STAFFORDSHIRE AND DORSET 47
said parish of Portesham. May it therefore please your Lord-
ship to grant unto your orator a writ of subpoena to be directed,
unto the said Sir John Powlett and john Coward commanding
them therein to appear in Court to answer to the premises and
to abide such further order as shall stand with equity and good
conscience. And your orator shall daily pray, etc.
(Signed) ]oHN STi2vENs.
The defendantSir ]ohn Powlett, knight, answers and says
that he believes that the Abbott and Convent of the Monastery
of Abbotsbury, Co. Dorset, were heretofore in right of their
said Monastery seized in fee of the said rectory and parsonage
of Portesham, until the dissolution of the said Abbye, and that
the vicar of Portesham only enjoyed the house, gardens, and
orchards lying near the parish church, wherein the complainant
now dwelleth, and also a yearly pension of {8 1 gs. 4d. And
this defendant doth believe that about go Henry VIII (1 5g 8-9)
the Abbott and Convent of the Monastery of Abbotsbury
granted and surrendered the said parsonage with the advowson
of the said vicarage thereunto belonging, to the said King and
his heirs. That the said late King Henry VIII died thereof so
seized. in fee, after whose death the same descended unto Queen
Elizabeth who by her letters patent bearing date the 2O January
in the third year of her reign (1561) did grant the said rectory
and church of Portesham and also the advowson of the said
vicarage to the Rt. Hon’ble William, late Marquess of Win-
chester and his heirs for ever. The estate and interest of the
said Marquess in and to the said parsonage is by mean con-
veyances and assurances conveyed and come to this defendant
and his heirs by virtue whereof this defendant is of the said
parsonage lawfully seized in fee.
This defendant doth deny that to his knowledge any vicar
for the time being of the said parish church hath ever had or
received any tithes arising within the parish of Portesham as in
the bill of complaint is suggested, or that he this defendant
hath combined or confederated with the other defendant John
Coward or any other persons to defraud or deprive the com-
plainant of any tithes or duties. And this complainant saith
that ever since he presented the complainant to the said vicarage
he hath paid yearly the said {8 1 gs. 4d. unto the complainant