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PASTON LETTERS

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Originally appearing in Volume V20, Page 896 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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PASTON LETTERS , an invaluable collection of letters and papers, consisting of the See also:

correspondence of members of the Paston See also:family, and others connected with them, between the years 1422 and 1509, and also including some See also:state papers and other important documents. The bulk of the letters and papers were sold by See also:William Paston, 2nd See also:earl of See also:Yarmouth, the last representative of the family, to the See also:antiquary See also:Peter Le Neve See also:early in the 18th See also:century. On Le Neve's See also:death in 1729 they'came into the See also:possession of See also:Thomas See also:Martin of See also:Palgrave, who married his widow; and upon Martin's death in 1771 they were See also:purchased by See also:John See also:Worth, a chemist at See also:Diss, whose executors sold them three years later to John Fenn of See also:East See also:Dereham. In 1787 Fenn published a selection of the letters in two volumes, and See also:general See also:interest was aroused by this publication. In 1789 Fenn published two other volumes of letters, and when he died in 1794 he had prepared for the See also:press a fifth See also:volume, which was published in 1823 by his See also:nephew, See also:Serjeant See also:Frere. In 1787 Fenn had received a See also:knighthood, and on this occasion, the 23rd of May, he had presented the originals of his first two volumes to See also:King See also:George III. These See also:manuscripts soon disappeared, and the same See also:fate attended the originals of the three other volumes. In these circumstances it is not surprising that some doubt should have been See also:cast upon the authenticity of the letters. In 1865 their genuineness was impugned by Herman See also:Merivale in the Fortnightly See also:Review; but it was vindicated on grounds of See also:internal See also:evidence by See also:James See also:Gairdner in the same periodical; and within a See also:year Gairdner's contention was established by the See also:discovery of the originals of Fenn's fifth volume, together with other letters and papers, by Serjeant Frere's son, See also:Philip Frere, in his See also:house at Dungate, See also:Cambridgeshire. Ten years later the originals of Fenn's third and See also:fourth volumes, with ninety-five unpublished letters, were found at Roydon See also:Hall, See also:Norfolk, the seat of George Frere, the See also:head of the Frere family; and finally in 1889 the originals of the two remaining volumes were discovered at Orwell See also:Park, See also:Ipswich, the See also:residence of See also:Captain E. G. Pretyman.

This latter batch of papers are the letters which were presented to George III., and which possibly reached Orwell through See also:

Sir George Pretyman Tomline (1750—1827), the See also:tutor and friend of William See also:Pitt. The papers which had been in the hands of Sir John Fenn did not, however, comprise the whole of the Paston letters which were extant. When the 2nd earl of Yarmouth died in 1732 other letters and documents See also:relating to the Pastons were found at his seat, Oxnead Hall, and some of these came into the hands of the Rev. See also:Francis Biomefield, who failed to carry out a See also:plan to unite his collection with that of Martin. This See also:section of the letters was scattered in various directions, See also:part being acquired by the antiquary John Ives. The bulk of the Paston letters and documents are now in the See also:British Museum; but others are at Orwell Park; in the Bodleian Library, See also:Oxford; at Magdalen See also:College, Oxford; and a few at See also:Pembroke College, See also:Cambridge. Fenn's edition of the Paston Letters held the See also:field until 1872, when James Gairdner published the first volume of a new edition. Taking Fenn's See also:work as a basis, the aim of the new editor was to include all the letters which had come to See also:light since this publication, and in his careful and accurate work in three volumes (See also:London, 1872—1875) he printed over four See also:hundred letters for the first See also:time. Gairdner's edition, with notes and See also:index, also contained a valuable introduction to each volume, including a survey of the reign of See also:Henry VI.; and he was just completing his task when the discovery of 1875 was made at Roydon. An appendix gave particulars of this discovery, and the unpublished letters were printed as a supplement to subsequent See also:editions. In 1904 a new and See also:complete edition of the Paston Letters was edited by Gairdner, and these six volumes, containing 1088 letters and papers, possess a very valuable introduction, which is the See also:chief authority on the subject. The family of Paston takes its name from a Norfolk See also:village about twenty See also:miles See also:north of See also:Norwich, and the first member of the family about whom anything is known was living in this village early in the 15th century.

This was one See also:

Clement Paston (d. 1418), a See also:peasant, holding and cultivating about one hundred acres of See also:land, who gave an excellent See also:education to his son William, and enabled him to study See also:law. Making See also:good use of his opportunities, William Paston (1378—1444), who is described as " a right cunning See also:man in the law," attained an influential position in his profession, and in 1429 became a See also:justice of the See also:common pleas. He bought a good See also:deal of land in Norfolk, including some in Paston, and improved his position by his See also:marriage with See also:Agnes (d. 1479), daughter and heiress of Sir See also:Edmund See also:Berry of Harlingbury, See also:Hertfordshire. Consequently when he died he See also:left a large and valuable See also:inheritance to John Paston (1421—1466), the eldest of his five sons, who was already married to See also:Margaret (d. 1484), daughter of John Mauteby of Mauteby. At this time See also:England was in a very distracted See also:condition. A weak king surrounded by turbulent nobles was incapable of discharging the duties of See also:government, and only the strong man armed could See also:hope to keep his goods in See also:peace. A lawyer like his See also:father, Paston spent much time in London, leaving his wife to look after his business in Norfolk; and many of the Letters were written by Margaret to her See also:husband, detailing the progress of affairs in the See also:county. It is during the lifetimes of John Paston and his eldest son that the Letters are most numerous and valuable, not only for family matters, but also for the See also:history of England. In 1448 Paston's See also:manor of See also:Gresham was seized by See also:Robert See also:Hungerford, See also:Lord Moleyns (1431—1464), and although it was afterwards recovered, the owner could obtain no redress for the loss and injury he had sustained.

