Degory Priest

Entered on 7 October 1611. First proclamation on 8 October; second on 15 October; third on 22 October. They were married before aldermen Willem Cornelisz Tybault and Jacob Paedts on 4 November 1611.

Degory Priest, bachelor from London in England, accompanied by William Lisle and Samuel Fuller, his acquaintances; with Sarah Vincent, also from London in England, widow of John Vincent, accompanied by Jane Thickins and Rosamond Jepson, her acquaintances.

Translation by Radicae, The Leiden Connection.

Diggore Pryst, hatter, from England, is accepted as citizen on the testimony and surety of Rogier Wiltson, serge weaver, and Ysaac Allerton, tailor, on the aforesaid day.

In the margin: received 3 guilders and 4 stivers.

Translation by Radicae, The Leiden Connection, from the Dutch transcription supplied by Erfgoed Leiden.

There appeared before me, notary public, and the undersigned witnesses, Artus Stanten, aged about 42 years, and Niclaes Claverly, aged about 27 years, both tobacco-pipe makers, residing within the city of Leiden.

And they have, at the request and instance of Digores Prest, hatter, likewise residing within the aforesaid city, upon their respective consciences and the salvation of their souls, in place of an oath, testified and declared to be true that they, on Saturday the 17th of this current month of June, toward evening, were at the dwelling and with the person of Jan Crips, Englishman, card-maker, residing on the Breestraat within Leiden, and then heard the same say and acknowledge that the requester had not struck him, Jan Crips, but had only touched his ruff.

Declaring nothing further, the witnesses offering, should it be necessary and should they be required in case of recollement, to confirm the aforesaid further by solemn oaths. Consenting that one or more public instruments be drawn up and issued hereof by me, the notary, in form.

Thus done within Leiden at the office of me, the notary, on the twenty-ninth of June in the year sixteen hundred seventeen, in the presence of Pieter Joostensz. Warmont and Cornelis Gerytsz. de Haes, clerks, as witnesses hereto required together with me, the notary.

Written by the hand of Artus Stanten. Written by the hand of Niclaes Claverly. P.J. Warmont. Corn. Gerrytssoon de Haes, 1617. E.H. Craen, notary public, subscribed, 1617.

Translation by Radicae, The Leiden Connection, from the Dutch transcription supplied by Erfgoed Leiden.

Today, the 30th of June in the year 1617, there appeared before me, notary public, and the undersigned witnesses, Niclaes Claverly, tobacco-pipe maker, aged about 27 years, and Claes Omaer de Wymile, mason, aged about 28 years, both residing within the city of Leiden.

And they, at the request and instance of Digores Prest, hatter, likewise residing within the aforesaid city, testified and declared upon their respective consciences and the salvation of their souls, in place of an oath, to be true: that Jan Crips, Englishman, wool-card maker, likewise residing within the city of Leiden, who has a wedded wife and children living, is of ill repute and reputed to be having and keeping dishonest dealings with Lijsbeth, the wife of Jan Mos, wool comber, likewise residing within the aforesaid city.

And that the deponents, about a month ago, themselves heard the aforesaid Jan Crips say and admit, at the house of the aforesaid Claes Omaer de Wymile, that he ate of the bread of the aforesaid Jan Mos as often as he pleased; which the aforesaid Jan Crips, apparently wishing afterward to make his meaning clearer, added, in express words in the hearing of the deponents, that he slept with the wife of the aforesaid Jan Mos and had his way with her as often as he wished, saying moreover that he would even dare declare under oath that the wife of the aforesaid Jan Mos belonged to him, Jan Crips, and to her husband, but to no one else.

Declaring nothing further, the deponents offered, should it be necessary and should they be asked in case of recollement, to confirm the aforesaid further by solemn oaths, of which the requester requested one or more instruments in due form.

