jan 1, 1656 - brigmaister

Description:

This is the north-country form of bridgemaster, the term for an officer who had responsibility for a particular bridge, usually in a borough: he was obliged to raise money for its upkeep. <i>The Brigmaisters of Fosse brig </i>in York are mentioned in 1478 (YRS98/25) but the office is certainly much older: in 1453, for example, the account rolls of the York chamberlains contain details of money <i>de custodibus pontis Use hoc anno</i> (SS192/69). Occasionally the northern word is masked when the Latin term is translated as bridge-warden. There were bridge-masters also in Wakefield: 1554 <i>a payn ys layd that the bryge mesters shal se the brege well amendid and repared</i> (YRS74/21), and in Whitby, where they were granted the income from a field called Tenter Garth towards the maintenance of their bridge in 1656 (NRQS5/220).

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