The Paston Heritage
April 2017
This is Dr Rob Knee, our excellent speaker for April, in
the guise of Sir William Paston (1528 to 1610). The
costume is one of many created by his talented wife,
Penelope, for presentations by the Paston
Heritage Society, of which he is Chair. It also reminds
us of the Paston that most of us know.
Yes, it was he who founded Paston
Grammar School in North Walsham in 1606, now a Sixth
Form College. William strikes me as an essentially good
man. Whilst he built himself a very fine house, he also
built alms houses at Paston. Perhaps it wasn’t Sir
William’s fault that pupils were obliged to get up at
dawn and kneel before the magnificent tomb he had built
for himself in St Nicholas church.
Dr Rob bravely embarked on the huge
task of telling the whole Paston story in 45 minutes - a
journey from peasantry to gentry in two generations. In
the late 1300s the son of a yeoman farmer was sent, with
the help of an uncle, to grammar school and then to the
Inns of Court. This was the first William Paston, a
“right cunning man” in law, who used his large income to
purchase extensive tracts of land and property in east
and coastal Norfolk, then the most prosperous land in
England.
This wealth was inherited by his son
John, who made a favourable marriage to Margaret
Mautby. He then, some allege, proved himself also
to be cunning when he managed to manipulate the will of
her wealthy kinsman, Sir John Fastolf, in his own favour
and added extensive property to the Paston estate.
There were bad times, too. Powerful
challenges to “the will” came from the Dukes of Norfolk
and Suffolk, among others. Battles were fought, land and
castles lost and regained. At times there were not
enough sons to make cash-generating marriages and
properties fell into disrepair, including Oxnead Hall,
which had represented their peak of achievement.
It is this turbulent period that is
recorded in the famous Paston Letters, written by
Margaret to John in London. It seems that he was in
charge of their legal and diplomatic defence whilst she
was fighting the actual battles back at home. There are
1000 of Margaret’s letters, and another 1000 written by
the Earl of Great Yarmouth, the last of the Pastons.
The Paston Heritage Society aims to
spread this story more widely in the run-up to the 2019
600th Anniversary of the first Paston Letter. A
remarkably successful application to the Heritage
Lottery Fund is leading to the creation of
well-resourced settlement “hubs”, each of which will
have its own project, based on particular Pastons. There
will be a website with 3D reconstructions of properties
and various publications. A group of MA students is
looking into branding, on the theme of History Beyond
Kings and Queens. Game of Thrones beware!
A few weeks later a group of MLHG
members attended a Paston Heritage Society presentation
at Mautby Church. All were impressed, including by the
excellent refreshments, and recommend that you should
look out for the next opportunity.
From Margaret Paston to John
Paston, 1441:
To my
ryth reuerent and worscheful husbond John Paston.
Ryth
reuerent and worscheful husbond, I recomavn [deleted
in MS]de me to yow, desyryng hertyly to here of yowre
wylfare, thankyng yow for þe tokyn þat ye sent me be
Edmunde Perys, preyng yow to wete þat my modyr sent to
my fadyr to London for a govne cloth of
mvstyrddevyllers to make of a govne for me; and he
tolde my modyr and me wanne he was comme hom þat he
cargeyt yow to bey it aftyr þat he were come ovte of
London. I pre yow, yf it be not bowt, þat ye wyl
wechesaf to by it and send yt hom as sone as ye may,
for I haue no govne to werre þis wyntyr but my blake
and my grene a Lyere, and þat ys so comerus þat I ham
wery to wer yt.Page 217As for þe gyrdyl þat my
fadyr be-hestyt me, I spake to hym þer-of a lytyl
be-fore he ȝede to London last, and
he seyde to me þat þe favte was in yow þat ȝe wolde not thynke þer-vppe-on to do mak yt; but i
sopose þat ys not so=he seyd yt but for a
skevsacion. I pre yow, yf ye dor tak yt vppe-on yow,
þat ye wyl weche-safe to do mak yt a-yens ye come hom;
for I hadde neuer more nede þer-of þan I haue now, for
I ham waxse so fetys þat I may not be gyrte in no
barre of no gyrdyl þat I haue but of on. Elysabet
Peverel hath leye seke xv or xvj wekys of þe seyetyka,
but sche sent my modyr word be Kate þat sche xuld come
hedyr wanne God sent tyme, þoov sche xuld be crod in a
barwe. Jon of Dam was here, and my modyr dyskevwyrd me
to hym, and he seyde be hys trovth þat he was not
gladder of no thyng þat he harde thys towlmonyth þan
he was þer-of. I may no len [deleted in MS]ger leve be
my crafte, i am dysscevwyrd of alle men þat se me. Of
alle odyr thyngys þat ye deseyreyd þat I xuld sende
yow word of I haue sent yow word of in a letter þat I
dede wryte on Ovwyr Ladyis Day laste was. þe Holy
Trenyté haue yow in hese kepyng. Wretyn at Oxnede in
ryth gret hast on þe Thrusday next be-fore Seynt Tomas
Day. I pre yow þat ye wyl were þe reyng wyth þe emage
of Seynt Margrete þat I sent yow for a rememravn
[deleted in MS]se tyl ye come hom. Ye haue lefte me
sweche a rememravn [deleted in MS]se þat makyth me to
thynke vppe-on yow bothe day and nyth wanne I wold
sclepe. Yowre ys, M. P.
For more glimpses into these
remarkable letters click on this link:
Paston
link