The petition of James and Johan Prees of Hereford (St Owen’s Parish), Herefordshire, 1683 to 1684
To the wor[shi]pfull the mayor & Justices of the peace att the Quarter Sessions holden for the citty of heriford
The humble petic[i]on of James & Johan Prees of the parrish of S[ain]t owens
Humbly sheweth
That your poore petic[i]on[e]rs have lieved w[i]thin this cittie for the space of 40tie yeares & have paid Rent in all places where your your petic[i]on[e]rs have inhabited & was prest to serve his late ma[jes]tie of blessed memory twice owte of the citty aforesaid, once to serve him against the scots & continued in the service vntill such time hee w[i]th most p[ar]te of those that went in that service were disbanded & had nott beene one yeare att home but was prest againe & never dissented that service vntill such time that Goetheridge castle was deliu[er]ed vpp by that hono[u]r[e]d person S[i]r Henry Lingen and now your petic[i]on[e]rs beeing both impotent impotent & falling in to extreame povertie is forced to fly to your wor[shi]ps for redresse
Now your poore petic[i]on[e]rs humbly craves your worp[shi]ps favor that they may have the benenefitt of some certayne stipent owte the parrish wherein they now liveth for theyre future subsistence and your poore petic[i]on[e]rs shall ever bee bownd to pray &cs:
6 4 d. p[er] weeke vntill further order