(6oUUvin Smith, ■ V3 - ""i* iKr.< Pfa H^H - ;j";*>' 1 1 f.V-; H THE JUDGES OF ENGLAND: SKETCHES OF THEIR LIVES, AND MISCELLANEOUS NOTICES CONNECTED WITH THE COURTS AT WESTMINSTER, FROM THE TTME OF THE CONQUEST. BY EDWARD FOSS, F.S.A, OF THE INNER TEMPLE. VOL. III. CONTAINING THE REIGNS OF EDWARD I., EDWARD II., AND EDWARD III 1272—1377. LONDON: LONGMAN, BROWN, GREEN, AND LONGMANS. 1851. London • Spottiswoodes and Shaw, New-street-Square. CONTENTS THE THIRD VOLUME. Introduction - Edward I., 1272—1307. Survey of the Reign - Biographical Notices - Edward IL, 1307—1327. Survey of the Reign - Biographical Notices - Edwaed III., 1327—1377. Survey of the Reign - Biographical Notices - [ndex, iii which the names of the Judges arc given p ige V- -viii 1- - 49 50- -176 177- -209 210- -314 315- -389 390- -544 545- -551 A 2 INTRODUCTION. While these pages have been passing through the press, I have had to join in lamenting the loss of the esteemed nobleman who permitted this work to be dedicated to him. By the death of Lord Langdale I have been deprived of the warmest encourager of my literary enterprise, of the ablest assistant in my laborious investigations, — of one who wTas the first to dispel the diffidence of success which I unaffectedly felt, and was ever ready to procure for me the materials by which that success might be ensured, — of one whose cordiality and kindness made it a pleasure to apply to him in cases of diffi- culty, while the readiness with which he cast aside the dignity of his position gave an additional value to his communications. I cannot expect again to meet with a patron for whom I can feel so much affection, mingled with respect, nor in whom I can hope to find the will joined with so much power to serve inc. To the public his Lordship's loss will not be easily supplied. Independently of the performance of his judicial duties, of which this is not the place to speak, no man was so peculiarly fitted for the great undertaking which has made such advances during the period of his official career. His knowledge of the subject and appreciation of its importance, VI INTRODUCTION. his discriminating judgment and patient perseverance, his in- flexible conscientiousness and systematic habits, were the precise qualities that were required to subdue the confusion which had gradually crept among our Public Records. By the application of these, and by the judicious selection of able instruments, he has subjected the chaotic mass to an ar- rangement, which even now, in its unfinished state, affords facilities to the statesman, the historian, and the biographer, which they never before enjoyed ; and which, when completed, will place our country's muniments in the very highest rank of national collections. For carrying out that completion we look with hope and with confidence to his Lordship's learned successor. In the two new volumes which I now issue to the world, I have added 473 to my former list of 580 judges ; making an aggregate of 1053 lives. In preparing these memoirs, I have stated nothing for which I had not adequate authority ; and, without expecting or attempting to give to each life the same degree of interest, my anxiety has been to invest all with that trustworthiness, that their details might be referred to with confidence. In the compilation of the earlier sketches I have derived my principal facts from the publications of the Record Commission, for the grant of which I am indebted to the liberality of Government. As I advanced in my work, the materials became more abundant, and I was aided by many friendly communications, which I have, I hope without exception, invariably acknowledged as I used them. In some of the accounts of the chief justices I have ventured to differ from Lord Campbell ; and that which he has given of Sir Thomas Billing I have felt myself compelled to discuss at some length, from a conviction that what little we know of that judge will not justify the disreputable character which his Lordship has attached to his name. INTRODUCTION. vn In the Surveys of the reigns I have pursued my original plan of describing every thing that was remarkable connected with the. law ; and among other interesting subjects I have endeavoured to trace the successive institution of the several Inns of Court and Chancery, and also of the three different Inns occupied by the judges and the Serjeants. From the rulers of some of them I have received the most cordial assistance ; and if all of them have not been equally forward, I can readily make allowance for legal caution, even when it is exercised where no danger is to be apprehended. I should be ungrateful were I not to acknowledge the