Thus done within Leiden at the house of me, the notary, situated there on Steenschuur, in the presence of Pieter Joostensz. Warmont and Cornelis Gerytsz. de Haes, clerks, as witnesses hereto required together with me, the notary. Claes Omaer de Wymillet [signed]. Written by the hand of the aforesaid Niclaes Claverly. E.H. Craen, notary public, subscribed, 1617. P.J. Warmont, 1617. Corn. Gerrytssoon de Haes.

Translation by Radicae, The Leiden Connection, from the Dutch transcription supplied by Erfgoed Leiden.

On this day, the 18th of June in the year sixteen hundred and eighteen, there appeared before me, Ewout Henricxzoon Craen, notary public, admitted by the Court of Holland upon nomination of the city of Leiden, and before the witnesses named hereafter, Ysaac Allerton, tailor, residing within the city of Leiden, aged about 30 years.

At the request and instance of Niclaes Claverly, tobacco-pipe maker, likewise residing within the aforesaid city, he testified and declared, upon his conscience and the salvation of his soul, in place of an oath, to be true that about a year and a half ago he made for the requester a crimson-grey cloth cloak, which he, the deponent, had had dyed for the making of the same, and that he, the deponent, has good knowledge that the said cloak was worth at least as follows, namely:

For 4 ells and three-quarters of cloth, the ell with the dyeing at 9 guilders, comes to 42 guilders 15 stuivers; for 54 ells of gold cord used on the said cloak, at 4 stuivers the ell, comes to 10 guilders 16 stuivers; for 2 ells of serge for lining, at 24 stuivers the ell, comes to 2 guilders 8 stuivers; for three-quarters of grey satin for trimming, at 18 schellingen the ell, comes to 4 guilders 1 stuiver; for one lot of silk with canvas for stiffening the collar-band and other things, 14 stuivers; for the making of the cloak with the mending, 4 guilders. Sum total: 64 guilders 14 stuivers. I say: sixty-four guilders and fourteen stuivers.

Of which the deponent has the better knowledge, since he himself bought various materials for the said cloak on behalf of the requester. The deponent further declared to have good knowledge that the requester paid considerably more for his said cloak, and that he has since worn or used it very little.

Declaring nothing further, the deponent offered to confirm the foregoing under solemn oath if necessary and if required in case of recollement (recolement), of which the requester requested one or more deeds.

Thus done within Leiden at the house of me, the notary, in the presence of Digory de Pryst, hatter, and Jan Fredericxzoon, bargeman, as credible witnesses required hereto together with me, the notary. Isaac Alerton [signed]. Mark set by the hand of Digory de Pryst. Mark set by the hand of Jan Frederixzoon aforesaid. E.H. Craen, notary public, subscribed, 1618.

Translation by Radicae, The Leiden Connection, from the Dutch transcription supplied by Erfgoed Leiden.

There appeared before me, Pieter Claesz. van Rijn, notary public, admitted by the Court of Holland, residing within the city of Leiden, and the witnesses named below, Thomas Benthle, Englishman, about 40 years old, and Geertgen Gerritsdr., his wife, about 53 years old, both living within the aforesaid city.

They testified and declared, upon their respective consciences, the salvation of their souls, and in men's and women's truth, in place of an oath, at the instance and request of Claes Claverly, likewise an Englishman, living in the aforesaid city of Leiden, to be true that about three quarters of a year ago, without wishing to be bound to the exact time, there came to the house of them, the deponents, together with the requesting party, a certain Master Daniel, merchant of Vlissingen; the said Master Daniel asking the requesting party, in the presence of Dirck Hopkens, likewise an Englishman: "Claes, do you not know me?" — to which he answered: "No" — whereupon Master Daniel, replying, said: "Did you not know me when you gave us sugared mackerel to eat?" — to which the requesting party said: "Now I know you, but I fared no better [or: I had no better of it] than a half share [the original is unclear here], when you were robbed off the coast of England, [a half share] given to him upon coming ashore by captain Jan Smith, to travel along with him." [Translator's note: this sentence is garbled in the original transcription and its precise sense cannot be reconstructed with confidence.] Whereupon the said Master Daniel said: "I admit that you were not the worst of them," to which the requesting party likewise said: "I offered to bring you to the ship at Portsmouth when the captain and his officers were on their ship, and to help you to your goods," which the said Master Daniel admitted to be true, but dared not entrust to the requesting party, on account of the great peril to be expected from it; admitting also that a purse with money had been stolen from him, in recovering which the requesting party had again faithfully helped him, and that when the wine which they had aboard the ship was not good, the requesting party had always supplied them with sugar to sweeten the same wine; also that he had given up his own bed, lying in the ship's berth, and let the said Master Daniel sleep in it, and had gone to lie on a plank himself.