More serious troubles, however, were at See also:

hand. Paston had become very intimate with the wealthy See also:knight, Sir John See also:Fastolf, who was probably related to his wife, and who had employed him on several matters of business. In 1459 Sir John died without See also:children, leaving his affairs in rather a tangled condition. In accordance with the See also:custom of the time, he had conveyed many of his estates in Norfolk and See also:Suffolk to trustees, among whom were John Paston and his See also:brother William, retaining the revenues for himself, and probably intending his trustees after his death to devote the See also:property to the See also:foundation of a college. However, it was found that a few days before his decease Fastolf had executed a fresh will in which he had named ten executors, of whom two only, John Paston and another, were to See also:act; and, moreover, that he had bequeathed all his lands in Norfolk and Suffolk to Paston, subject only to the See also:duty of See also:founding the college at Caister, and paying 4000 marks to the other executors. At once taking possession of the lands, Paston soon found his rights challenged. Various estates were claimed by different See also:noble-men; the excluded executors were angry and aggressive; and Paston soon found himself in a whirlwind of litigation, and exposed also to more violent methods of attack. Something like a See also:regular warfare was waged around See also:Drayton and Hellesdon between John de la See also:Pole, See also:duke of Suffolk, and the Pastons under Margaret and her eldest son, John; Caister See also:Castle was seized by John See also:Mowbray, 3rd duke of Norfolk (d. 1461); and similar occurrences took See also:place elsewhere. Some See also:compensation, doubt-less, was found in the fact that in 146o, and again in 1461, Paston had been returned to See also:parliament as a knight of the See also:shire for Norfolk, and enjoying the favour of See also:Edward IV. had regained his castle at Caister. But the royal favour was only temporary, and, having been imprisoned on three occasions, Paston died in May 1466, leaving the suit concerning Fastolf's will still proceeding in the See also:church courts. John Paston left at least five sons, the two eldest of whom were, curiously enough, both named John, and the eldest of whom had been knighted during his father's lifetime.

Sir John Paston (1442—1479) was frequently at the See also:

court of King Edward IV., but afterwards he favoured the Lancastrian party, and, with his brother John, fought for Henry VI. at the See also:battle of See also:Barnet. Meanwhile the struggle over Fastolf's estates continued, although in 1461 the king and See also:council had decided that Paston's ancestors were not bondmen, and consequently that his See also:title to his father's lands was good. Caister Castle was taken after a regular See also:siege by John Mowbray, 4th duke of Norfolk (1444—1476), and then recovered by the Pastons, and retaken by the duke. But in 1474 an arrangement was made with William See also:Waynflete, See also:bishop of See also:Winchester, the representative of the excluded executors, by which some of the estates were surrendered to the bishop for charitable purposes, while Paston was secured in the possession of others. Two years later the opportune death of the duke of Norfolk paved the way for the restoration of Caister Castle; but in 1478 a fresh See also:quarrel See also:broke out with the duke of Suffolk. Sir John, who was a cultured man, had shown See also:great anxiety to recover Caister; but in general he had left the conduct of the struggle to his See also:mother and to the younger John. Owing to his carelessness and extravagance the family lands were also diminished by sales; but nevertheless when he died unmarried in See also:November 1479 he left a goodly inheritance to his brother John. About this time the Letters begin to be scanty and less interesting, but the family continued to flourish. The younger John Paston (d. 1503), after quarrelling with his See also:uncle William over the manors of Oxnead and Marlingford, was knighted at the battle of Stoke in 1487. He married Margery, daughter of Sir Thomas Brews, and left a son, William Paston (c. 1479—1554), who was also knighted, and who was a prominent figure at the court of Henry VIII.

Sir William's second son; Clement ((a 1515-1597), served his See also:

country with distinction on the See also:sea, and was wounded at the battle of Pinkie. The family was continued by Sir William's eldest son, See also:Erasmus (d. 1540), whose son William succeeded to his grandfather's estates in 1554, and to those of his uncle Clement in 1547. This William (1528—161o) was knighted in 1578. He was the founder of the Paston See also:grammar-school at North Walsham, and made Oxnead Hall, near Norwich, his See also:principal residence. See also:Christopher Paston was Sir William's son and See also:heir, and Christopher's See also:grandson, William (d. 1663), was created a See also:baronet in 1642; being succeeded in the title by his son Robert (1631-1683), who was a member of parliament from 1661 to 1673, and was created earl of Yarmouth in 1679. Robert's son William (1652-1732), who married a natural daughter of See also:Charles II., was the second earl, and, like his father,'was in high favour with the Stuarts. When he died in 1732 he left no son, and his titles became See also:extinct, his estates being sold to See also:discharge his debts. The perturbed state of affairs revealed by the Paston Letters reflects the general. condition of England during the See also:period. It was a time of trouble. The weakness of the government had disorganized every See also:branch of the See also:administration; the See also:succession to the See also:crown itself was contested; the great nobles lived in a state of See also:civil See also:war; and the prevailing discontent found expression in the rising of See also:Jack See also:Cade and in the See also:Wars of the See also:Roses.

The correspondence reveals the Pastons in a great variety of relations to their neighbours, friendly or hostile; and abounds with illustrations of the course of public events, as well as of the See also:

manners and morals of the time. Nothing is more remarkable than the habitual acquaintance of educated persons, both men and See also:women, with the law, which was evidently indispensable to persons of substance. In addition to the editions of the Paston Letters already mentioned, see F. See also:Blomefield and C. See also:Parkin, History of Norfolk (London, 18o5-181o), and the See also:article in See also:Diet. Nat. Biog. (A. W.

End of Article: PASTON LETTERS

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