single sheet (12 January)
Wheareas my Servant Edward Allen. in respect of the dangerous decaye of that Howse which he and his Companye haue nowe, on the Banck, And for that the same standeth verie noisome for resorte of people in the wynter tyme) Hath thearfore nowe of late, taken a plott of grounde neere Redcrosse streete London (verie fitt and convenient) for the buildinge, of a new house theare, and hath prouided Tymber and other necessaries for theffectinge theareof. to his greate chardge: fforasmuche as the place. standethe verie convenient, for the ease of. People, And that her Maiestie (in respect of the acceptable Service, which my saide Servant and his Companie. haue doen and presented before her Highenes to her greate lykeinge and Contentment; aswell this last Christmas as att sondrie other tymes) ys gratiouslie moued towardes them. with a speciall regarde of fauor in their proceedinges: Theis shalbe thearefore to praie and requier yow .and. everie of yow. To permitt and suffer my saide Servant to proceede in theffectinge and finishinge of the saide Newhowse, without anie your lett or molestacion. towardes him or any of his woorkmen. And soe not doubtinge of your observacion in this behalf. I bidd yow right hartelie farewell. att the Courte. at Richmond, the xijth of Ianuarye. 1599.
(signed) Notingham
For an image of the original manuscript, see the Henslowe-Alleyn Digitisation Project, MS 1 Article 27. For the contract to build the Fortune, see DC: Mun 22 and the Henslowe-Alleyn Digitisation Project Mun 1 Group 22 A letter of objection was sent to the Privy Council by Lord Willoughby and other residents in the neighbourhood on 9 March 1599/1600 (TNA: PC 2/25, p 78) but a subsequent letter on 8 April to the Middlesex JPs confirms the support of the Privy Council for the new venture (DC: MS I, Article 29). For recent discussion and partial transcriptions of these documents see also Wickham et al, English Professional Theatre, pp 534–9.
Record title: Warrant from the Lord Admiral
Repository: Dulwich College
Shelfmark: MS I, box C
Repository location: Dulwich
Charles Howard, the earl of Nottingham and
Lord High Admiral, was patron of the acting company whose star
had been Edward Alleyn, son-in-law of Philip Henslowe. Here he writes in
support of the new playhouse that Alleyn, with
Henslowe's financial assistance, was proposing to build across the
Thames just outside the London wall to the north of the city in the
liberty of Finsbury. The site between Golding Lane on the west and Whitecross Street on the east has been
identified although not yet excavated; see further Julian Bowsher,
Shakespeare's London Theatreland: Archaeology, History and
Drama (London, 2012), 97–101.
Just how 'decayed'
the present base of the Admiral's Men at the Rose was is debatable but Alleyn
had acquired property for the building site of the Fortune in 1599 and
may have been planning the new venture for several years even as he and
Henslowe had set their sights on a joint appointment to the mastership of the Royal Game of Bears,
Bulls and Mastiff Dogs, at the Bear Garden across the alley from the
Rose; see further 'Philip Henslowe, Theatrical Entrepreneur and Man of
Property'.
For an abstract of the document and
details of its transcription history, see the related EMLoT event record.
12 January 1599/1600; English; paper; single sheet; 310mm x 205mm; unnumbered; endorsement written in bottom left panel after sheet folded once vertically and thrice horizontally: 'To all & euery her maiesties Iustices & other Ministers. and Officers. within the Countye of Middlesex. & to euery of them. And to all others whome it shall Concerne.' Article 27 in Warner's Catalogue; foliated 40–40v in later pencil, formerly bound in MS I but now mounted separately on acid-free paper with other documents of similar size in fascicule 2, box C.