Adobe PDF - Lincolnshire Archives Committee Archivists' Report 24 ...

41
and the other half of the property was robably for the chaplain of
the Holy Trinity chantry, also founded Ey Cumberworth (F.L. 3318).
There are now 321 items in this series, numbered to avoid confusion
with the former numbering, from 3001-3321 in the Foster Library
general series. The interest of the collection leads to the vexed
question of its provenance. During the years that the Foster Library
was at the Lindsey and Holland County Library, Miss Thurlby
calendared the documents onto cards and indexed the names of
parties, but made no attem t to sort them by lace or person. It is
possible that she adopted tEe
categories A to R for the documents
m Canon Foster’s possession at his death in 1935, and that later
acquisitions by the Foster Library were numbered from 1 in the
serves of Foster Library deeds, but there is no proof that even the
Tournay deeds were together in 1935. The fact that two of them
bear the Lincoln Diocesan Records stamp suggests that they had
been in Canon Foster’s hands, and although one of them (F.L. 3206),
is a single item relating to Glentham, the other (F.L. 3126), is part
of the Dodkyn title to land in Pilham and Wharton, which has been
placed with the Tournay deeds. Some items have modern pencilled
dates or comments which suggest a dealer’s handling, but this is not
conclusive. What does seem clear, from Sir Arthur Middleton’s interest
in his records, is that he would not willingly have handed away a
sizeable number, and that he did not know of the existence of these
records. Possibly the muniments of the Tournay family were split
centuries ago, and the group now in the Foster Library represent
the share kept in the hand of the local agent of absentee landlords,
as were the Moncks from the mid eighteenth century.
To add to the confusion there are seventeen documents among the
Dean and Chapter’s muniments formerly in the pigeon hole Ciij 45/ 1,
eight of which certainly, and four possibly, are connected with the
Tournay deeds in the Foster Library. A quitclaim by Oliver de Sutton,
canon of Lincoln, to John de Cadeby, of the annual ayment of
fifteen shillings by Denis, John’s man in Thorganby, cp ating from
about 1270, has the French endorsement associated with the Cadeby
deeds. Another item is a conveyance to Nicholas Tournay and two
men who acted as feoffees for John Tournay (d. 1404), of a toft in
Glentham. The whole group has summaries on cards with corrections
in Canon Foster’s hand.
One explanation is that the Tournay items were acquired by
Chancellor Massingberd as deeds of title, when he bought part of
the Caenby estate in 1871, and that he chose to place them in the
cathedral library or the muniment room as interesting historical
documents. In this case surely they would have come to the notice of
Canon Maddison when he compiled his articles on the Tournay
family? On the other hand it is possible that a member of Massingberd’s
family gave them to Canon Foster at a later date. This is
not a convincing explanation, but a better one has yet to present
itself.
Tournay and related families, title deeds and leases, rgth-16th cs;
Lines: Blyton 1; Cabourn 11; North Cadeby 1; Caenby 2; Fillingham
8; Fonaby 1; Glentham 27; Glentworth 2; Harpswell I; Hatcliff 1;
Hemswell 5; Kingerby 6; Newton by Toft 1; Northorpe 24;