RELIGIOUS HOUSES while it was also said to be his fault that there were no brothers and sisters in the hospital. ^^ The distinctive dress of the order had been abandoned,'" and with it seems to have vanished most of the character of the original foundation. Some kind of reconstitution must have been effected, since in 1424 brethren and sisters were associated with the master in sending a proctor or quaestor to seek alms in the archdeaconry of Oxford.^^ But it is evident that in one important respect the hospital developed in the direction it had already taken in the fourteenth century, the office of master tendmg more and more to be- come a sinecure. Proof of this may probably be found in the hospital being let to farm by its head 1454,^^" but there can be no doubt of the significance of the appointment of George Boleyn, a layman, in 1529, and on his forfeiture of a gentleman of the privy chamber. In 1523 Stephen Gennings, a merchant-tailor, gave ;^40 to the City Corporation towards the purchase of the patronage of the house,^^ which, however, was not effected until 1546.^' As there is no Valor there are no means of ascer- taining what property the hospital had at this date, but the income derived from it seems to have been less than ^40,^* and was so inadequate to the demands upon it that recourse was had in 155 I to the old practice of soliciting alms of the charitable, in this instance within the counties of Lincoln and Cambridge, the isle of Ely, and the city of London.^' In 1632 commissioners were appointed to in- quire into the state of the hospital,^* which was found to be very unsatisfactory."' A sum of 2s. a week was allowed for each patient, but as the master. Dr. Crooke, spent most of it on himself, and the steward appropriated the gifts in kind, the unfortunate inmates, unless they bought of the steward at extortionate rates, were almost starved. It need hardly be added that no measures were taken to cure them of their malady. The income of the house was £2']'] 3^. 4a'., but this did not include the weekly donations " Dugdale, Mon. Angl. vi, 623. According to the evidence of one of the inmates, however, there was, at any rate, one sister. Chan. Misc. R. No. 276. '° Dugdale, op. cit. vi, 623. " Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. ix, App. i, 213. '"" Harl. Chart. 56, F. 48. " Stow, Surv. ofLond. ii, 95. " Ibid. 94 ; Memoranda and Documents relating to the Royal Hospitals of London, App. iv. " In 1524 the procurations due to Wolsey from St. Mary's of Bethlehem were based on a value of j^5o. L. and P. Hen. Fill, iv, 964. But its income in 1555 is said to have been only £34 13/. d. Cal. ofS.P. Dom. 163 1-3, p. 424. "* Stow, op. cit. ii, 95. ^^ Cal. of S.P. Dom. 1631-3, p. 280. A com- mission had been appointed in 1627. Hardy, Syllabus ofRymers Foed. 870. " Cal. of S.P. Dom. 1.63 1-3, p. 424 ; ibid. 1633-4, p. 22. of food from the Lord Mayor, sheriffs, and other persons. There appears to have been some idea of en- larging the hospital in 1644,^* a project made impossible by the Civil War, which diminished its revenues and caused it to be converted to other uses^' for the time being. In 1675, however, the increased number for whom admission was requested ^^ made larger quarters a necessity, and as the situation of the house was not a good one for the purpose,'^ a new hospital was built in 1675, at a cost of nearly j^ 17,000, on ground in Moorfields granted by the City.'^ At that time it formed one corporation with Bridewell, and the superior officials were com- mon to the two institutions, but each had a committee of its own, and a subdivision of this went to the hospital once a week to check the accounts and inspect the food. The building was much enlarged in 1734, when accommoda- tion was provided for 100 incurable cases as well as for more patients not supposed to be hopeless.'* The inspecting committee evidently worked well, and the management of the place was excellent. Care was taken to make the charges on friends of the patients as small as possible,'^ and the welfare of the lunatics was the chief consideration.'^ In 1 8 14 the hospital was removed to St. George's Fields, on the other side of the Thames. Masters of St. Mary of Bethlehem Thomas, occurs 1293" John de Norton, occurs 1346,'* died 1350" William Titte, occurs 1 370-1 *" and 1380*^ William Welles, occurs 1381-2*^ John Gardyner, appointed 1381, occurs 1389*^ "^ Bowen, Hist. Acct. of the Orig. etc. of Bethlehem Hospital, 4. " Some of the sick and wounded soldiers were maintained there. Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. vi, App. i, 36. '" In 1632 the number of inmates was twenty- seven. Cal of S.P. Dom. 1631-3, p. 424; in 1667 it was 59. Ibid. 1667, p. 21. " Stow, op. cit. (Strype's ed.) i, 192. " Ibid. " Stow, op. cit. i, 193. " Bowen, op. cit. 6. " Ibid. 13. '* In 1770 the indiscriminate admission of visitors was stopped, as it was judged bad for the patients, and the hospital lost thus an income of ^4°^ ^ year. Ibid. 12. Cal. of Close, 1288-96, p. 316. '* Sharpe, Cal. of Letter Bk. F, 154. Ibid. 163. " Chant. Gild Cert. No. 202.
- ' Cal. of Pat. 1377-81, p. 431.
" Pari. R. (Rec. Com.), iii, 12 8/5. ^'^ Sharpe, Cal. of Letter Bk. H, 165, 338. 497 63
