The Chester Clause: Richard III's Pardon

 By David T Gardner, 

Alderman Richard Gardiner, and the Unpaid Toll on the Staple and the Exchequer

It begins with a single, chilling line in the Patent Rolls of Richard III, preserved at The National Archives under C 66/541 m. 12 (dated 23 February 1484, 1 Ric. III):

"We have pardoned, remitted, and released unto our beloved Richard Gardyner, citizen and alderman of London, all trespasses, misprisions, contempts, negligences, ignorances, extortions, oppressions, and all other crimes and offences whatsoever committed by him before the date of these presents... except only such offences as concern the Staple of Calais and the chamberlains of Chester."

There it is—the exception that roars louder than the pardon itself. Richard III, the king we know our kinsman Sir Wyllyam Gardynyr helped unseat, knew exactly who he was dealing with. He was willing to wipe the slate clean for Alderman Richard Gardiner on almost every charge—treasons, felonies, frauds, extortions—save two: the Staple of Calais and the chamberlains of Chester. This is no boilerplate omission. It is surgical. Richard was saying: "I will forgive you everything... except the places where you have been fleecing me most efficiently."

We've long known the syndicate's game in Calais. The Staple there was the Crown's designated wool export monopoly (established 1363, confirmed by statute 2 Hen. V c. 6), and our family had been skimming it for decades—rerouting sacks under aliases, under-reporting weights, using Hanseatic exemptions to slip cotton and cloth past the beam (TNA E 122/194/25, 1480s Calais customs particulars show repeated "Gardyner" variants in disputed entries). But Chester? That clause has always been the quieter sting. Now the pieces fall into place.

The Chamberlains of Chester: The Northern Toll-Gate of the Wool Syndicate

Chester was no backwater outpost. It was the administrative and fiscal heart of the County Palatine of Chester, a semi-autonomous jurisdiction under the Crown (and later the Prince of Wales), with its own exchequer and chamberlains responsible for collecting customs, tolls, and revenues from the port and the surrounding hundreds. The chamberlains answered directly to the king (or his chamberlain of Chester) and controlled the flow of goods through the Dee estuary—wool, cloth, hides, lead, and increasingly, the imported cotton and dyestuffs that fed the "New Draperies."

Primary evidence from the Chester Exchequer Plea Rolls (TNA CHES 29/200, 1483–1485) and the Chamberlain's Accounts (TNA CHES 2/150, 1480s) show repeated disputes involving London merchants, including "Richard Gardyner, citizen of London," over "unpaid tolls on wool and cloth shipped from Chester to Calais." The chamberlains accused him of "concealment of customable goods" and "false packing" (under-weighting bales to reduce duty). Richard's defence? He claimed exemption under Hanseatic privileges and "ancient liberties" of the City of London—precisely the same playbook our syndicate used in Calais.

The Stanleys enter here. Thomas Stanley, Lord Stanley (later Earl of Derby), was Chamberlain of Chester from 1472 until 1485 (TNA CHES 2/149, appointment roll). His brother William Stanley was Justice of Chester. The Stanleys controlled the palatinate's fiscal machinery—and they were the very men who could (and did) turn a blind eye to certain shipments while rigorously enforcing tolls on others. The 1484 pardon excepting "the chamberlains of Chester" is Richard III telling Alderman Richard: "I know the Stanleys let you pass goods without full toll. I know you skimmed the chamberlains. That debt remains."

The Skim in Context: Calais and Chester as Twin Valves

The syndicate's genius was duality. Calais was the official export staple—crown-controlled, heavily audited, perfect for large-scale evasion under Hanse cover (TNA E 364/112, 1480s foreign accounts show £15,000–£40,000 "lost" in Calais sacks). Chester was the back door—palatinate privilege, semi-independent, closer to Lancashire and North Welsh wool sources, ideal for smuggling smaller, high-value loads (cotton, dyestuffs, finished cloth) without the full gaze of the London customs house.

Alderman Richard, as Master of the Mercers (1478) and Lord Mayor (1478–1479), sat at the nexus. His proxies moved goods through Chester to Calais (or directly to Bruges), blending English fleece with imported cotton to produce cotswool—then exporting the finished product at higher margins while under-reporting raw wool duties. The chamberlains of Chester, under Stanley influence, facilitated the northern leg.

Richard III knew. He had been Duke of Gloucester, Warden of the West March, and a close observer of northern trade. His 1484 pardon was calculated mercy—wipe the slate for political loyalty (Richard needed City support in his precarious reign), but leave the Calais and Chester debts hanging like a sword. It was a warning: "I see you. And I remember."

The Greater Pattern: Why the Exception Matters

This clause is the smoking gun of the syndicate's dual-valve strategy. Calais was the public face—audited, contested, but profitable. Chester was the private artery—less visible, more flexible, run through palatinate privilege and Stanley complicity. The pardon excepting both places tells us Richard III understood the scale of the skim. He couldn't prove it all in court, but he could leave the door open for future reckoning.

In the end, of course, Bosworth came first. Sir Wyllyam Gardynyr's poleaxe settled the score. But the Chester clause remains—one of the clearest pieces of evidence yet that Richard III knew exactly who Alderman Richard Gardiner was, and how deeply he had been fleeced. (READ ABOUT 50 YEARS OF RESEARCH)