kind and flattering reception which has been accorded to my two former volumes by those who report on the literature of the day. Making a generous allowance for the difficulties which surrounded me, they have given me far greater credit than I expected for my performance ; and their valuable encourage- ment has removed any doubt I might have felt of pursuing my undertaking, and has induced me unhesitatingly to keep my promise of persevering to the end. The two volumes I now offer may satisfy those, who wTere afraid of the wrork expanding to too great a length, of the groundlessness of their calculations. They, like the first two volumes, extend over more than 200 years ; so that, seeing that something more than a century occupies each volume, the remaining period will not fill more than three, or at most four, in addi- tion to the present. My next volumes will embrace a period so far advanced that many of the families of the judges who lived in it are still flourishing. From the representatives of several of these I have received, and from others have been promised, the most liberal assistance : and as I have now given proof of my perseverance, I trust that all of those who bear a judge's name, or pride themselves in being connected with a judge's Viil INTRODUCTION. family, will honour my pages by allowing mc to record what they know of their ancestors' career. Let them not refrain from an apprehension that they have but little to commu- nicate. The minutest fact often becomes important in an enquiry, and sometimes supplies the very link in the chain of circumstances that is wanting to complete the history. I shall highly appreciate the information they may forward to me, and faithfully and gratefully acknowledge the source from which I derive it. Street-End House, near Canterbury, June, 1851. THE JUDGES OF ENGLAND. EDWARD I. Reigned 34 years, 7 months, and 17 days; from November 20, 1272, to July 7, 1307. SURVEY OF THE REIGN. By the undoubted adoption in this reign of the improved system founded on the charters of John and Henry III., with the complete establishment of a separate court for the trial of common pleas, distinct from those devoted to the hearing of pleas of the crown and matters relating to the revenue, and by the extensive judicial improvements intro- duced by King Edward, a new era in the administration of the law may be said to have commenced. Before we enter upon the arrangements consequent upon this alteration, it may not be uninteresting to take a slight retrospect of the judges who flourished in the eight previous reigns. The number of those of whom biographical sketches have \ been given amounts to J But to these must be added a few whose names are included ^ in the previous volumes, and are repeated in this, their me- V moirs not appearing till the termination of their career J Making the total number during the first eight reigns 580 25 605 Dividing these into the Chancellors, and others connected with the Chancery, the Chief Justiciaries, Justiciaries, VOL. III. B CHANCELLORS AND KEEPERS. Edw. I. Justices Itinerant, and Barons of the Exchequer on the new system, the following will be nearly the appropriation for each reign ; premising that some of these acted in two or three reigns, and are only counted in one, and that where any filled more than one character, they are introduced into the highest of these divisions. Kings. Reigned Y. M. D. Chancery. Chief Justiciaries. Justiciaries. Barons Exchequer. Justices Itinerant. Total. William I. 20 8 15 7 7 14 William II. 12 10 7 3 1 — — — 4 Henry I. 35 3 27 8 6 — 7 21 Stephen 18 10 0 5 2 — — — 7 Henry II. 34 6 18 6 5 48 — 63 122 Richard I. 9 7 3 7 5 36 — 31 79 John 17 4 23 10 1 22 — 26 59 Henry III. 56 0 19 19 5 100 24 151 299 605 65 32 206 24 278 Total period, incluc ing the da ys between the reigns, 205 years, 10 months, and 22 daj s. Of the sixty- five individuals connected with the chancery, thirty-five were undoubtedly chancellors or keepers ; all of whom are clearly shewn to have been ecclesiastics, except Roger Pauper and Philip, in the reign of Stephen, whose profession is not mentioned, but who were probably of the same order : twelve are altogether doubtful ; and the re- maining eighteen consist of those who have been called keepers, but who were apparently only clerks of the chancery, or other officers of the court, performing the duties during the occasional absence of the chancellor, or attached to the treasury or wardrobe, where the seal was usually deposited for greater security. The thirty-two names mentioned as chief justiciaries may be divided into twelve clerical ; seventeen baronial, of whom five, in the reign of Henry I., ought, perhaps, to be excluded; and three legal, viz., Ranulph de Glanville, Geoffrey Fitz-Peter, and Stephen de Segrave. 