 It came to be known as York House when it was granted to the Archbishop of York in 1556 and retained that name for the rest of its existence.Its neighbours were on the west Suffolk House (later Northumberland House), the townhouse of the Earls of Suffolk, a branch of the Howard family headed by the Dukes of Norfolk, and in the 1640s sold to the Earl of Northumberland; and on the east Durham House, the London residence of the Bishop of Durham.The Bishop of York was by tradition Lord Keeper of the Great Seal of England and for about seventy years from 1558 it was leased to various secular holders of that high office, including Nicholas Bacon, Thomas Egerton and Francis Bacon.