By Richard Bryant and Janet Bishop, Lindfield History Project Group

Did you know that Friar Tuck, of Robin Hood fame, was a priest at Lindfield Parish Church in the early 1400s?

The name Friar Tuck first appears as Frere Tuk in a Royal Writ issued for his arrest on 9th February 1417: it read ‘Commission to Thomas Camoys, Thomas Ponynges and John Pelham to arrest one assuming the name of Frere Tuk and other evildoers of his retinue who have committed divers murders, robberies, depredations, felonies, insurrections, trespasses, oppressions, extortions, offences and misprisions in the counties of Surrey and Sussex, and bring them before the King and Council’. A comprehensive list of crimes, giving the impression it was a ‘catch all’ warrant.

From the words ‘assuming the name of Frere Tuk’, it is reasonable to assume that the name was a nom de guerre. No connection was made with Robin Hood, as it would appear the Friar had not been subsumed into fables in the Robin Hood tradition at that time. The Robin Hood fables are set during the lives and reigns of Richard I and John, from the mid-1100s to early 1200s.

On 22nd May 1417, a further writ was issued commissioning ‘William Lasyngby and Robert Hull to enquire into the report that a certain person assuming the unusual name of Frere Tuk and other evildoers have entered parks, warrens and chases of divers lieges of the King in the counties of Surrey and Sussex at divers times, hunted therein and carried off deer, hares, rabbits, pheasants and partridges, burned the houses and lodges for the keeping of the parks, warrens and chases and threatened the keepers’. Regardless of other crimes, poaching on Royal land and that of his supporters was a serious offence in the 1400s. It is not clear whether this writ was clarification of the February 1417 writ or an additional indictment, probably the former.

The identity of Frere Tuk remained unknown and thus he escaped arrest. He next appeared in a writ of 12th November 1429, which stated ‘Robert Stafford, late of Lyndefeld in the County of Sussex, Chaplain, or Robert Stafford of Lyndefeld, Chaplain, alias ‘Frere Tuk’, for not appearing before the King to answer Richard Wakehurst touching pleas of trespass; or before Henry V to answer that King touching divers trespasses whereof he the said Robert Stafford was indicted’. It is to be assumed that a ‘hue and cry’ was raised and Robert Stafford went on the run as an outlaw.

There is no known record of Robert Stafford being arrested nor standing trial or of his death. Similarly, where he lived in Lindfield before going on the run is not known. In any event, the property most likely disappeared centuries ago. Looking at surviving houses from the 1400s, a possible contender could be Church Cottage.

His crimes and escape from arrest became a legend and passed into folklore, as poaching from the rich would have been admired by the poor, who had suffered grievously for committing such crimes.

Frere Tuk’s name next appears around 1475 in the first surviving Robin Hood play, Robyn Hod and the Shryff off Notyngham, with the words: ‘Be holde wele Frere Tuke Howe he dothe his bowe pluke’

It was at this time that Maid Marian also entered the Robin Hood fable. Nevertheless, it is possible that they were characters in earlier oral tales that were not recorded in writing. From this point to today Friar Tuck regularly appears in Robin Hood stories and songs. Academic studies consider Friar Tuck to be one of a few members, if not the only one, of Robin Hood’s band of outlaws that can be traced to a real person. Interestingly, in c.1590 a reference to Friar Tuck is also made in Shakespeare’s ‘Two Gentlemen of Verona’, when the third outlaw exclaims: ‘By the Bare Scalp of Robin Hood’s fat friar’.
This fellow were a King for our wild faction. Hence Robert Stafford, a Lindfield Priest, most likely a Chantry Priest, obtained immortality as Friar Tuck.

Did you know John Bent gave his name to the Bent Arms?

The Inn dating from the 17th century was originally called The White Lion, until being bought in about 1827 by John Bent. He changed the name of the Inn to reflect his ownership. At the time of the purchase, he was a local property and landowner who lived at Oat Hall, a large house that he had built between Lindfield and Haywards Heath.

Born on 27th March 1776, John Bent grew up in Devon. His mother’s family were tradesmen at Ashburton. In 1818, he became the Member of Parliament for Sligo, Ireland, until 1820, when for the next six years he represented the Totnes, Devon, constituency. According to History of Parliament, ‘He certainly had money, was known in the City and invested substantially in landed property in the Lindfield and Cuckfield area of Sussex, but no evidence has been found to corroborate an assertion of 1823 that he was “a West India Planter”’.

Whilst he may not have been a planter, the 1817 Slaves Register of the Slave Compensation Commission, a government body set up to pay compensation to slave owners, consequent upon the abolition of slavery, lists John Bent as the Proprietor of Plantation Vrouw Anna in British Guiana. He had sold this plantation and mortgaged it back to the new owner, putting in a claim for £14,000 compensation for slaves on the plantation. He did not receive the payment as they were part of the new owner’s property and mortgage security. Clearly John Bent was involved in the West Indies as he was described as being ‘a Commissioner in Demerara’ when being put forward for the Sligo seat in Parliament.

John Bent was also involved in an Irish Mining Company scandal in 1825 and 1826. The Arigna Iron and Coal Mining Company was established in 1825 as a joint stock company, to exploit iron, coal and other minerals in and around Arigna in the counties of Roscommon and Leitrim, Ireland. At the time it was considered beneficial to introduce English capital into Ireland.

The scandal concerned the alleged fraudulent appropriation of shareholders’ money by Bent and other directors of the company. A Parliamentary Select Committee investigated the scandal and cleared him of fraudulent activity but he was censored for imprudence. The other directors were found to have acted fraudulently. Following on from what might be described as a ‘colourful’ business life, on settling in Lindfield and investing in property in the area John Bent lived an uneventful life until his death in October 1848, aged 73.

Contact Lindfield History Project Group via https://lindfieldhistoryproject.group/

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