WREN CHRISTOPHER: (1632-1723) English Architect.

WREN CHRISTOPHER: (1632-1723) English Architect.
An attractive D.S., Chr. Wren, (twice), two pages, large folio, Chelsea, 15th October & 12th November 1700. The neatly and boldly penned document is a page (numbered 161 and 162 at the head of each side) removed from the official ledger of the Royal Hospital in Chelsea and is an 'Abstract of the Expense of Provisions' for the two months in which Wren, in his capacity as a Commissioner of the hospital, and two other commissioners, Viscount Ranelagh (Paymaster of the Forces) and Sir Stephen Fox (Commissioner of the Treasury) authorise Ralph Cooke, Treasurer of the hospital, to pay various sums to listed individuals in payment for their provisions, the total payable for September being £510.14s.6¾d and for October £459.14s.1¾d. Each of the tradespeople have individually signed the document as confirmation of having been paid, and include Charles Hudson, butcher (£159.12s.8d), Thomas Marston, baker (£63.19s.8d), John England, brewer (£72.18s.11d), Robert Madock, cheesemonger (£80.10s.7¼d), John Gill, whitster (£74.14s.3½d; a whitster supplying bleach for whitening clothes), Elizabeth Hastings, tallow-chandler (£6.14s.9¼d; a tallow-chandler supplying candles made from animal fats), Barthalina Fells, lamps (£6.16s.9d) and Henry Powell, steward (£45.6s.10d). Individually signed by Wren, Ranelagh and Fox to either side of the document. An interesting and very handsome document. Some extremely light, very minor age wear to the extreme edges, not affecting the text or signature, VGRichard Jones (1641-1712) 1st Earl of Ranelagh. Irish Peer & Politician. Paymaster of the Forces 1685-1702. Ranelagh was expelled from the House of Commons in 1703 when discrepancies were found in his accounts as Paymaster, and he was discovered to have appropriated more than £900,000 of public funds.Sir Stephen Fox (1627-1716) English Politician. Paymaster of the Forces 1661-76 and 1679-80. Fox founded the Royal Hospital Chelsea, from where the present document originates, to which he contributed £13,000. Unlike some other statesman of his day, Fox grew rich in the service of the nation without being suspected of corruption or forfeiting the esteem of his contemporaries.The Royal Hospital at Chelsea was founded by King Charles II in 1682 as a retreat for veterans and opened its doors to the Chelsea Pensioners a decade later (mismanagement by Ranelagh, a signatory to the present document had caused the delay). Wren was responsible for designing the hospital and the hospital's chapel is a fine and rare example of the architect's pure ecclesiastical work.Sir Christopher Wren is one of the most highly acclaimed English architects in history, responsible for rebuilding many churches in the City of London following the Great Fire in 1666, including his masterpiece, St. Paul's Cathedral, completed in 1710. Wren was also a noted astronomer, mathematician and physicist whose work was highly regarded by Isaac Newton. A founder of the Royal Society, Wren served as its President from 1680-82.