f 23v (29 September–29 September)
...
| Item the ijde of August delyuered to the meyer for to yeve vn to the Kinges mynstralles | vj s. viij d. |
...
f 31
...
| Item paid by the handes of Robert Aylward meyr ffirst to the lord Poweses mynstrelles | iij s. iiij d. |
| Item paid to two mynistralles of my lord of Arundell | xx d. |
...
| Item paid to .v. mynistralles of the karak doryo on Cristmas day | xx d. |
| Item paid to two mynistralles of Christofer of Berton | xij d. |
| Item paid to minstrelles of Cuthbert of Colnels | xx d. |
| Item paid to my lord of somerset is mynistralles | xvj d. |
| Item paid for wyn send to Sir Thomas Dryng Christofer of Berton Thomas Cayl Rygmayden & Warblyngton | iiij s. viij d. |
| Item paid to Thomas Cayl mynistrall | xij d. |
| Item paid for .ij. hoggishedes whit wyn yeue to Sir Thomas dryng & Christofer of Berton plus | li s. |
| Item paid to my lord of Wiltshires mynstrelles | xx d. |
| Item paid to the lord Wiltshires lord maleyne & lord
Ryuers |
iij li. |
...
The two dates mentioned in this group of payments are 16 December (not transcribed) and Christmas, but as this may have been a group of expenses the mayor saved up and claimed at once, we should not assume they are limited to December. However, they may all be related to the visit of the commissioners.
Christopher of 'Berton' may have come from any number of places known as Burton or Barton (including two villages near Christchurch), but a likely possibility is the manor of Barton on the Isle of Wight. Barton Oratory was an Augustinian priory founded in 1275 that suffered from poor administration. In 1439 the priory was dissolved and the manor acquired by Winchester College. The priory buildings were transformed into a manor house (VCH:Hampshire, vol 2, pp 180–1, British History Online, https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/hants/vol2/pp180-181 [accessed 10 April 2018]).
Record title: Steward's Accounts
Repository: Southampton City Archives
Shelfmark: SC5/1/7
Repository location: Southampton
The steward's accounts run from Michaelmas to Michaelmas and cover all areas of civic receipt and expenditure, from land rents to annual payments to civic officials, costs of construction and repair of town structures, and rewards to visiting performers. See the introduction to Gidden (ed), Stewards' Books of Southampton, vol 1, pp iii–xvii, for further discussion. Gidden's editions of the accounts for 1428–34 and 1434–9 include full transcriptions of those documents, including records relating to drama and minstrelsy.
1449–50; English; paper; i + 36 + i; 305mm x 210mm; modern pencil foliation; leaves repaired, some apparently lost, others badly faded; original parchment cover.