1272—1307. JUSTICIARIES. — BARONS. 3 The two hundred and six justiciaries arc more difficult to divide with any degree of certainty between the official and baronial, and the strictly legal. The first class, compre- hending all who acted as barons of the realm, or as officers of the household, I estimate at eighty-one, considering the remaining one hundred and twenty-five to have pursued the law as a profession, and to have been ultimately raised to the bench. In the first four reigns no justiciers of the principal court, except the chief justiciary, are named ; but, as before suggested, perhaps the five doubtful chief jus- ticiaries of the reign of Henry I. ought to be removed into this class, as they were all of the baronial order, to which probably the administration of justice in the Curia Regis was then almost wholly confined. Under Henry II. a great alteration, as we have seen, was made ; and out of forty- eight new justiciers, eighteen may be selected as probably brought up as lawyers, the remaining thirty sitting in court either as barons, or in right of their offices. Under Richard I. there were thirty-six, viz., twenty-four baronial and official, and twelve legal ; and in John, sixteen of the twenty-two were of the former, and six of the latter class. But in the reign of Henry III., during which the office of chief justiciary was abolished, and legal proceedings were placed on a more systematic footing, the proportions were reversed; for out of one hundred justiciers, I can find only eleven who may not be supposed to have previously practised in some manner in the court. Although the term Baron of the Exchequer was used as early as the reign of Henry I., it was then applied solely to the barons of the realm, who also performed the functions of justiciers. It was not till the eighteenth year of Henry III. that this title was given to private individuals selected for the performance of the duties of that department. From that time till the end of the reign, twenty-four are named. B 2 4 THE ENGLISH JUSTINIAN. Edw. I. The first justices itinerant occur in the reign of Henry I.; from which period till the close of that of Henry III., their number amounts to 278, in addition to the ordinary justiciers, who shared in the same duties. They comprehended every grade of the clergy; and earls, barons, knights, sheriffs, coroners, and landholders among the laity. The name of Edward I. is the most celebrated among the English monarchs, for the improvements in the administra- tion of justice introduced in his reign. The various statutes enacted by him touch almost every subject of litigation between party and party, and regulate the forms of pro- ceeding in so stable and efficient a manner, that ages passed without the necessity of any substantial alteration in them, and the foundations on which they were established are in many instances still unshaken. He well deserves the title of the English Justinian, with which he has been distin- guished ; and his merit must not be diminished by the sug- gestion that the system was arranged by other heads, and accomplished by other hands, since, however able or willing his ministers might be, their learning or their zeal would have been insufficient without their sovereign's approval. They were prompted and encouraged by the royal suggestion: the paternal desire of benefiting his people, even to the limitation of his own prerogative, principally influenced the monarch's mind, with some addition, no doubt, of a natural wish to check and control the nobles ; his discrimination selected the officers most competent to the task ; and his judgment was capable of appreciating what their labours accomplished. Bishop Burnel, however, during whose chancellorship the most important amendments wrere introduced, must share in the commendation ; and all of his successors in that office, with several of the leading judges, seem, from the enactments of the remainder of the reign, to have been fully competent to further and to perfect their sovereign's efforts. 1272 — 1307. CHANCELLORS. 