EDGOOSE:
In search of Ancestry

ETGOOS, John the Elder
EDGOOSE, John (14??-1549) the elder, aka EATGOOS/ETGOOSE etc.
In his will made on 21 September 1503 Richard ETGOOS of Limehouse, yeoman, refers to his eldest son John ETGOOSE and to his youngest son John ETGOOS.
(PCC Wills 1383-1558 2 Holgrave)
He is also mentioned in the will of his mother Alice ETGOOS of Limehouse, widow, made on 29 March 1504.
(PCC Wills 1383-1558)
An Index to the Will of Alice ETGOOS (14??-1504) widow, of Limehouse, Middlesex, made on 29 March 1504. Probate was granted on 17 April 1504.
ETGOOS, Alice, the Testator. Beneficiaries: Unnamed, but decribed as her late husband's children and hers as listed in Richard Etgoos's will.
ETGOOS, Richard, her "last husband"
ETGOOSE [sic], John, her "eldest son"
FEN, John, gentleman
LARNESBY, William, of London, iremonger.
MULSEY, Robert, her kinsman.
SAM' Thomas, her son-in-law.
TAYLLOR, Sir Thomas, preest
(PCC Will PROB 11/14/32))
It is not known whether the notes that follow refer to John EDGOOSE the eldest son or John EDGOOSE the youngest son of Richard and Alice ETGOOS:
Richard DRYVER and John ETGOSE of Limehouse, limemen, witnessed the will of John STEVINSON of Poplar, mariner, made on 28 December 1505. Ambrose EDGERE of Poplar, Middlesex, yeoman, was a beneficiary.
(PRO PROB 11/15)
The Court Rolls of the Manor of Stepney list John EDDGOS as a juror on 26 November 1509
(PRO SC2 191/63)
"Court held on Monday after the Feast of St. Clement, year 1 Hen. VIII. [26 Nov. 1509]
Official enquiry held upon the oath of [names follow, among which:] Ambrose EDGORE, John EDDGOS, who say that various people owed suit of court, and defaulted."
View of Frankpledge held Monday after 'Dominica in Albis' 1 Hen, VIII. [8 April 1510]
"Enquiry take for the King upon the oath of [names follow, among which:] Ambrose EDGORE. These Jurors
swear that foregoing account of the court proceedings is correct."
Court held the day after the View of Frankpledge, Tuesday after 'Dominica in Albis' 1 Hen, VIII [9 April 1510]
"Official enquiry held upon oath of [names follow, among which:] Ambrose EDGORE, John ETGOS, who say that various people owed suit of court and defaulted.
[Beginning illegible] . . . a case concerning William BEDYLL and Cecilia his wife, daughter and heir of Robert GRENE and (underlined) John GRENE, son of [?Robert GRENE] ; and Thomas ROKE, John SMITH 'wheler', Richard DRIVER, Thomas BRETT, Ambrose EDGORE were assigned [?to arbitrate] between the said parties concerning the said land. And a day was appointed before the next court.
(Family names capitalised for clarity)
John EDGOSE and Thomas BRETT were left £ 4 in the will of Thomas BRAMPSTON of Northfleet, Kent, made on 28 May 1511.
(PRO PROB 11/17)
"In 1511 part of Cordwainers mead in Limehouse was let for brickmaking to John ETGOSE for 10 years at an increased rent, with the obligation to maintain the river walls around the meadow between Limehouse and Ratcliff (Guildhall MS. 10123/2.). It may have been the brickplace that Richard DRIVER left with all the bricks and profits to his wife Elizabeth in 1549."
Taken from 'A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume XI, T.F.T. Baker (Editor) (1998)'
In 1515 payments were made to John EDGOOSE and John ROWLEY for lime:
"Battersay. - Hereafter ensueth payments made by Mr. Larence STUBBES, servant unto the right rev. father in God Thomas Abp. of York, to certain persons, remaining in creditor and unpaid, by Sir Rob. CROMVALL, vicar of Battersey, of certain their duties for the time he was paymaster there, and surveyor of my said lord's reparations and buildings, as well as for the performance of such reparations as at Battersay abovesaid by the same vicar were begun and not finished, and for other there done afterward.
.......................and payments to John EDGOOSE and John ROWLEY for lime".
(Calendar of State Papers Foreign & Domestic Henry VIII Vol. 2 Part 1 1515 No. 1369 Robert Cromwell)
"Another 75 a. adjoining the marsh was let to Thomas SAMME and John ETGOSE by 1517/18; the lease had 34 years to run in 1550."
(Guildhall MS. 10123/2; G.L.R.O., 79/LH/128/1/1.)
Taken from 'Stepney: Economic History. A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume XI, T.F.T. Baker (Editor) (1998)'
Note: Thomas SAMME was a baker of Stratford Le Bow.
