VINE, Richard atte, of Southwark, Surr.

Many of the residents of medieval Southwark were involved in the brewing trade, but few seem to have made as much profit from it as Richard atte Vine. He and his wife were already living in the borough by Easter 1372, when they conveyed a messuage and its appurtenances there to Robert Solas, who may well have been one of their trustees. The contribution of 4s.4d. which they and their two servants made towards the poll tax of 1380 (a tax which atte Vine himself helped locally to assess and collect) places them among the wealthiest inhabitants of Southwark. Atte Vine witnessed a deed there in the following year and appears to have extended his business interests by September 1393, when he was acting as a contractor for the supply of timber to the builders and carpenters then at work on London Bridge. Nothing more is known of him after this date, however.1CP25(1)230/58/97; E179/184/30; CCR, 1377-81, pp. 490-1; Corporation of London RO, Bridge Masters’ acct. roll XII m. 10.