All the aforesaid words having passed, the said Master Daniel further said: "I shall cause you no trouble concerning the aforesaid robbery, but see what you may expect from the merchant at Amsterdam. Nevertheless I admit that you have been a preserver of our lives."

Testifying nothing further, they, the deponents, offered to confirm the foregoing more fully at any time, in case of recolement, under solemn oath, before all lords and courts. The requesting party requested an instrument hereof. Thus done within the city of Leiden, at the house of them, the deponents, on the 18th of June in the year 1618, in the presence of Joris de Windt, serge weaver, and Degry de Pryst, hatter, as witnesses requested hereto.

[Signed:] Thomas Bentley. Geertgen Gerritsdr., her mark. Joris de Windt, his mark. Degry de Pryst, his mark. In my presence, P.C. van Rhijn, notary public, subscribed, 16[..] [the year is cut off in the original transcription].

Translation by Radicae, The Leiden Connection, from the Dutch transcription supplied by Erfgoed Leiden. The reported dialogue about the robbery contains a phrase that is unclear or corrupted in the source text; it has been translated as literally as possible and flagged above rather than smoothed over.

There appeared before the undersigned aldermen of the city of Leiden, Degore Priest, hatter, aged about 40 years, and Samuel Lee, also a hatter, aged about 30 years, both residing within this city, and they, at the request and instance of Claes Claverly, tobacco-pipe maker, presently likewise still residing within this city, having been lawfully sworn and examined under solemn oath, testified and declared that they, the appearers, have had and maintained very good acquaintance and honest dealings with the requester for the past four years or thereabouts, that is, ever since the requester came to live within this city; and that the said requester has, during the aforesaid time, continually lived in the house of the aforesaid Degore, as he still does at present.

So that the appearers are very well acquainted with the aforesaid requester's conduct, dealings, and behaviour, which has always been, and still is, such as befits and is proper to an honest person, without the appearers ever having heard or seen that the aforesaid requester has engaged or meddled in any evil, unlawful, or dishonest matters, or that he has on that account been of ill repute or infamous, still less that he has ever been apprehended for such; so that they esteem and hold the requester to be a man of honour, standing in good name and reputation. So truly may Almighty God help him, the appearer.

Done the [day left blank in the original] of April 1619.

Translation by Radicae, The Leiden Connection, from the Dutch transcription supplied by Erfgoed Leiden.

Today, the 3rd of May in the year sixteen hundred nineteen, there appeared before me, Ewout Henricxsz. Craen, notary public, admitted by the Court of Holland upon the nomination of the city of Leiden, and before the witnesses named hereafter, Richard Teyrill, merchant, residing at Southampton in the Kingdom of Great Britain, aged about 41 years.

He has, at the request and instance of Niclaes Claverly, tobacco pipe maker, residing within the city of Leiden, upon his conscience and the salvation of his soul, in lieu of oath, testified and declared to be true that Jan Teyrill, the deponent's brother, was murdered and slain on the tenth of June sixteen hundred fourteen, in the countryside about a mile and a half English from Southampton; and that he, the deponent, has done all possible diligence and effort to come to know who might have been the perpetrator thereof, but has, from firm and undoubted signs and evidence, been assured and found that the requester bears no guilt therein whatsoever, however slight, and that he is accordingly entirely innocent thereof.