(Chancery decree rolls, Elizabeth 1 [C78/15-45])
Part of the expense of making the Kateryn Plesaunce for transporting the King to Calais on 22 May 10 Hen. VIII (1518) was a payment of two shillings by Thomas PERSE to EDGOSE of Limehouse for two loads of lime.
(Calendar of State Papers Foreign and Domestic HENRY VIII Vol. 3 Part 1 1519-1521 No. 558 20 Dec. R.O. The Katherine Pleasance)
"Evidently the London Market looked ripe for monopolistic control, for in February 1524 William DALY, a servant of ROWLEY, a limeburner of Rotherhithe, went before the mayor and accused three Limehouse burners, BURTON, DRYVER and ETGOOS of having suggested to his master that they should 'make a composition' or private agreement not to sell lime at less than 2d the sack, 12d. the load, or 6s. the hundredweight. It transpired that the Limehouse men had sold no lime in the City for a week. They evidently thought that supplies were inelastic enough for them to enjoy monopolistic profits and assumed that ROWLEY could be enticed to join them. Whether Daly acted with ROWLEY's consent or out of spite or out of a sense of social obligation, who can say; perhaps ROWLEY was trying to curry favour or perhaps he wanted to embarrass the Limehouse men. In any case the timing of this bid for power appears illchosen because demand for building materials is generally sluggish in t the winter; on the other hand perhaps it was prompted by the seasonal rise in the price of coal, which on the evidence of the 14th century was a factor in price determination. In March Richard DRYVER, John ETGOOS and John ROWLEY went into court and agreed to sell lime at 5s. a hundredweight until the summer, although whether this was an advance on what they had been getting is not stated."
('Medieval London Suburbs' by Kevin McDonnell pages 111-112)
2 February 1524: "..that thys day came oon Willm DALY s'unte wt oon ROWLEY of Roderhythe lymebrenn' & sheweth that DRYVER, EDGOSE & BURTON lymebrenn's of a long Season h...e sued to hys mayst that they shulde to gether make a composicon by wrytyng to sell no lyme under vj s. the hundreth And he that byeth by the Sacke to pay ijd."
(CLRO Repertory 4 178)
1 March 1524: "Itm at thys Courte came the lymemen afore Remembred by ij die ffebr' ult And estsones (?) was dd of theym whether that they wylt conforme theym to the prcs of lyme acoord to the olde Custume etc Wheruppon yt ys Agreed by thys Couourte & theruppon Immcoon' (?) ys geven to theym that they & eny of theyme betwen thys & mighellmes next Sell aft the Rate & poe of fyve shyllynggs the hundreth whiche ys the olde p'oe to thentent that in trust See Coles Shalle by that tyme be of ....chepe etc.
Itm aft the next Courte they had estsones (?) in comandet to obsyne the seyd p'cs betwen thys & midsum' next or ells they & eny of theym to be Sequestred from bryngyng to thys Cities etc."
(CLRO Repertory 4 180)
"Two years later, in January 1526, they were in court again to ask for 'a reasonable price' for their lime. It was said of them that they used to bring lime into the City, which could mean that, as on the previous occasion, they had recently absented themselves from the market. The prices granted them were 2d. for the first sack, and 1d. for every other one, 10d. for the horseload, and 5s. for a hundred-weight. A week later the three of them and Elizabeth BURTON refused these terms and were consequently forbidden the City. The eventual outcome is not recorded."
('Medieval London Suburbs' by Kevin McDonnell pages 111-112)
"There were other markets for lime besides the City. The royal household and the religious houses, we know, purchased lime from the Limehouse burners. An undated account of Henry VIII's household expenditure shows a payment of 30s. to John CROW of Limehouse for six loads of lime, while the account rolls of St. Mary Graces Abbey show payments to Peter WYKES and 'to EDGOSE for lime'. It is possible too that, like the bakers, the Limehouse burners found plenty of work catering for local customers. As the building of houses and wharves spread and the adaptation and extension of buildings became the order of the day, so the local market must have expanded."
('Medieval London Suburbs' by Kevin McDonnell pages 111-112)
January 1526: "At this Corte came John ETGOSE Richard DRYVER and John ROWLEY which used to bryng lyme to this Citie to be Solde And prayed that they myght have a Reasonable price of lyme Wheruppon this Court hath Agreed that they Shall sell an hundreth for fyve Shillings A horsse lode for xd oon Sack oonly for ijd And if ther be more then oon then jd [oo?] the Sakk"
(CLRO Letter Book O f.28v.)