5 King Edward was in the Holy Land at the time of his father's death ; when the great seal, as we have seen, was delivered up to the council. The Archbishop of York and the Earls of Cornwall and Gloucester were appointed guar- dians of the realm, and the office of chancellor was given to Walter de Mbrton, who had served the late king in the same capacity. No entry of his appointment exists ; but his attestation as chancellor appears to a record on the Close Roll, dated November 29, 1272, nine days after King Henry's decease,1 At the parliament called in the following January, he was confirmed in the office, " et ut moram trahat ad West- monasterium tanquam in loco publico usque adventum prin- cipis injunctum est eidem."'2 He resigned soon after the king's return to England, in 1274, and was made Bishop of Rochester. Robert Burn el, then Archdeacon of York, but soon after Bishop of Bath and Wells, was appointed Merton's suc- cessor on September 21, 1274 3; and held the seal till his death, on October 25, 1292 4, a period of more than eighteen years. The Rolls record with great particularity the occasional absences of the chancellor, and how the great seal was disposed of till his return. Burnel seems to have exercised the privilege of appointing a substitute on these occasions without any interference on the part of the king. On February 11, 1278, Burnel went into foreign parts and placed the seal in the wardrobe, under the seal of JOHN DE Kirkeby, " whom," the record adds, " the chancellor enjoined to expedite the business during his recess ; " 5 which he continued to do till Bishop Burnel's return on June 19, 1279. 1 Hardy's Catalogue. * An.il. Sac. i. 499. 3 Rot. Claus. 2 Edw. I., m. I. « Ibid. 20 Edw. I., m. 2. 4 Hot. Lib. 6 Edw, I., m. 2. h 3 6 CHANCELLORS. Edw. I. During this interval, Mr. Hardy has introduced the name of Thomas Bek into his catalogue of keepers, because, when John de Kirkeby was summoned on May 6, 1279, to attend the king, he was directed to leave the seal, sealed up with his own seal, in the custody of Thomas Bek; and on the 25th, both of them were ordered to carry the seal to Dover, to await the king's messenger. This seems scarcely sufficient to entitle him to the designation, as he was merely the deputy of a deputy. It appears by an order, cited in Madox and signed by Bek, that he was an officer attached to the courts 1 ; either connected with the revenue, or perhaps another clerk of the Chancery. In little more than a year afterwards he was promoted to the treasurership and became Bishop of St. David's. John de Kirkeby, it will be remembered, had been charged in the last reign with the care of the great seal on the death of Richard de Middelton, the chancellor, on August 7, 1272, and had retained it during the few remaining weeks of King Henry's life. It is evident that neither then, nor on the several occasions on which it was entrusted to him in the time of Chancellor Burnel, was he a keeper, as the word is understood at the present day, but merely an officer of the court, probably the senior clerk of the Chancery, natu- rally selected from his experience to perform the ministerial duties of the office. The last time he is noticed in that character is during the month of March, 1283, when the chancellor went " usque partes proprias." 2 Early in the next year he was appointed treasurer. On Kirkeby's retirement, the same duties were performed by Hugh de Kendal and Walter de Odyham, who on July 25, 1284, 12 Edward L, wThen the chancellor retired for the summer to his seat at Acton Burnel, received the 1 Madox's Exch. i. 662. * Rot. Lib. 11 Edw. J., m. 8. 1272—1307. CHANCELLORS. 7 seal " ab eo."1 They perhaps also acted in the same character in the preceding year, as several letters addressed to them on the business of the Chancery, and dated 1283, are referred to in the Second Appendix to the Seventh Report of the Deputy Keeper of the Public Records (p. 240—258). Hugh de Kendal was certainly a clerk of the Chancery, and is so designated in a record of 14 Edward 1. 2 ; and Walter de Odyham, of whom nothing more is known, most likely was one of his brethren in the same department. Bishop Burnel accompanied the king abroad on Sep- tember 2, 1286, taking the seal with him, and remaining away till August 10, 1289.3 The Rolls do not state what seal was used in England, nor who performed the duties of the Chancery during the king's absence ; but among the letters above alluded to is one addressed to William de Hamiltox, by Edmund, Duke of Cornwall, with official directions, and another dated November 12, 1286, from the Archbishop of Canterbury, in which he is styled " the king's vice-chancellor" (p. 242, 251.) He therefore in all pro- bability exercised the functions of the office till the chan- cellor's return. William de Marchia is the only other person named as keeper during the time of Bishop Burnel ; the ground stated being, that on the chancellor's going to his bishoprick on February 24, 1290, he delivered the seal to him at the king's wardrobe.4 It has, however, already appeared that this was the usual place of its deposit ; and William de Marchia was a clerk of that department. In the same year he was raised to the office of treasurer, and afterwards succeeded Robert Burnel in the bishoprick of Bath and Wells. 