The meaning of this passage, taken in connexion with the entry which precedes it, would seem to be (1) that at some previous time the three counties of Northampton, Leicester, and Lincoln had been combined in the hands of Hugh; (2) that he wished to get rid of the shrievalty of Lincolnshire, while retaining that of the other two counties, and that he was forced to pay for the privilege of relinquishing it; (3) that the forisfacturae comitatuum are presumably those of all three counties, for otherwise they would have been debited in connexion with the preceding account of Hugh for the year 1128–9, when he held only the two counties. Moreover, since during the year 1128–9 he obviously held only the two counties, his tenure of the three together must have preceded that year, and should be assigned to the year 1127–8, if not to a year or years earlier.[1]
The evidence of the Lincolnshire accounts, it will be found, points to the same conclusion.[2] For in them Rayner de Bada accounts both for the farm of the current year, 1129–30, and for that of the preceding year, 1128–9, which shows conclusively that by that year Lincolnshire was in other hands than Hugh's. Furthermore, while William Torniant is, further down the roll, found owing for an 'old farm', the position of the entry and the number of items compressed into it suggest that it contains the remains of an account of some years' standing. It would thus seem likely, considering the evidence of the entries both under Northamptonshire and Leicestershire and under Lincolnshire, that Hugh's combined tenure of the three counties (granting that it took place at all) was of relatively short duration, and fell between the terms of Rayner de Bada and William Torniant. It most probably fell in the year 1127–8, and may have begun a year or possibly two years earlier.
Separated by a number of entries from those of Rayner de Bada occurs one in which Willelmus Torn' is debited with 160 and more for an 'old farm' of Lincolnshire. He also owes £170 for 'his old debt and that of Richard, his brother, and 200 marks of silver for the land' of another brother. The 'old farm' for which William still owes, and on which at this time he pays nothing, must, if the dates assigned to Hugh of Leicester be correct, be for a year antecedent to 1127–8. Whether or not William held office for a term of years, it is impossible to say. His nearest known predecessor was Wigot of Lincoln, sheriff about 1120. Wigot's death some years before 1129 is suggested by the fact that Alan Fitz Wigot, in an entry immediately following that concerned with William, is credited with a payment of
