Indenture

This indenture records a transfer of property from Richard Wood and Thomas Walkington on the one hand to John Walkington on the other. Thomas Chippendale’s role in the transaction was to witness it, alongside Herbert Ferreman, a York attorney who was made a freeman of York in 1738-9.
The indenture is significant to Chippendale studies, as it places Chippendale in the City of York at the beginning of 1742. This is the only firm indication of Chippendale’s location between his birth in Otley in 1718 and his marriage in London in 1748. It is of further importance, as it provides confirmation of Chippendale’s link to Richard Wood. Wood (fl. 1726-72) was a prominent York furniture maker who subscribed to eight copies of the 1754 Director. Christopher Gilbert speculated that Richard Wood may have been Chippendale’s employer before the latter’s move to London, a possibility reinforced by the fact that Wood played a small role in Chippendale’s furnishing of Nostell Priory in 1770. John Walkington was apprenticed to Wood in 1736 and since he is described in the indenture as ‘Carpenter’ he must have become a freeman of York by January 1742. He later moved to London where he set up business as Jennings and Walkington at the Vine in Long Acre. He too subscribed to the Director in 1754. As for Ferreman, the freedom rolls described him as ‘gent.’ but otherwise nothing is known about him.
The transferred property was the Eagle and Child in The Shambles, York. This inn, later recorded as 16 The Shambles, operated as a public house until its closure about 1925. Given his later career as a furniture maker it is unlikely that John Walkington took an active part in the business, benefitting instead from the income it generated. It is unclear why he was allowed to acquire the property on such favourable terms (five shillings each to Wood and Walkington senior and an annual peppercorn rent), but it seems likely that some business arrangement existed between Wood and Thomas Walkington.