1 Rot. Pat. IS Edw. I., m. 7. ' Madox's Exch, h. 257. 3 Rot. Claus. 14 Edw. I., n>. 4 ; 17 Edw. I., m. 5. * II, id. is Edw. I., no. 14. B I 8 CHANCELLORS, Emv. I. On the bishop's death, on October 25, 1292, the seal was delivered into the wardrobe to Walter de Langtont, under the seal of William de Hamilton ; the former being merely keeper of the wardrobe, and the latter acting in his previous capacity, as the record adds, that he " thereupon sealed writs from that day till the following Wednesday, when he accompanied the late chancellor's remains to Wells." l On his return from that solemnity, it is to be presumed, in the absence of any record, that he continued to exercise the functions of the office for the seven or eight weeks that intervened before the appointment of the new chan- cellor, John de Langton, to whom the seal wTas delivered on December 17, 1292, 20 Edward I.2 During the ten years that he held it, the entries are as explanatory as in the last chancellorship of the arrangements made with regard to the great seal when he was absent from the court. On the chancellor's visit to his prebend of Aulton near Cerne, between March 4 and 30, 1297, the seal was again left in the keeping of William de Hamilton.3 The king went to Flanders on August 22 in the same year, taking with him the great seal, wdiich, on the chancellor delivering it to him at Winchelsea in a certain ship, " quae vocatur Cog Edward," was placed by the king- in the hands of John de Benstede, his clerk or secretary, who accompanied him ; and on the 27th, Prince Edward, who acted as regent during his father's absence, gave to the chancellor another seal, which was accustomed to be used when the king was abroad.4 This latter seal the chancellor restored to the king " at his bedside " on his return, March 14, 1298, and received back the great seal.5 1 Rot. Claus. 20 Edw. I., m. 2. 2 Ibid. 21 Edw. I., m. 10. » Ibid. 25 Edw. I., m. 21. ' * Ibid. m. 7. » Ibid. 26 Edw. I., in. 14. 1272—1307. CHANCELLORS. V The next day (March 15), the chancellor going from court, left the great seal, sealed up with his own seal, in the custody of John l>e Craucombe, Master John de Cadomo (Caen), and William de Birlaco (Byrlay) until he returned to court. The seal was in the possession of these three at the Litter end of the year, while the chancellor went to advise with the Archbishop of Canter- bury relative to his election to the bishoprick of Ely ; and there is an entry shewing that John de Caen came into the Exchequer on October 3, as locum tenens of the chancellor.1 On December 28, all the three deposited the seal in the king's wardrobe with Walter de Langton, Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry, the treasurer, by whom it was immediately delivered to John de Drokenesford, the keeper of the wardrobe, to be carried to the chancellor, who received it from him in London on the 10th of the following January.2 As it is not likely that the chancellor was absent for so long a time as nine months, and as the see of Ely was not vacant at the first of these dates, an entry of the return of the seal to the chancellor after March 15, and another of its second delivery to these officers, are probably omitted. On February 14, in the following year, 1299, the chan- cellor went to Rome to urge his claims to the bishoprick on the Pope ; on which occasion he delivered the seal to John de Benstede in the wardrobe, and on the 20th, William de Hamilton received it, and sealed writs with it until the return of the chancellor on June 16, when it was delivered back to him.3 After the final resignation of the seal by John de Langton, which took place on August 12, 1302, 30 Edward I., the office of chancellor was vacant for about seven weeks ; 1 Madox'a Exch. L 421. ' Rot. Claus. '27 Edw. I., m. 18. 1 Ibid. m. 11. 