Declaring nothing further, the deponent offers, should it be necessary and should he be required to do so in case of recollement, to confirm the foregoing more fully under solemn oath before any judges, of which the requester requested one or more instruments.

Thus done within the city of Leiden, at the house of me, the notary, in the presence of Digory Pryst, hatter, and Jan Wallis, retired shoemaker, as credible witnesses required hereto together with me, the notary.

By me, Richard Tyrill. Mark set by the hand of Digory Pryst. Mark set by the hand of Jan Wallis aforesaid. E.H. Craen, notary public, subscribed, 1619.

Translation by Radicae, The Leiden Connection, from the Dutch transcription supplied by Erfgoed Leiden.

Today, the 21st of May in the year sixteen hundred and nineteen, there appeared before me, Ewout Henricxz. Craen, notary public, admitted by the Court of Holland upon the nomination of the city of Leiden, and before the witnesses named hereafter, Robert Crouts, tobacco pipe maker, living within the city of Leiden, about 40 years of age.

And at the request and instance of Niclaes Claverly, likewise a tobacco pipe maker, living within the aforesaid city, he has, upon his conscience and the salvation of his soul, in place of an oath, testified and declared to be true that about three and a half years ago — though without having retained the precise time, nor wishing to be held to it — he, the deponent, together with and alongside one Bartholomees Smit, also a tobacco pipe maker living in Leiden, was at Haarlem with the person of Richart Teiril, an English merchant; which Richard then related to him, the deponent, and the aforesaid Smit, that his, Richard's, brother had some time before been murdered in England, although the said brother had at that time no more than half an English crown, amounting to twenty-five stivers in Dutch money, upon him.

And among other things the aforesaid Richard, having said that he would like to speak with the requester once, to see whether the requester might be able to give him some information regarding the person who might be guilty of the aforesaid deed, he, the deponent — who had never before heard of the said murder — notified the requester by letter that he should come to Haarlem in order to speak once with the aforesaid Richard concerning this matter, adding that, if the requester were guilty of the said murder, he might then keep out of the way.

But the requester, having received the said letter, came to Haarlem in great haste the next day in order to speak with the said merchant, but found that the said merchant had travelled to Amsterdam on his affairs, so that the requester could not then speak with him.

The deponent further declared that when the aforesaid Teirill came to Leiden about a fortnight later, to the house of him the deponent, he, the deponent, brought him to the requester, and the aforesaid Teirill, having spoken with and examined the requester at length, afterwards said that he found that the requester had no guilt in the said murder.

Declaring nothing further, the deponent offering, should it be necessary and if requested by way of recolement, to confirm the foregoing more fully under solemn oath before any judges, of which the requester requested one or more instruments.

Thus done within the city of Leiden, at the house of me the notary, in the presence of Digory Pryst, hatter, and Pieter Joostensz. Warmont, clerk, as trustworthy witnesses required hereto together with me, the notary.

Mark set by the hand of the aforesaid Digory Pryst. Robart Crouch. P. Warmont. 1619. E.H. Craen, notary public, subscribed, 1619.

Translation by Radicae, The Leiden Connection, from the Dutch transcription supplied by Erfgoed Leiden.

On this day, the 3rd of September in the year 1619, there appeared before me, Ewout Henricxzoon Craen, notary public, admitted by the Court of Holland upon the nomination of the city of Leiden, and the witnesses named below, Jan Wallis, old-shoemaker [cobbler], living within the city of Leiden, about 37 years old. And he has, at the request and instance of Niclaes Claverly, tobacco-pipe maker, living within the aforesaid city, testified and declared upon his conscience and men's truth, in place of an oath, to be true, that last winter, a year ago, he the deponent was present and there when the requesting party, who had then just returned from High Germany, went to the house of Claes Omaer on the Uiterstegracht within Leiden, where the requesting party had a room rented, intending to use and inhabit the said room. But this was prevented by the aforesaid Claes Omaer and his father, who made the requesting party leave the house and refused to let his goods and tools follow him, all this with great violence and unseemliness, such that it appeared they would have cut or stabbed the requesting party, had he the deponent not been present there. Nevertheless the aforesaid Claes Omaer and his father called the requesting party a thief and a murderer, adding that they would send for the bailiff and have the requesting party locked up at once, so that the requesting party was compelled to rent another dwelling from Digory Pryst, hatter, on the Levendaal in Leiden.

