A "hospital, dedicated to St. John the Baptist, was founded and endowed by the inhabitants of Bedford, in the reign of Edward II., for a master and ten brethren; its revenue, at the dissolution of religious houses, was a £21. 0. 8., but the charity was then confirmed, and the mastership is now annexed to the rectory of St. John's. ": A Topographical Dictionary of England - Samuel Lewis - 1831, quoted http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/BDF/Bedford/index.html, accessed 13/11/2006