10 CHANCELLORS. Edw. I. during which the seal was in the first instance deposited Avith John de Drokenesford in the wardrobe 1 ; but on the 23rd, it was delivered to Adam de Osgodby, the Master or Keeper of the Rolls, to be kept under the seals of three persons, viz., the before mentioned Caen and Byrlay, and Robert de Bardelby, and it was to be so held until the king should provide himself with a chancellor.2 This is the first time that a Keeper of the Rolls was, eo nomine, appointed to act in that capacity. On September 30, 1302, 30 Edward I., William de Greenfield, Dean of Chichester, was appointed chancellor3, and he held the seal till December 29, 1304, 33 Edward I., when, in consequence of his election to the archbishoprick of York, he resigned his office, and proceeded to Rome to obtain his consecration.4 During his time only one absence is recorded, viz., from October 30 till December 11, 1302, when he was employed on an embassy. The seal was then placed in the custody of Adam de Osgoclby, to be kept under the seals of his three former associates.5 William de Hamilton, Dean of York, was constituted chancellor immediately on the resignation of William de Greenfield; and held the seal from December 29, 1304, till his death on April 20, 1307, 35 Edward I., being the second chancellor in this reign who died while invested with the office. On the next day, April 21, 1307, the treasurer and barons of the Exchequer were ordered by writ of privy seal dated at Carlisle, to deliver the great seal to Ralph de Baldock, Bishop of London ; who thereupon took the accustomed oath of chancellor before them.6 1 Rot. Claus. 30 Edw. I., m. 8. 2 Ibid. m. 6. 3 Ibid. m. 5. 4 Ibid. 33 Edw. I., m. 22. 5 Ibid. 31 Edw. I., m. 18. 6 Pasch. Comraun. 35 Edw. I. ; Rot. 46. a. p. 1. 1272—1307. CHANCELLORS. 11 The king died on July 7, in the same year, at Burgh on the Sands ; and the chancellor being then in London, in ignorance of the event, continued to seal writs of course till July 25 ; and on the Saturday following, sent the seal to the new king at Carlisle.1 I have been the more particular in recording the names of the various persons with whom the great seal was deposited during this occasional absence of the chancellors of this reign, because Mr. Hardy, in his catalogue, has designated them all as keepers of the great seal. It is apparent, however, that some of them were merely keepers or other officers of the wardrobe, the usual place of deposit of the seal, which they received solely in that capacity, without any power to use it in any way. The others were clerks in the Chancery, who, being officially acquainted with the ordinary business of the seal, were on most of these occasions entrusted with the performance of the ministerial duties of the office, sometimes by the chancellor and sometimes by the king; but in no instance as an independent keeper, except during the two short intervals between the death or retirement of the old chancellor and the institution of a new one, in neither in- stance amounting to two months. Those standing in the former character were William de Marchia, Walter de Langton, John de Benstede, and John de Drokenesford : those in the latter were John de Kirkeby, Thomas Bek, Hugh de Kendal, Walter de Odyham, William de Hamilton (before he was chancellor), John de Craucombc, John de Caen, William de Byrlay, Robert de Bardelby, and Adam de Osgodby ; the last of whom, under the title of keeper of the Rolls, being the head of the clerks of the Chancery. I have therefore omitted them all in the table of chancellors. 1 Rot. Fin. 35 Edw. I., at. i. 12 ROLLS. Emv. I. Although the Rolls of Chancery must, long ere this time, have been both numerous and important, and though their arrangement and preservation must have devolved on some officer of that department, yet the name of the individual specially appointed to the service never occurs till this reign. The title of " Custos Eotulorum Cancellarise domini Regis " is attached, for the first time, to the name of John de Langton, in an entry on the Patent Roll of 14 Edward L, 1286, cited by Mr. Hardy1; and he is mentioned in the parliament of Hilary and Easter, 18 Edward I., as receiving the letters sent to Rome by the king and the nobles to be enrolled in the Chancery.2 It is evident, however, that he was not the first person ■who held that place ; as in the appointment of Adam de Osgodby on October 1, 1295, 23 Edward L, the custody of the Rolls was given to him in the same manner " quo alii custodes earn habere consueverunt temporibus retroactis." As these words could scarcely apply to appointments so recent as that of Langton, or of any other who might have held it between his elevation to the chancellorship in December, 1292, and Osgodby's nomination, we are left to suppose that the office, the duties of which had been probably performed by one of the clerks of the Chancery, had not heretofore been considered of sufficient importance to be recorded on the Rolls ; and that either the extent of the responsibility, or the addition of other duties arising from the division of the courts, rendered it now of so much greater consequence as to be placed in the king's nomination. The terms of the appointment are : " Memorandum quod primo die Octobris anno regni Regis Edvardi vicessimo tertio in ecclesia conventuali Sancti Augustini Cantuar. commissa fuit custodia Rotulorum Cancellar. Domino Adas de 1 Hardy's Catalogue, p. 13. » Rot. Pari. i. 25. 