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<DATE>2008-11-02</DATE>
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<NAME>John Pas</NAME>
<RESP>MURP</RESP>
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<ITEM>Proofed and reviewed as part of batch B080911.pdcc.</ITEM>
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<VID>151073</VID>
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<DIV1 TYPE="petition">
<PB REF="1" MS="y"><!-- PDF PAGE 7 -->
<HEAD>To the Honorable A&s;&s;embly of the Commons Hou&s;e of Parliament, and to the Committie for grieuances of the &s;ame Hou&s;e.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub">The humble Petition of the whole companie of the poore Water-Tankerd-bearers of the Citie of London, and the Suburbs thereof, they and their families being 4000 in number, liuing and releeued thereby. <HI>Robert Tardy</HI> Water-bearer in the name and behalfe of the re&s;t followes this Petition.</HEAD>
<P>AMong the great multitude of poore di&s;tre&s;&s;ed people of this kingdome, with ioyfull hearts and lifted vp hands to heauen, we your petitioners, haue iu&s;t cau&s;e to &s;ay. Ble&s;&s;ed be the Lord God of I&s;raell, that moued the heart of his gratious Maie&s;tie, to call &s;o Ho|norable an a&s;&s;embly in Parliament, which will not &s;uffer <HI>Gehazi,</HI> to take Tallents of Siluer, nor change of rayments, but that euery one, may &s;it vnder his owne Oliue-tree, and annoint him&s;elfe with the fat thereof. Wee poore mi&s;erable people labouring hardly for a poore liuing, vnder great burthens, haue the bread taken out of our childrens mouthes, and our one, both contrary to good lawes e&s;tabli&s;hed and all equity and good con&s;cience.</P>
<P>For, mo&s;t honourable a&s;&s;embly, to make this their grieuance plaine, that they are matters of truth, and no &s;ugge&s;tions or inforcements. There was in the Parliament, holden in the 35. yeare of King <HI>Henry</HI> the eighth, an Act made and prouided, concerning the repayring, ma|king, and amending, of the Conduits, in London, and that &s;weete hol&s;ome running waters, and fre&s;h &s;prings, might be conueyed by Con|duits, and fountaines, to the &s;aid Conduits in London, and whereof the &s;aid City, had bin before time well furni&s;hed, and abundantly &s;erued.</P>
<P>In the &s;aid Act there was a carefull proui&s;o, that it &s;hould not be lawfull, for the &s;aid Lord Maior nor commonaltie, nor to their &s;ucce&s;&s;ors, or mini&s;ters, to take away any water, or &s;pring now brought, or hereafter to be brought, or conueyed, by Pypes or Trenches, to the man&s;ion of any per&s;on or per&s;ons, nor for any per&s;on or per&s;ons, by any way, deceipt, meane, or any other craftie conueiance, &s;hall vndermine, mi|ni&s;h, withdraw, or abate any Spring, or &s;prings, found or hereafter to be found, now brought or conueyed, &s;topped, abated, or otherwi&s;e altered, from his dew cour&s;e, and conueyance to the Conduits in London.</P>
<P>That the &s;aid water brought to the &s;aid City, by vertue of the &s;aid Act, is the mo&s;t whol&s;ome, pure&s;t, and &s;weete&s;t water, comming to the &s;aid City, is not to be doubted or di&s;putable; and &s;ufficient &s;tore thereof, at the &s;pring heads. And yet notwith&s;tanding the &s;aid former Act; mo&s;t of the &s;aid water is taken, and kept from the &s;aid Conduits in London, by many priuate branches and Cockes, cut and taken out of the Pipes, which are layed to conuey the &s;ame, to the &s;aid Conduits; and laid into priuate hou&s;es and dwellings, both without and within the City; whereby it is drawne out of the wayes, and many times &s;uffered to runne at wa&s;te, to the generall grieuance of all good Citizens, and all others; repayring to the &s;ame, hauing their meat dre&s;&s;ed with other waters, neither &s;o pure nor hol&s;ome, as the Conduit water is, as com|mon experience teacheth; contrary to the true intent of the &s;ame &s;tatute.</P>
<P>There are, as was confe&s;&s;ed by the Cities Plumber, one M^r <HI>Randoll,</HI> fifteene branches or Cockes, laid into priuate hou&s;es, and drawen from the Conduits, contrary to the proui&s;o in the &s;ame Act: and three branches or Cocks, laid by him&s;elfe without warrant, only for his owne priuate gaine; by what warrant the other were granted to particular per&s;ons, and taken from the common Conduits, we humbly de&s;ire that fir&s;t the &s;aid <HI>Randoll,</HI> may be &s;ent for and examined, and afterwards &s;uch other per&s;ons as we &s;hall produce, be&s;ides many others, who may priuately take in water out of our maine pipes, and as yet vnknowne to the Petitioners.</P>
<P>Secondly, the water granted vnto Newgate, for v&s;e of that hou&s;e only, is caried forth daily by fiue men to many places, which Tankerd-bearers keepe no houres, but worke continually, and &s;o exhau&s;t and draw away the water from the other Conduits.</P>
<P>The Lady <HI>Swinnerton</HI> is allowed, but 2. gallons euery houre, (an ill pre&s;ident, and again&s;t the proui&s;o, of the &s;aid &s;tatute of 35. <HI>Henry.</HI> 8. but that branch is &s;o great, as it yeeldeth thirteene gallons and better euery houre as it hath beene tried, which many times runneth at wa&s;te, if this one branch or Cocke, within this City doth or may draw away aboue a thou&s;and gallons extraordinarily from the Conduits in a weeke, what wrong &s;o many branches without the City, where le&s;&s;e care is had, is to be taken into your Honourable con&s;ideration.</P>
<P>Fourthly, the water that now &s;erueth Alderman-bury Conduit, doth belong to the pipes of Cheap&s;ide, and was lately cut out of the &s;ame, and that water which &s;hould or would &s;erue that Conduit of Alderman-bury, is wholy &s;topt or giuen to priuate hou&s;es by the way.</P>
<P>Fiftly, Cornehill and Gracious-&s;treet men, complayning for want of water in their Conduits, there was three houres in a day abated by the Chamberlaine of the City, at the reque&s;t of the Plumber, from the Conduits <GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 word"> Cheap&s;ide, thereby to furni&s;h them with the more &s;tore, being ill &s;erued, by the &s;ame pipes, but yet Cornehill and Gracious-&s;treet Conduits haue neuer a whit more water, nor the houres yet re|&s;tored to the Conduits in Cheap&s;ide.</P>
<P>Sixtly, one of the maine and chiefe&s;t pipes runneth vnder part of Saint Martins Lane, and the Couen garden, in which places there are lately erected many new buildings and dwellings of Bricke; and it is &s;uppo&s;ed that digging deeper for the foundations, and finding the Pipes, they may take &s;ome priuate branches, out of their due cour&s;e.</P>
<DIV2 TYPE="petition proper">
<P>Your Petitioners doe humbly de&s;ire, for that there is great defect of water, in the &s;aid conduits: and that it is a generall grieuance, to the whole City; and that diuers complaints, haue beene made by your Petitioners for redre&s;&s;e, but no reliefe can be procured, and are vtterly remedile&s;&s;e, but by this Honourable a&s;&s;embly, that wee the Petitioners, may be permitted to preferre our Bill into this Honourable hou&s;e: For remedy of this grieuance, and as in duty we are bounden; &s;o we will daily pray, that God may ble&s;&s;e all your coun&s;els, to the benefit of all &s;ucceeding ages.</P>
</DIV2>
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