b'W. L. Fisher, FarrierBased on material supplied by John & Pam IbsonJ ohn and Pam Ibson found the certificate reproduced above when they were sorting through things at No. 1 Main Street, Bishop Wilton in 2004.From the Worshipful Company of Farriers, it is a Certificate of Registration as Journeyman for William Levitt Fisher, Pams grandfather. The text reads:This is to Certify William Levitt Fisher, Market Weighton, Yorks having been examined and duly passed was this day entered upon the Register of the Company as duly qualified to work as a Registered Shoeing Smith in accordance with the Rules and Regulations of the Worshipful Company ofStreet, Cottingham with his father and mother, Farriers. Dated this 23rd day of April 1908. Frederick(a Market Gardener) and Martha Fisher and The certificate shows the Worshipful Company ofa sister called Clara. The family had a general servant Farriers as having been first established in 1356 andcalled Ada Wood. By the time of the 1901 census, incorporated by Charles II in 1674. William, aged 18, appears as one of two blacksmiths The journeyman title was bestowed after a periodapprentices in Skidby with Arthur Stewardson. of apprenticeship. It did not mean that the individualWilliams marriage to Mary is recorded for 1908 again was qualified to travel around exercising his trade. Thein the Sculcoates district.term is derived from the French journee meaningWilliam and Mary Fisher moved to Bishop Wilton day and meant that the journeyman was paid by thearound 1908 to take over a blacksmiths business day for his work. previously owned by Thomas Fletcher at what is now William Fishers birth was registered in theNo. 1 Main Street. An extant lantern slide shows Sculcoates district of East Yorkshire in 1883. TheWilliam Fisherin front of the property c1909. 1891 census shows him, aged 7, living in George The Fish Pond - Back to Square One?Mike PrattAfter writing the article on The ArchbishopsWalter De Gray, who instituted the prebendal Fish Ponds in the last Bulletin (No. 15), somethingarrangement. This does not explain the L shape of occurred to me that I just have to commit to paper. the fish pond unless it allowed it to be of sufficient size If the two fish ponds on the Palace site serve theand still fit the overall dimensions of the plot.purpose of allowing fish to be bred and then storedPersonally I still favour the idea that it is the last separately why couldnt the fish pond on the site byremains of a bigger moat that protected an early the Church be a storage pond also? If, as is possible,manor house and that it was used for fish after part of it is contemporary with the construction of the Palacethe moat was filled in.site it might indicate a sharing of resources betweenOnce again I have to conclude that archaeological the Archbishop and the Treasurer of York Minster whoexcavation could answer this question and establish held the Bishop Wilton prebend. It is possible that itwhether the site by the Church was occupied earlier was planned and constructed as such by Archbishopthan the Palace site.BULLETIN 16 307'