H. P. R. Finberg 
The Gostwicks of Willington and other studies [PDF ebook] 

The Gostwicks of Willington and other studies


‘A note on the foundation of Northill College in 1406’, by Peter Hull. [An introduction is followed by a transcription in Latin of the College’s foundation grant.] ‘The origin of St. Mary’s Square, Bedford’, by J. Fines. [Transcription in English of a return to the exchequer by John Maygott, incumbent of the united parishes of St. Peter Dunstable and St. Mary, concerning the site and use to which the materials were put after the demolition of the former church c.1555.]

‘The Black Book of Bedford’, by G. D. Gilmore. [The Black Book contains the constitutions or byelaws of the borough of Bedford made between 1562 and 1603.]

‘Estate and household management in Bedfordshire, c.1540’, by A. G. Dickens. [A transcription of instructions and advice written by Sir John Gostwick of Willington addressed to his son William.]

‘The Gostwicks of Willington’, by H. P. R. Finberg. [The Gostwicks were typical of many families in the upper-middle stratum of society. They began as yeomen, rose to the gentry under Henry VIII, then suffered varying fortunes. The article includes a chronology of the family’s activities 1524-1804 and a nine-generation pedigree over three centuries from 1490s]

Circa l’autore

Peter L. Hull (1924-1994) worked in Bedfordshire County Record Office for Joyce Godber, moving to Cornwall as County Archivist in 1955. He wrote several articles and pamphlets about Bedfordshire, including Bedfordshire letters of Bunyan’s day with A. T. Gaydon (1955) and edited volumes for the Devon and Cornwall Record Society.