A Fifteenth-Century Medical Handbook in York Minster Library (YML, XVI. E. 32). Part 3 - a blog by Dr Rebeca Cubas-Peña

Part III: Provenance

Reverend Edward Churton: a Yorkshire donor

According to the Liber Donorum ― a book that keeps the records of the manuscripts and printed copies given to the York Minster library until 1924 ― the manuscript was given to the Minster by a man called Reverend Edward Churton in 1843. The entry for that year reads: ‘Medicine by William de Killingholme Ms -Six sermons preached in 1582 Ms and Wiclifi Dialogis 4to (Quarto). All given by Reverend Edward Churton. Rector of Craykes’. [1]

Liber Donorum (fols. 38r, 39r)

Reverend Edward Churton (1800-1874) was born at Middleton Cheney (Northamptonshire) and lived in the North Riding of Yorkshire from 1835 ―the year when Bishop Van Mildert appointed him rector of Crayke― until his death. During that time, he was Canon of York and rural Dean and Rector of Crayke in 1845, Archeadon of Cleveland from 1846 to 1874, and Prebendary of Knaresborough from 1841 to 1874. He was a theologian and Spanish scholar who was also interested in Anglo-Saxon literature, although the donations his wife made to the library on his behalf after his death indicate that his interests revolved mainly around religious matters.

Reverend Edward Churton bequeathed the manuscript to York Minster [3]

The library record shows that his collection was divided into ‘Manuscripts’ and ‘Printed Books’, both under the heading: ‘1874. The following works were presented to the Library by Mrs Churton, in memory of her husband Edward Churton m.a., Archdeacon of Cleveland’ (fol. 56r); the rest of the books were under ‘The Churton Gift’. Churton’s wife gave nine manuscripts to the library (including a fifteenth-century copy of the Vita Bernardi), the remainder are printed copies. According to the Liber Donorum, he donated nearly three hundred printed copies published between 1550 and 1840. They contain primarily theological and scholarly discussions in the form of tracts, dialogues, defences, testimonies and sermons.

Liber donorum (fol. 56r)

He also edited a few religious and literary books, such as the minor theological works of Bishop John Pearson, or his thorough study of Góngora in Góngora: An Historical and Critical Essay on the Times of Philip III and IV of Spain, with Translations.

Another good instance of Churton’s literary and theological standards can be found in a letter (YML, MS Add 651) he wrote when he was in Crayke on January 23rd, 1854. Addressed to Reverend G. C. Hodgkinson, Principal of the diocesan Training College of York, who faced a doctrinal enquiry before the Archbishop of York and Bishop of Ripon, the letter supports Reverend Hodgkinson by warning him of a man called W. Baxter, who intended to discredit him. The tone of this epistle, which finishes with a Latin sentence and allusions to the Spanish work El Curioso Impertinente and Bishop Barnet’s History of the Reformation, reveals not only his scholarly education but also his interest in Spanish literature.

Apart from the York medical manuscript, no medical volume is registered amongst the books he bequeathed to the library. In fact, it seems that he did not have any connections with the medical profession, as he does not seem to have undertaken any medical courses or practice medicine, and he was no collector. Given the scholarly disposition of Churton’s father, it is possible that the manuscript was handed down to him after his father’s death. There is also a chance that he acquired the manuscript in an antiquarian bookshop ― as part of a lot of old books ― or that someone gave it to him as a gift. [4]

Other owners: Frauncis Acton

An intriguing line of enquiry regarding the provenance of the York medical manuscript has to do with the fact that a volume copied in a variety of Midlands dialects ended up in Yorkshire. The most obvious and quickest hypothesis is that Churton himself brought it up north. However, the manuscript contains other two post-medieval marks of ownership worth analysing. One alludes to a Johannes breythe/brogston, who wrote his name on the top margin of the first folio of the volume in the sixteenth century and is now rather stained by reagent. Unfortunately, nothing is known about this individual.

Mark of ownership written by Johannes breythe/brogston (fol. 2r)

The other one alludes to a Frauncis Acton of the church of Stretton, who scribbled down her name upside down nearly at the end of the manuscript.

Mark of ownership written by Frauncis Acton (fol. 171v)

The history of the Acton family dates back at least to the fourteenth century. Several members of the family, many of them named Francis or Frances, were settled in Acton Scott, a village near Church Stretton (Shropshire). Based on the date of the script, the most plausible candidate seems to be Francis Acton (1749-1762). She was the daughter of Richard Acton, 5th Baronet of Acton, and Lady Anne Grey, and had a sister named Elizabeth. [5] She was only thirteen years old when she died, which might explain the childish appearance of her script. Considering that her sister married a Yorkshire Esquire named Philip Langdale, a possible explanation might be that the couple took the manuscript with them up north after their marriage, where presumably Churton acquired it somehow. This might clarify how a manuscript that was probably still in the Midlands, more particularly in Shropshire, by the eighteenth century ended up in York Minster Library in 1843.

[1] J. Raine, A Catalogue of the Printed Books in the Library of the Dean and Chapter of York (York: John Sampson, 1896). The book also records later entries in loose pieces of paper. Electronic access to a digitized version of the Liber Donorum is available via the University of York library catalogue (item permalink https://yorsearch.york.ac.uk/permalink/f/1d5jm03/44YORK_ALMA_DS21268468450001381).

[2] The information concerning Churton’s life has been taken from the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.

[3] Photo taken from The Project Canterbury <http://anglicanhistory.org/england/echurton/>

[4] The idea of the antiquarian bookshop was kindly suggested by Caitlin Henderson in private correspondence: C. Henderson, ‘For the ston that olde John Busshy hathe’: An Analysis of the Codicology and Marginalia of William Leech of Killingholme’s Medical Manual, York Minster Library XVI E. 32 (unpublished master’s thesis, University of York, Centre for Medieval Studies, 2014).

[5] Cracroft’s Peerage: The Complete Guide to the British Peerage & Baronetage http://www.cracroftspeerage.co.uk/online/content/actonb1643.htm?zoom_highlight=john+mhor+macdonald; The National Archives http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/rd/52b8ee1e-f792-4d03-8450-1fc985788bca.