CHRISTIAN, Robert

Christian was a local man and probably initially a baker by trade. The first reference to him in the local records was in November 1436 when he appeared before the jurats of Hythe taking the assize of bread.4 Jurats’ ct. bk. H 1018, f. 143. His father may have been the Ralph Christian who, in 1413, paid 20s. towards the levy to provide a ship for military service and who, six years later, was assessed in West Ward on goods and chattels worth £6 p.a.5 Jurats’ acct. bks. H 1052, f. 38v; H 1054, f. 4v. John Christian, who claimed exemption from parliamentary taxation in Folkestone hundred in 1421, was almost certainly another kinsman: E179/124/93. By the late 1430s Robert was a frequent litigant in the bailiff’s court concerning his commercial dealings. At times these brought him into conflict with the leading townsmen: in April 1439 he was distrained for failing to answer John Leigh* on a plea of breaking pledge.6 Jurats’ ct. bk. H 1018, ff. 150v, 161v.

The maltolts that Christian paid in the early 1440s show that he was principally engaged in brewing ale (up to 50 barrels a year), as well as selling wheat, oats, beans, barley and malt. In 1442-3 he also sold a horse valued at a mark. By 1444 he had become involved in the government of the Port, probably already being its common serjeant (although he only received payment as such from February 1445). In that year he claimed allowance from his maltolts for riding to Portsmouth for 19 days on Hythe’s business, although the nature of these duties remains obscure. 7 H 1055, ff. 17v, 25, 45, 53v. As common serjeant Christian was engaged on a wide range of official business. He travelled frequently to Dover, to procure copies of writs and parliamentary acts and to take letters and gifts to those individuals whose favour the jurats of Hythe thought it wise to cultivate: the lieutenant of Dover castle, Gervase Clifton*, the duke of Gloucester’s servants, Richard Needham* and Ralph Toke*, and the lawyers, John Greenford* and John Chenew*. His duties also took him to New Romney and London and as a supplicant to Archbishop Stafford. Usually Christian did not receive cash payments for dealing with these matters, but was able to offset his expenses against the payment of his maltolts.8 Ibid. ff. 92, 108v-9v, 117v, 124-5.

In February 1450 Christian was chosen as one of the jurats for the first time. Later that year, on 15 Oct., he attended his first meeting of the Brodhull as one of Hythe’s representatives. The early 1450s saw Christian again often employed on the town’s business, including seven Brodhulls between May 1451 and April 1455. On the following 19 July, along with William Walton*, he was elected to his first Parliament. Both men agreed to serve for 2s. a day, the accustomed rate, although the length of their parliamentary service is not known.9 White and Black Bks. 28-34; jurats’ acct. bk. H 1055, ff. 159, 165v, 167v. Following his return home, Christian continued to serve as a jurat and to be employed on extraordinary business for the Port.10 H 1019, ff. 20v, 21, 23, 38, 59v, 75. In 1455 the new archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Bourgchier, had granted the Portsmen of Hythe the bailiffship of the town and in February 1458 Christian was chosen to hold this office. His responsibilities did not end there, however, and on 23 July he was elected as the bailiff for Hythe and Sandwich at the Yarmouth herring fair. The following year he was one of the arbiters appointed to settle the dispute over a commercial debt between John Archer I* of Hastings and William Walton.11 H 1023, f. 105. Election to his second Parliament came on 21 Sept. 1460. Both he and his fellow baron, Alexander Leigh*, set out for Westminster on 5 Oct., although Christian came back to Hythe on 12 Nov., leaving his colleague to attend to business alone until his return on 2 Dec. Both men travelled again to Westminster on 26 Jan., but left again 11 days later, perhaps wary of the approach of the northern Lancastrian army. These were troubled times and in the same year Christian received an allowance of 3s. 3d. from his maltolts for organizing the watch of the coast.12 H 1019, ff. 1v, 101.

The 1460s saw little change in Christian’s career. He almost certainly continued to serve as a jurat throughout the decade and attended 13 meetings of the Brodhull between January 1462 and May 1470.13 White and Black Bks. 43-61. Meanwhile, in July 1462 he had again been chosen as one of the Ports’ bailiffs to Yarmouth and with his colleagues was instructed by the Brodhull to employ a clerk to negotiate the presentation of their commission to Yarmouth’s own troublesome bailiffs.14 Ibid. 45. The following year he was elected to attend the Parliament summoned to meet at Westminster on 29 Apr. Providing wages for the barons for this long Parliament proved difficult. While leading townsmen contributed loans for the wages of his fellow baron, John Lake†, Christian was able to offset at least some of that due to him against the payment of his maltolts. On 19 Feb. 1464 he claimed an allowance of £6 12s. for 86 days spent at Parliament the previous year.15 H 1019, ff. 117, 146v. During the long gap between parliamentary sessions, Christian resumed his normal duties and on at least one occasion, in May 1464, he served as deputy bailiff, hearing pleas in the bailiff’s court in the absence of Thomas Honywood*.16 H 1023, f. 196. After Parliament reassembled in January 1465 he claimed wages from 18 Jan. until 11 Mar., and then from 24 Apr. for six days although the Parliament had been dissolved on 28 Mar. By this time the commonalty of Hythe owed him a total of £13 15s. 7¼d., the majority of which represented parliamentary wages.17 H 1019, f. 144.