Tuesday, 22 January 1526, two weeks later: "At this Courte Came ETGOSE DRYVER ROWLEY and Elizabeth BURTON widowe lyme Men which refused to be bounde to kepe the prises of lyme sett and made by this Courte the last Corte day ... And to them Comanndment was gyven by my lorde the mayer in this Courte that they shulde sell noo more lyme within the liberties of this Citie upon of fforfeyture & c."
(CLRO Letter Book O f.29v.)
John EDGOSE was fined at the Stepney Manor Court held on 8 November, 18 Henry VIII (1526) for not replacing a certain weir or drain which he had taken away for his own house. Translation of Latin text:
"Lyme?house Parish
John EDGOSE, because he had not yet put down a certain weir (wera) or drain (hulva) which he had taken away for his own house ?to the common harm, and which he was ordered to do at the last court. And the penalty to be imposed on him was ?4 li. And (words illegible) it was presented to him that he put the matter right before the next court under penalty of 4 li."
(Manor of Stepney Court Rolls PRO SC2 191/64)
Reference to a "strong reformist core of the manufacturing and merchant classes, families like IVIE, MARCHE, and POYNTELL, underpinned by an increasing number number of poor landless folk."
(from Jane COX's 'London's East End' [ISBN 978 0 7509 5291 0] page 127)
The Will of Richard MARCHE (????-1540) of Limehouse, Middlesex, England:
[surnames capitalised and abreviations expanded]
"IN THE NAME OF GOD AMEN The iiijthe daye of the moneth of Novembr in the
year of our lorde god a Thousand fyve hundred and fourty Richard MARCHE of lymehouse in the Countie of Midd being sicke but of good mynde and memory made his will and Testtament Nuncupative in maner folowing First he gave his soule to Almighty god. ITem he bequeathed to his brother John MARCHE xls
And to evy one of his servants as well men as women xijd apece And the Residue of his goods he willed to be devydd in two parts wherof thone pte he gave to and amongest all his childern. And ev'y of them to be others heires And thother pte he gave and bequeatherd to Elizabeth his wyfe whome he made his sole Executrice. And John EDGOOSE his father in lawe Ov'seer of his Testament and last wyll. Being present the said John EDGOOSE & Willm IVIE"
(PCC 19 Allenger 1540)
(PROB. 11/28/339 14 December 1540)
An Index to the Will of Richard MARCHE (died 1540) of Limehouse, Middlesex. The Will was made on 4 November 1540. Probate was granted on 14 December 1540.
EDGOOSE, Jhn, father-in-law of the Testator, overseer, witness
MARCHE, Elizabeth, wife of the Testator, executrix
MARCHE, John, brother of the Testator
MARCHE, Richard, the Testator
The unnamed servants of the Testator
The unnamed children of the Testator
(Prerogative Court of Canterbury Will PROB 11/28/339)
"The Court of Admiralty, throughout the period comprised in the present volume, usually sat at Orton Key, 1 court sat at near London Bridge; but sittings are mentioned as being held at the Wool Key, 2 EDGOSE's store, and at the 'High Beerhouse' near Horsleydown".
(Selden Society: 'Select Pleas in the Court of Admiralty' page lxxix)
"Quo die lune xij me viz die dicti mensis Septembris apud Lymehouse predictam coram magistro HUSE presidente curie principalis Admirallitis Anglie tunc ibidem in quadam domo Johannis EDGOSE vocata magistri EDGOSES storehouse.........."
(ibid, page 105: 'High Court of Admiralty, Temp. Hen. VIII')
"Upon which day Monday the 12 day of September at Limehouse aforesaid before Master HUSE president of the principal court of the Admiralty of England then sitting judicially in the house of John EDGOS called Master EDGOS' storehouse......"
(ibid, page 216)
"...... that I, Thomas HERYTAGE, skencystesyn of London, have recevyd of John EDGOSE vj s. viij d. rent of a serten gronde lying in Stepney March dew at the Ann..... Ower Blesid Lady, written the day and yere above seyd."
(Warwickshire Grazier and London Skinner, 1532-1555: The Account Book of Peter TEMPLE and Thomas HERITAGE, date unknown)
John EDGOOSE of Stepney died in 1549. Letters of Administration were granted to his daughter Elizabeth DRYVER or EDGOOSE, widow, on 7 November 1549. (London Consistory Court Wills Wymesly folio 29)
NOTES & QUERIES:
William IVIE [the witness] was an anchorsmith and shipowner os some wealth, as indicated by his will: he had silver and silver guilt plate. He owned ships, a stock of anchors, coals, and a herd of cattle. His witnesses and overseers were his friends, the limeman DRYVER and the Limehouse baker Thomas POYNTELL.
In the will of John HALL he is described as a smith.
(taken from Old East Enders by Jane Cox, page 153. ISBN 978 0 7509 5291 0)
(revised 05.10.2026)
| Linked to | ETGOOS, John the Elder |
