Add MS 54228

HOTOT ESTATE BOOK: a collection of estate records of the Hotot family of Clapton al. Clopton, co. Northt., concerning their property in Clapton, elsewhere in Northamptonshire, and in Turvey, co. Bedf.; mid-late 13th cent. Latin. Compiled by Richard Hotot (fl. 1212-1250) and his son Thomas. The manuscript was bound as one item stamped with a letter 'A' on the binding when it was used, circa 1719-1720, by John Bridges, the historian of Northamptonshire (d.1724), who annotated the volume heavily. Bridges also refers to the following: firstly, MS. 'B', or the 'other book', a register compiled by Thomas Hotot, which only survives in part in Bridges' transcript, Bodleian Library MS. top. Northants. c. 19; secondly, a register with at least 86 pages (f. 21b), which could possibly be a separate item. See John Bridges, History and Antiquities of Northamptonshire (1791), ii, pp. 367-369. Printed, with introduction, under the title 'Estate Records of the Hotot Family', ed. E. King, in A Northamptonshire Miscellany, Northamptonshire Record Society, xxxii (1983): some material in the MS. is not transcribed in full in this edition. With the marriage of the heiress of the last male Hotot around 1400, the records passed to the Dudley family, and the MS. was owned by Sir Matthew Dudley, 2nd Bart., of Clapton (d.1721), when it was used by Bridges. Sir William Dudley, 3rd Bart., sold the Clapton estate in 1724. Subsequently the volume was owned by George Paton (1721-1807), the Scottish antiquary, whose bookplate occurs, f. i. The MS. was allegedly found by John Caley, F.S.A. (d.1834), on a book stall in Edinburgh and presented by Caley to George Baker, topographer and historian of Northamptonshire, see Catalogus Librorum Manuscriptorum in Bibliotheca D. Thomae Phillipps (1837), p. 210. Caley's signature, autograph memoranda and armorial bookplate occur, ff. iii-iv. Purchased from Baker with other MSS. in 1844 by Sir Thomas Phillipps, see Phillipps Studies, IV, pp. 20-22. Phillipps MS. 12025. See Sotheby's sale-cat.,

28 Nov. 1967, lot 91. Purchased with aid of contributions from Sir Edward de Capell Brooke, 6th Bart., and the Friends of the National Libraries, 10 Feb. 1968.

Vellum, with paper fly-leaves; ff. v+25. Old pagination, top centre, 1-33 through ff. 1-17, in a late 17th-early 18th cent. hand, continued in an 18th cent. hand 34-45+43*(bis)+45*(bis) through ff. 19-25v. Old foliation, top right hand corner, 17th? cent., as follows: ff. 1-8 = old ff. 1-8; ff. 9-16 = old ff. 16-23; f. 17 = old f. 40 (centre top, erased); ff. 19-25 = old ff. 28-34. Composite volume, with some quires apparently missing, bound in its present state by the early 18th cent. Gatherings: i8, ii-iii4, iv2(2 cancelled), v8(8 cancelled). Catchword, f. 12v. Double columns, ruled ff. 1-16. Gothic text hand, ff. 1-3, the remainder in various cursive hands. Initials and headings, etc., in green and red, ff. 1-13. The 18th cent. brown calf binding, blind-stamped, 'A' gilt-stamped on front cover, is now mounted inside the boards of the modern binding. 272 x 180mm. Stained and worn, margins frayed; repaired in British Museum bindery.

Contents:

1. ff. 1-8. The original text consists of an account of the descent of the Clapton property (ff. 1-2) followed by records of acquisitions made by Richard Hotot in Clapton and Turvey, with lists of tenants, rents and services; circa 1249. A list of tenants in Turvey (ff. 3v-4) is dated 33 Henry III (1248-1249), suggesting a date around 1249 for the original compilation. Lists of rents and services in Turvey are added (f. 8v), possibly in the hand of Thomas Hotot, see King, op. cit. There are also extensive 13th cent. amendments to the text in the form of footnotes marked by critical signs derived from the grammarians. Other added information includes notes on the year 33 Henry III (f. 5), on the building of a chapel in the churchyard at Clapton, 34 Henry III (1249-1250), and a total for rents, etc., owed to Richard Hotot in Clapton for 34 Henry III (f. 6).

2. ff. 9-16. Chartulary entries circa 1190-1225, including royal charters (ff. 9-13v), followed by lists of lands, tenants and services in Clapton, Turvey and elsewhere in Northamptonshire; mid-late 13th cent.

3. f. 17. Copies of grants to Thomas Hotot; aft. 1268 (dated item).

4. ff. 19-25. Rents owed to Thomas Hotot in Clapton (1272-1273), services owed in Clapton, memoranda of homages performed by Thomas Hotot (1254-1273), etc.; aft. 1273.