At the southern end of Hull’s High Street is a car park,
largely unremarkable as car parks tend to be but for one feature. Along its boundary wall are dotted a number
of gated archways, each of which marks the location of a long gone medieval
alleyway. Where bland offices now stand
and the A63 squats was once a mass of narrow lanes and densely packed
courtyards.
One of these streets was Grimsby Lane, home at the beginning
of the 14th century to the brothers Richard and William de la Pole. Successful merchants specialising in wine,
they had also begun to make a name for themselves as competent officials. Their first appointment had been as joint
deputy Royal Butlers administering import duty on wine coming into the port of Hull.
Later Richard was
appointed collector of Royal Customs, assessing cargos and submitting his accounts
directly to the Exchequer in London.
Such jobs were prestigious and raised
your social standing. However small a
cog in the grander scheme of things, you were nevertheless a royal servant and had a
connection to government. It was
advisable to really enjoy this sense of privilege, as you weren’t given any
more tangible reward such as a salary. There
were though opportunities to make a bit on the side.
As deputy Butlers the de la Poles were
tasked with buying wine on behalf on the King, who as one of the perks of being
monarch could acquire any vintage he chose at a discount. One particular group of European merchants, whether
from truth or malice, accused the brothers of shady dealings. Allegedly they bought more wine at the cheaper
price then the king actually required, then sold this surplus at market value
making a tidy profit.
Like all prominent citizens of Hull,
Richard and William served their turn as Chamberlains responsible for the
town’s finances. It was not exactly a sought after role for the town often had cash flow problems that forced
Chamberlains to fund expenditure themselves.
The de la Poles were unlucky enough to be in office from 1321 to 1324,
which meant that they oversaw the start of the building of the town’s defensive
wall. The huge scale of this project
left the town owing them £100 to be repaid in instalments.
The brothers could afford such a generous
loan as they were doing rather well and by now had expanded into the wool trade. Through unexciting yet profitable measures, like
keeping detailed accounts and organising shipments to make the most of
economies of scale, they had overtaken their fellow merchants.
Photo: Car park wall at the southern end of Hull’s High Street showing
the former location of Grimsby Lane.
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