £4, and to those of St. Alban, Wood Street, £2. “Item to the pore householders in the parishe where the barbors hall dothe stande,” xxs. To poor householders in St. Michael, Queenhithe £2. To the poor prisoners in Newgate 40s., in the two Counters 40s., in Ludgate 40s., in the Marshalsea 20s., in the King’s Bench 20s., and in the Gatehouse at Westminster 10s. “Item to every of the sixe Lazar howses abowte London xs.” To the poor in Bethlem 20s. To the poor in the hospitals of the City £100 (over and above £100 he had already given). To five poor men and two poor women being “of my kynn dwelling in Grenewiche in Kent to eiche of them xls and a gowne of suche Clothe to eiche of theym as shalbe given to the poore at my buryall And my mynde and will ys that yf any other of the poore of my kynn shall wthin one yeare and a daye next after my decease come to myne Executours approvinge them selfes sufficiently to be of my kynne & blinde That then every of them shall have xxs.” To his wife Isabel, the lease of his farm at Pricklewell with all the stock there “except my Ryding geldingꝭ,” also the lease of his woods there, on certain conditions. To his son Erkynwald the lease of his farm of Fambridge, in Essex, with remainder to Erkynwald’s son William, and after him to Martha (William’s sister), and in the event of all of them dying without issue to Christ’s Hospital, Bridewell, and St. Thomas’ Hospital. Testator recites that Henry VIII granted to him and his wife Isabel and their heirs the manor of “Greteman” (Gryttenham), Wilts, and that he was seised in fee of the parsonage of Wakeringe (near Rochford, Essex), and of a marsh called Alforde Nash, in the parish of Estwood (near Rochford). All of this property he bequeaths, after the death of Lady Isabel to his son John, with remainder to Erkynwald, then to Marie and Alice, and in the event of all them dying without issue to the three hospitals aforesaid. To the poor of the parish of Bassingham (eight miles S. W. of Lincoln) £20 for coals. (Query: Was Sir John born here?) To three score maids marriages in London £20. To Elizabeth Glasier 40s. Residue to the Lady Isabel. Executors, John Southcott (Under Sheriff of London), Richard Grafton, Grocer, and Lady Isabel Aylef. To Southcott and Grafton £20 each. Overseers, Sir Rowland Hill,[317] Laurence Withers, and John Machell,[318] Aldermen, and to each of them a black gown and £10, also a black gown to each of their wives.
Sir John Aylef’s name has been spelt in many ways, Aylif, Ailiff, Alif, Olyff, Ailyffe, etc.; in his will it is spelt Aliff. But this family must not be confounded with that of John Oliphe, Alderman and Sheriff 1569, buried at St. Laurence Pountney, 4th July, 1577; although Wilson, in his History of that parish, at p. 232, mistakes John the son of that Alderman for John the son of our Alderman.
For some notices of the Aylefs see Aubrey’s collections for Wilts, and Marshall’s Visitation of Wilts.
The pedigree is compiled principally from Harl. MSS. 897, 1165 and 1443.
THOMAS VICARY,[319] Serjeant-Surgeon.
THOMAS VICARY
From the original painting by Holbein,
at Barber’s Hall.
Thomas Vicary was probably born between 1490 and 1500, and is stated in Manningham’s Diary to have been “at first a meane practiser in Maidstone untill the King advanced him for curing his sore legge.” In 1525 he was third Warden of the Barbers’ Company, and in 1528 Upper Warden and one of the Surgeons of Henry VIII with £20 a year. In 1530 he was Master of the Company and appointed Serjeant-Surgeon, which latter office he held until his death. In 1539 Henry granted him a beneficial lease for 21 years of the Rectory and tithes of the dissolved Abbey of Boxley in Kent. In 1541 Vicary was chosen Master of the Barber-Surgeons, to which office he was again elected in 1546, 1548, and 1557 having thus held the chief place in the Company no less than five times—an honour to which no other member has ever attained. In the Holbein picture Vicary is represented as receiving the Charter from the King. In 1542 he and his son William were appointed by the King Bailiffs of the Manor of Boxley, and five years later he married his second wife, Alice Bucke. In 1548 Vicary was appointed a Governor of St. Bartholomew’s Hospital, and soon afterwards became the Resident Surgical Governor there; in June, 1552, he was made “one of the assistants of this house (St. Bartholomew’s) for the terme of his lyffe.” In 1548 he published his celebrated book “The Anatomie of the bodie of man,” no copy of the first edition of which is now known to be extant. On the 27th January, 1561, Vicary made his will, which was proved in London 7th April, 1562. The will, which is set out in full in Dr. Furnivall’s book, is too long to give here in extenso, but the following extracts will be found of interest.
Item I will that the masters of the livery of my Companie be at my buriall, and they to have xls for theire dinners, to be delivered to the wardens at theire commyng to my buriall. And to Johnson the Clarke of the Company, vjs viijd And in considerac͠on of my evell and necligẽt service done to god and to his poore members, the poore of this hospitall of St. Barthelmewes where I now dwell, in recompence whereof, and for the discharge of my concience, I give and bequeath to thuse of the saide poore, tenne poundes in monney. Item I give and bequeath xls in monney to and amongest fortie poore householders of the saide pˀish of little sainte Barthelmewes, that is to saye, to every householder xijd. Also I give and bequeathe ls in monney to thospitler, matron, stuarde, Cooke, and porter offecer of the saide hospitall, that is to saye, to every of them xs . . . . To Thomas Skair, my apprentis, vjs viijd . . . I give and bequeath to Roberte Baltropp[320] my best gowne garded with velvet, furred and faced with Sables, my Cote of braunched velvete, and a sering[321] of silver, parcell gilte. Also I give and bequeath to Thomas Bayly[322] my gowne of browne blue lyned and faced with blacke budge,[323] my cassocke of blacke satten fured and garded with velvet, my best plaister box, garnisshed with silver, my salvitory[324] of silver, and a sering[321] of silver, with all other instrumentꝭ of silver. Item I bequeathe to Robert Muddesley[325] my best single gowne faced with blacke satten. To George Vaughan,[326] my doblet of crimson satten . . . Also I give and bequeath unto the hawle of my company one booke called Guido[327] and ij billes ij bowes ij shefes of Arrowes ij bracers ij shoting gloves ij Sculles one hand gune and one Jack Item I give and bequeath to master Skynner[328] one half hacke one Jack and one murren And to Henry Picton my sˀvnte aforesaide one booke called Johˀes Vigo.[329] All the residue of my bookes stuff and instrumentꝭ appertaining to surgery I give and bequeath unto the same Henry Picton and Richard Vener equally betwen them to be devided.
The remainder of his property was bequeathed to his nephews Thomas and Stephen (sons of his late brother William Vicary, of Boxley), and to his widow Alice.