It would surprise people to know that its history can be traced back over 500 years, to two Bristol merchants, William Spencer and Robert Strange. What is fascinating is that we have an idea of what these benefactors looked like, thanks to a fifteenth century leather bound book held at the Bristol Records Office.

                  

The illustration from "The Maire of Bristowe Is Kalendar” depicts the administration of the mayor’s oath of office to William Spencer, at Michaelmas, 29 September 1478, fifteen days after his election. The leading members of the Corporation are seen gathered on the dais in the Guildhall, then situated in Broad Street.

The five figures most prominent in the picture are former mayors, as shown by the fact that they are wearing scarlet gowns trimmed with fur. William Spencer has his hand on the Bible, whilst taking his oath of office. The other ex-mayors on the dais include Robert Strange.

At that time, Bristol was governed by a mayor, a sheriff, and forty members of the Common Council, two of whom were elected by the council as bailiffs.

All the members of the Council were wealthy merchants with an interest in foreign trade and the running of the port of Bristol. One of the responsibilities of the bailiffs was collecting customs tolls on goods coming into Bristol.

Strange and Spencer, had a number of joint commercial ventures and, together with another merchant, they sponsored two voyages, in the early 1480s, in search of the mythical isle of Brasile, a fabled place whose name was derived from a Gaelic word meaning "blessed" or "fortunate". It is known that late medieval seaman genuinely believed in the stories of this Atlantic island, since maps surviving from this period show the Isle of Brasile as a small land mass near the Irish coast. It still appeared on maps as late as the 1870’s.

The Bristol merchants who sponsored voyages into the Atlantic in the 1480s and 1490s were searching for new markets and trading partners, as well as new fishing grounds.

Problems had arisen with the traditional trade with Iceland, as Bristol merchants were squeezed out by the German Hanseatic League in the 1480s. This resulted in some initial exploration of the Atlantic Ocean by Bristol vessels, prior to the well know Columbus and Cabot voyages. It was partly due to the increased demand for codfish that Bristol merchants began venturing out in search of unknown western lands from the 1480s.

St John’s or Strange’s Almshouse
Robert Strange, three times mayor of Bristol, in 1475,1483 and 1490, founded an almshouse in St. John’s churchyard, which became known as Strange’s Almshouse. It had 15 chambers, a garden and a well.

These were turbulent times and Strange was accused by Robert Marks, of coining money and sending it to the Earl of Richmond (later to become King Henry VII, and the founder of the Tudor dynasty.) He was committed to the Tower of London for eight weeks, before he managed to clear his name, and he was then released with honour. His unfortunate accuser was hanged, drawn and quartered at Bristol.

There was a sad postscript to the story of Strange’s charity because, in 1640, a commission was established under the direction of the Bishop of Bristol, to investigate allegations that funds had been embezzled. The commission found that pages had been cut from parish books, and that the inscription on Strange’s tomb, in St. John’s churchyard, had been defaced. The outbreak of the Civil War brought the commission’s investigations to an end, and the almshouse eventually became a ruin and was demolished in 1721.

About 1740 it rebuilt at the bottom of Tower Lane Steps, adjoining the All Saints’ Almshouse. In 1901 it was sold to make way for Fry’s factory, and in 1907 the almshouse was transferred to the newly created parish of St. Ambrose, which had resulted from the eastwards expansion of Bristol. The new almshouse could accommodate 7 residents. The terrace was refurbished in 1998/99.

Spencer’s Almshouse.
Founded in Lewin’s Mead by William Spencer and dedicated to the Holy Trinity. The founder endowed it with two pence a week for each inmate. The almshouse was said to have been situated opposite the house of the Grey Friars (the Franciscan Friary), extending from Lewin’s Mead to the river Froome.

In 1479, whilst he was mayor, Spencer was accused of treasonable correspondence with the Earl of Richmond. He was locked in Newgate prison for 13 day, when the King cleared him of the charge, and commended him highly,

He was mayor in 1465, 1473 and 1478, and Member of Parliament in 1466-67. He was a benefactor of the church of Grey Friars, rebuilding its choir. He also endowed, in October 1492, an annual loan of £87. 6s. 8d. to help fund the mayor and bailiffs to meet the charges of their offices.

He was one of the executors of William Canynges, who died in 1478. It is recorded that Spencer had freighted cloth to Spain on the same ship as Canynges in 1461, and had served with him on the Common Council. To his executors Canynges had entrusted for the welfare of his soul, the residue of his goods, jewels etc. Canynge is famous as the benefactor who rebuilt St Mary Redcliffe, and later gave up his life as a merchant to become a priest.

On 29 November 1493, Spencer established a fund to provide for sermons on three days of Whitsuntide. Each preacher was to receive 6 shillings and 8 pence, and the mayor 3 shillings and 4 pence to refresh them.

These three sermons eventually became one, on Whit Sunday, and the Rush Sunday service is an occasion to see some of this late mediaeval splendour when the Church invites the Lord Mayor of Bristol and the City Council to hear a sermon. This Service on Whit Sunday, follows many of the customs that would have been familiar to worshippers over the last 500 years ago, among them the scattering of herbs and rushes over the floor and the holding of posies of flowers to ward off infection.

By the early nineteenth century the almshouse was in a dilapidated condition, and in 1841 the vestry of St. James applied to the Court of Chancery to sell the site, together with another almshouse site, the Gift house and founded by William Chester around 1537. The proceeds were used to demolish a third almshouse, in Barr’s Lane, and build a new almshouse on that site. For various reasons the site was not suitable and the new almshouse, to accommodate eight women, was built in Whitson Street in 1853. Over a hundred years later the almshouse was sold and the proceeds were invested in the new almshouse building in St. George.