Declaring nothing further, he the deponent offered to confirm the foregoing more fully under solemn oath, should it be necessary and required in case of recolement, of which the requesting party requested one or more instruments. Thus done within Leiden at the house of me, the notary, in the presence of Pieter Joostenszoon Warmont and Cornelis Dircxzoon, scriveners, as trustworthy witnesses required hereto together with me, the notary.

[Signed:] Mark set by the hand of the aforesaid Jan Wallis. P.J. Warmont, 1619. C. Dircxzoon. E.H. Craen, notary public, subscribed, 1619.

Translation by Radicae, The Leiden Connection, from the Dutch transcription supplied by Erfgoed Leiden.

Today, the 18th of November, sixteen hundred and nineteen, there appeared before me, Ewout Henricxz. Craen, notary public, admitted by the Court of Holland on the nomination of the city of Leiden, and the witnesses named below, Jan Hidde, serge presser, aged about 50 years, and Jacob Boseet, likewise a serge presser, aged about 34 years, together with Pieter Huyge, aged about 77 years, Claes de Leeuwe, aged about 60 years, and Jan Jacobsz. van Bloemendael, aged about 46 years, all three serge packers, all residing within the city of Leiden.

At the request and instance of the unorganised serge pressers within the aforesaid city, they testified and declared, upon their respective consciences and the salvation of their souls, in lieu of oath, that it was true that today, the deponents, being at the inn of Jaques Walckier, host of "The Princess of Orange" on the Levendaal within the city of Leiden, in the company of Franchoys de Pape and Wouter Claesz., two of the requesting parties, and others, there was also present Pieter van der Schuyre, merchant within the aforesaid city; that the said Van der Schuyre was then heard to say and relate, in the hearing of several persons, that the pressers, the requesting parties herein, did not sort the goods properly.

Whereupon the aforesaid De Pape and Wouter Claesz., together with Joost de Vinc, who joined them afterward, having asked the aforesaid Van der Schuyre whether any pressers had complained to him about them, the said Van der Schuyre said that yes, and that he could well prove it with a hundred pressers, along with other similar words. Finally, the aforesaid Jacob Roseet and Pieter Huyge declared that they had afterward heard the aforesaid Van der Schuyre say that he could well prove it with a hundred pressers — indeed, even were it with a thousand.

They testified to nothing further, the deponents offering, should it be necessary and required in case of recolement, to confirm the foregoing more fully, each for himself, under solemn oath. They consented that one or more acts be drawn up and issued hereof by me, the notary.

Thus done within the city of Leiden at the aforesaid dwelling of Jaques Walckier, in the presence of Joris Fleysser, tailor, and Digory Pryst, hatter, both residing within the aforesaid city, as trustworthy witnesses requested hereto together with me, the notary.

[Signed:] Jan Hidde; Jacob Roose; the mark set by the hand of Pieter Huyge; the mark set by the hand of Claes de Leeuw; Jan Jacopsz. van Blommendale; Jores Phlaiser; the mark set by the hand of Digory Pryst.

Translation by Radicae, The Leiden Connection, from the Dutch transcription supplied by Erfgoed Leiden.

Registered on the 25th of October 1621. Godbert Godbertsz, hatter from Oostlant (Eastland), widower of Elysabet Arentsdr, accompanied by Willem Wit and Jhon Leesen, both his acquaintances, with Sara Allerton, widow of Degoro Pryst, accompanied by Sara Philport, her acquaintance.

Translation by Radicae, The Leiden Connection, from the Dutch transcription supplied by Erfgoed Leiden.