By the late 1460s Christian’s political sympathies appear to have been firmly with the earl of Warwick, then warden of the Cinque Ports. On 18 Jan. 1469 he asked allowance for 20d. and a further 6s. 8d. he had spent sailing with John Kyriel (brother of Sir Thomas*) to the north of England on ‘the orders of the duke of Clarence and earl of Warwick’ during the previous year. On the following 6 Sept. he was elected to the abortive Parliament due to be held at York and subsequently he claimed wages at 3s. 4d. a day for five days spent travelling north.18 H 1058, ff. 22, 29v. On 15 July 1470 he was once more chosen as one of the Ports’ bailiffs to Yarmouth, reflecting his standing at that time. It may be that Christian was one of those who was instrumental in the Ports’ ill-judged decision to support Warwick and the Readeption regime, since he attended meetings of the Brodhull in May and July 1470 and during Henry VI’s second reign. In February 1471 he was once again elected as bailiff of Hythe, and in the spring he not only spent 13s. 4d. playing his part in the voyage of Queen Margaret and her son back to England but also became involved in Lord Fauconberg’s crossing. Yet despite his activities during the Readeption, Christian was able to accommodate himself rapidly with the victorious Edward IV. He travelled to Ashford where he met John, Lord Dynham (whom Edward had sent to receive the submission of the men of Kent), and paid a fine of 16s. 8d. Later he paid a similar sum to Dynham at Folkestone at the submission of the men of the Cinque Ports.19 Ibid. ff. 38v, 68v; EHR, lxxxv. 681-5. Furthermore, on 12 Aug. the King, having resumed the Cinque Ports’ liberties, appointed him as his ‘keeper’ of Hythe and its members.20 CPR, 1467-77, pp. 265-6. Shortly before, Christian had been appointed by the Brodhull, along with John Tuder†, the ‘keeper’ of New Romney, to sue for the return of the Ports’ liberties and for confirmation of the rights of the Ports’ bailiffs to Yarmouth. Both men were to approach Cardinal Bourgchier to secure new charters for Hythe and New Romney and then treat with the Chancery clerk, Thomas Bayen*, for his advice in making the commission for the bailiffs of Yarmouth and ‘what name we shall call them’, which writs were needed and whether or not the wording of the old commission was sufficient authority when the Ports’ franchises were suspended. Christian was allowed 2s. a day for his expenses. The payment of these sums proved a difficult and long process: not until April 1476 was the debt apparently settled.21 White and Black Bks. 63, 66-67, 71.

Christian’s role during the events of May-June 1471, which had seen Hythe’s liberties suspended, may have had an effect, for in February 1472 he was not among those chosen as a jurat, and during the next two years he appears to have played no role in the public affairs of the town (except for providing horsemeat when the earl of Arundel held the warden’s court of admiralty in 1473). However, in February 1474 he was once again chosen as a jurat. His experience (and his money) proved useful the following year when he paid 40s. towards the cost of Hythe’s ship-service for the King’s French campaign and 40d. towards the wages of the bailiff for Yarmouth. This was the last act of his career in the government of Hythe and he was not among those chosen as jurats in February 1476.22 H 1058, ff. 89, 107, 126, 145, 156v. He continued, however, to account for his maltolts, principally for brewing ale, until January 1483 by which time the debt which the commonalty of Hythe owed him had been reduced to 7s.23 Ibid. ff. 165, 184v, 202, 217, 230, 256v, 271v.

Besides his business interests, very little evidence survives of Christian’s private affairs. He was married by July 1445 when his un-named wife was fined in the hundred court for breaking the assize of bread, although she may have predeceased him as she did not account for his maltolts after his death.24 Hythe hundred ct. pprs. H 1059. By 1466 he had joined the fraternity of the Blessed Virgin at Hythe.25 H.B. Mackeson, Fraternity of the Blessed Mary at Hythe, 30. Nothing is known of his property interests, although by early 1460s he was earning 16s. 8d. from rents in Hythe and in 1442-3 he was exempted from the parliamentary subsidy in Worth hundred.26 H 1019, f. 117; E179/124/110, rot. 9d.

Christian made his will on 24 May 1483. He asked to be buried in his parish church of St. Leonard’s and left money for obits, works on the church and the costs of his burial. His provision for his soul extended to 200 masses to be sung by the parish chaplain with five other clerks to assist him. He also ensured that every poor man coming for alms on the day of his obit would receive a halfpenny, while those coming in subsequent years on the anniversary of his death would receive a halfpenny loaf of bread. This provision was to be maintained for eight years after his death. Each of his three executors would receive half a mark for their labours. His property in Hythe and elsewhere was to be sold and the proceeds used for masses to be sung for his soul and those of his parents, with any remainder going to John Lowis, his grandson, and William Risdale, probably another grandson, when he came of age. The date of Christian’s death is not known, but probate was granted on 26 June 1486.27 Centre for Kentish Studies, Maidstone, Canterbury consist. ct. wills, PRC 32/3, f. 93.