"Peace in the said City, and to restrain the Wickedness of those Evildoers, that We would grant to them to have the said Village, to them their Heirs and Successors for ever; for the Term thence due to Us at our Exchequer, to be yearly paid, We, in consideration of the Premises, and by the Assent of the Prelates, Earls, Barons, and Commonalty of our Kingdom in Parliament aforesaid assembled, have granted for Us and our Heirs, to the said Citizens, the said Village of Southwark, with the Appurtenances: To have and to hold, to them, their Heirs and Successors, Citizens of the said City, from Us and our Heirs for ever: Paying to Us and our Heirs, per Ann. at our Exchequer, at the accustomed Terms, the Farm thence due and accustomed. In witness whereof we have caused these our Letters to be made Patents. Witness Our Self at Westminster, the 6th Day of March, in first Year of Our Reign."

This is recorded in the Memoranda of the Exchequer, de Anno Edw 3. post Conquestum primo finiente, incipiente secundo, int. Recorda de Termino Sti. Michaelis.

So that Edward III. in the second of his Reign, granted to the Maior and Commonalty of London, Ballivam de Suthwerk, i.e. the Bailiwick of Southwark; which they held of the King at Fee-farm, paying 10l. a Year. And their Baily was Thomas Clopham, who seems to be put in by the Maior and Commonalty of London.

There was another Patent of the said King's, in the 13th of his Reign, to pay no more than 10l. for the said Feeferme.

In the 51st of the said King Edward III. the Citizens pray that King to confirm to them their Liberties for punishing all Misedemeanors in Southwark: And that Commandment be given, that the Marshal do not intermeddle within the Parts of Southwark, that be guildable. This was not granted; the King answering, that he could not do it without doing Wrong to others.

Again, The Maior, Aldermen, and Commons of London, pray King Richard II. in the first Year of his Reign, that they may have the like Punishment of Evildoers in Southwark as in London, saved to all Lords their Rights. But that King also denied; answering, that it was prejudicial to the King, and also to the Bishops of Canterbury and Winchester.

But King Henry IV. in the 7th of his Reign, granted a Patent to the City, for Power to arrest Robbers and other Malefactors in the Town of Southwark; and to bring them thence into the Prison of Newgate, and to exercise almost every other kind of Jurisdiction there: and granting the Citizens all Goods and Cattals, called Waifs and Strays; and the Assize of Bread, Wine, Beer, and of all other Victuals: And to have Return of all the King's Briefs, Extracts, Precepts and Commandments. Teste the 23d Day of July in the said seventh Year of his Reign.

Yet the next Year, viz. 8 Henry IV. the Town of Southwark preferred a Petition to the said King: That being Parcel of the County of Surry, and paying 10l. Feefarm to him, they may be exempted from the Jurisdiction of London, notwithstanding any Letters Patents obtained by the said City. The Anwer was, The Parties should come before the King and his Council, and should be heard according to their Evidence.

And Edward IV. in the seventh of his Reign, granted a Brief to the Sheriff of Surrey, for allowance of Liberties and Jurisdictions within the Town of Southwerk.]

But before I come to the particular Description of this Ward, it will not be impertinent to de- clare, when, and by what means the Borough of Southwark, now called Bridge Ward without, was made one of the Six and twenty Wards, belonging to the City of London; which was in this manner:

After the dissolution of the Monasteries, Abbeys, Priories, and other Religious Houses, in this Realm of England: The Maior, Commonalty, and Citizens of this City of London, taking into their Considerations, how commodious and convenient it would be unto the City, to have the Borough of Southwark annexed thereunto, and that the same Borough was in the King's hands wholly; they became humble Suitors unto King Henry the Eighth, and to the Lords of His Highness's Privy Council, for the obtaining of the same. Which Suit not being granted unto them; after the decease of King Henry the Eighth, they renewed their Suit unto his Son and next Successor, King Edward the Sixth, and to the Lords of his Privy Council, for the obtaining of the same Borough.

At the length, after long Suit, and much Labour, it pleased King Edward the Sixth, by his Letters Patents, sealed with the Great Seal of England, bearing date at Westminster, the three and twentieth Day of April, in the fourth Year of his Reign, as well in consideration of the Sum of Six hundred forty seven Pounds, two Shillings and a Peny, of lawful Money of England, paid to His Highness's use, by the Maior, Commonalty, and Citizens of London, as for divers other Considerations him thereunto moving; To give and grant unto the said Maior and Commonalty, and to the Citizens of London, divers Messuages, Lands, and Tenements, lying in or near the said Borough of Southwark, in the said Letters Patents particularly expressed, which were sometimes the Lands of Charles, then late Duke of Suffolk, and of whom King Henry the Eighth did buy and purchase the same.

This Purchase consisted of a Messuage situate within the Mansion of the late Duke of Suffolk, in the Tenure of one Simon Sybatson, and divers other Messuages, Lands and Tenements in Southwark, and divers Liberties there. The yearly value whereof was l. 14s. 4d. The Patent dated in April, to commence at the Feast of St. Michael last past.]

But there was excepted out of the said Grant, and reserved unto the said King Edward the Sixth, his Heirs and Successors, all that his Capital Messuage, or Mansion House, called Southwark Place, late of the said Duke of Suffolk, and all Gardens and Land to the same adjoining: And all that his Park in Southwark: And all that his Messuage, and all Edifices, and Ground called the Antelope there.

And the said King Edward the Sixth, did by his said Letters Patents give and grant to the said Maior, Commonalty and Citizens, and their Successors, all that his Lordship and Manour of Southwark, with all and singular the Rights, Members, and Appurtenances thereof, in the said County of Surry, then late belonging to the late Monastery of Bermondsey, in the same County: And also all that his Manour and Borough of Southwark, with all and singular the Rights, Members, and Appurtenances thereof, in the said County of Surry, then late parcel of the Possessions of the Archbishop and Archbishops of Canterbury; together with divers yearly Rents, issuing out of divers Messuages or Tenements, in the said Letters Patents particularly expressed.

And also the said King Edward the Sixth, by his said Letters Patents, as well for the above-mentioned Considerations, as also for the Summ of Five hundred Marks, paid to his Use, by the said