Chief rent is an annual sum payable on some freehold property common in North West England, but found throughout the UK. Despite its name it is not a rent.
Ground rent is a regular payment required under a lease from the owner of leasehold property, payable to the freeholder. A ground rent is created when a freehold piece of land or a building is sold on a long lease.
The annual Chief rent was due at Martinmas, which was on 11 November.
Red text shows words or letters of which I am not convinced.
Criche
Cheife rents belonging to the
Manor of Chrych & toto ano
Georg Sellers for cheif of his lands p ann | 2s | 2d | ? pyd | |
Robt. Radford for chief of Mr Pawle lands of Wakebrydge p ann | ob | |||
George Radford for cheif of Mr Babington lands p ann | 12d | |||
Johne Fritcheley for cheif of ye land I received from yerdeley p ann 6s 8d which is **stooryd amongst ye rent he payeth | ||||
The cheif rents of Wynster p ann | 7s | 0d | ||
Thomas Woodward and Robert Taylor cheif of Marmaduke lands & p ann in Washington | 30s | 0d | ||
Frances Rolson cheif p ann | 5s | 8d | ||
Thomas Radford cheife p ann | 5s | 0d | ||
The chief rent of Ible p ann | 5s | 6d | ||
Marmaduke Babington for cheife of Collington p ann | 14s | 0d | ||
Jerman Pawle cheif of his land p ann & one pounde of peppers1 | 5s | 8d | ||
The common fyne of Chriche p ann | 2s | 6d | ||
John Kerkland cheif p ann | 6d | |||
Raffe Wylcockson p ann | 6d | |||
Edmond Northedy p ann | 3s | 0d | ||
Wm Alstybrock for cheif rent to ye Channteryof Lea p ann | 13s | 4d | ||
Vidua2 Awrom cheif | 2s | 8d | ||
Henrye Ammott cheif | 20d | |||
Andrewe Allen cheif p ann | 10d | |||
5.0.12d Sum | £5 | 0s | 12d |
1Historically pepper has been very valuable and equivalent to money. In 408 AD Alaric, King of the Visigoths, demanded a large price for sparing the besieged city of Rome. The tribute included fine garments, gold, silver and three thousand kilograms of pepper. Merchants of Venice would bribe tax collectors with a pound of pepper. King Ethelred collected a tax from ships that landed at Billingsgate in the form of bags of pepper. In France a pound of pepper was enough to free a slave. In Germany a nickname for the rich was 'pepper sacks'. When the ship Mary Rose, which sank in 1545, was raised from the sea-bed nearly every sailor's body was found to have a bunch of peppercorns in his possession.
Pepper was considered as a more stable form of currency than money! In England a pound of pepper was a commonly accepted form of rent from land tenants. The term "peppercorn rent” started off meaning that such a contract was taken very seriously based on the cost of a given weight of peppercorns per year. In later years, when pepper became cheap, a custom of handing a single peppercorn to confirm a tenancy came into existence. When Prince Charles became the Duke of Cornwall he received a pound of pepper as part of his tribute.
2 Vidua is a widow.
'Sheffield City Council, Libraries Archives and Information: Sheffield Archives R333/IM/RW. Reproduced with permission from His Grace the Duke of Norfolk, DL and the Director of Culture, Sheffield City Council'.
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