Rotherham The Unofficial Website

Tudor Rotherham

This is just a short look at Rotherham during the reign of the five Tudor Monarchs 1485 - 1603. At the beginning of this period Rotherham was still enjoying the benefits of friends in high places. Thomas Rotherham was deprived of his position under Henry VII for supporting Elizabeth Woodville, the widow of Edward IV and Henry's mother-in-law. This seems to have had little effect on the town which remained prosperous for some years.

Rotherham was situated on an old north-south highway, an alternate route to the Great North Road. As part of the link between London and the West Riding and further north Rotherham was an important centre with many inns. In those days few of the roads, even the metalled ones, were adequately maintained and were nigh on impassible in bad weather. Travellers often had to stay put for days waiting for the rains to clear and the mud to dry out before they could continue their journey. The comments of some of the people who made it can be read under Quotations.

The population of Rotherham in 1537 was about 3000, which made it a substantial town. In 1538 Thomas Cromwell, Vicar General introduced legislation for the compulsory registration in church of baptisms, marriages and deaths. The registers of Rotherham date from 1540. Parish registers are extant for many years and contain details of christenings and baptisms, weddings and burials.

It was only after the Act for Suppression of Chantries and Gilds came into force in 1547 that the town began to feel the pinch. All the properties and assets belonging to the various chantries and gilds in the Parish Church, the Chapel on the Bridge and the College of Jesus were valued and forfeited to the King. In return the Grammar School part of the College of Jesus was allowed to remain and the schoolmaster's salary was paid by the government. This payment was discontinued in 1555 and the burden of maintaining the school was met by the citizens of Rotherham. The Grammar School was refounded in 1561. However the site of the College of Jesus was acquired by the Earl of Shrewsbury and by the end of the 16th Century was much decayed and the Grammar School had moved elsewhere.

When Elizabeth became queen in 1558 England as a whole was in a pretty poor state. Religion had been tossed about as a bone of contention for about 30 years and nobody knew where they were. The currency, once the most respected in Europe, had been continually debased during the reigns of the three previous monarchs. Inflation was rampant, prices soaring and poverty on the increase. The country had few allies and many enemies. In Europe, the smart money was on Elizabeth's failure and dethronement in a very short time.

Well, Elizabeth tidied up the church, not to everyone's satisfaction admittedly, but it was a working compromise that is still working to some extent today. She cleaned up the currency, setting a standard that enabled England to become a premier trading nation. She reigned for nearly 45 years during which time England rose from a backward little country to a major power. Don't get me wrong; things weren't perfect, ask the poor folk and persecuted Catholics just for starters. Towards the end of Elizabeth's reign the rapidly increasing trend of landowners to inclose or enclose their estates combined with several years of bad harvests created a vast number of people in poverty. At this time Rotherham was still a town still largely dependent on agricultural trades and many of the rural poor must have moved to town in search of a job or to become the urban poor.

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