1272—1307. MASTERS IN CHANCERY. 13 Osgoteby per Dominum Johannem de Langton Cane. Domini Regis ex -parte dicti Dom. Regis, Ita quod custodiam illam eodem modo habeat quo alii custodes earn habere consueve- runt temporibus retroactis." Adam de Osgodby continued to hold the office during the remainder of this reign. That he still was considered as one of the clerks of the Chancery is apparent from many- entries of the deposit of the great seal in the custody of himself and others of his brethren, in the various absences of the chancellor from the court. He was not necessarily the chancellor's substitute on these occasions ; for during the seven years that the then chancellor, John de Langton, continued in the office after Osgodby's ap- pointment, the duties of the seal were performed, in his absence, by William de Hamilton alone, or by three other clerks of the Chancery jointly appointed. It was not till the vacancy occasioned by Langton's resignation in August, 1302, 30 Edward I., that the seal was placed in Osgodby's hands, under the seals of three other clerks, till a new chancellor was named. There is nothing positively to shew the number of the senior clerks of the Chancery, (in whose place the masters of that court now stand,) unless the summons that was addressed to Robert de Pykering and to ten others in 30 Edward I.,1 commanding them to appear before the chancellor to give counsel on certain arduous affairs, and, if needful, " by the inspection of their books," is to be considered as including them all, except Adam de Osgodby, the Master of the Roll-. Most of the persons so addressed were undouDtedly clerks in the Chancery ; perhaps all of them : but if so, the number must have been greater than twelve, because there were several others who notoriously held that place both before 1 Pari Writs, i. no. 14 MASTERS IN CHANCERY. Edw. I. and after that date. If the number of clerks, including the Master of the Rolls, did not exceed twelve, as is generally supposed, there must have been some other officers of the court who were equally entitled to attend the parliament, as the persons summoned apparently on this account frequently extend beyond that number. We have seen that several of them acted for the chan- cellor, holding the seal when he was absent ; and in addition to their attendance in parliament, several instances of their being appointed proxies for bishops and abbots occur in this reign, and of their being named as receivers and triers of petitions. The following list contains the names of those who are known or suj>posed to have held the office within the periods mentioned : — John de Kirkeby ----- 1 to 12 Edw. I. ? Thomas Bek ----- 7 _ Hugh de Kendal - - - - - 11 to 19 — Walter de Odyham - - - - 11-12 — "William de Hamilton (afterwards chancellor) - 14 to 33 — John de Langton, UK. - - - -14 to 21 — William de Chyrinton - - - - 21 — John de Cadomo - - - - - 21 to 35 — Robert de Radeswell- - - - - 23 to 35 — John de Derby - - - - - 23 to 29 — John de Craucombe - - - - - 23 to 33 — Adam de Osgodby, M. R. - - - - 23 to 35 — William de Grenefield (afterwards chancellor) - 23 to 30 — William de Kilkenny - - - - 23 to 33 — Peter de Dene - - - - - 23 to 35 — Reginald de Braundon - - - - 23 to 33 — John de Lacy - - - - - 23 to 29 — Thomas de Logore - - - - - 25 to 35 — William de Birlaco - - - - - 26 to 33 Peter de Insula - - - - - 28 to 33 Robert de Pykering - - - - -29 to 35 William de Pykering - - - - - 29 to 35 William de Sardenne - 29-30 1272—1307. TERMS. 15 Philip Martel - - - - - 29 to 33 Edw. I. Richard de Plumstok - - - - 29 to 35 — Robert de Bardelby - - - - - 30 to 35 — John Bussh - - - - - - 30 to 35 — John Fraunceis - - - - - 35 — Geoffrey de Welleford - - - - 35 — All of these were ecclesiastics, and most held dignities in the church. It will be remembered that by the law of Edward the Confessor, confirmed by William the Conqueror, certain sacred periods were devoted to the church, during which no judicial business was to be transacted. In the first par- liament held by Edward I., in the third year of his reign, 1275, in the statute of Westminster 1, chap. 51., it is pro- vided, "at the special request of the king made unto the bishops," and by their assent, that during three of these periods, viz., Advent, Septuagesima, and Lent, assizes of Novel Disseisin, Mortdauncestre and Darrein Presentment, may be taken " even as well as Enquests." The reason for this change in the old law is stated to be, that "it is a great charity to do right unto all men at all times;" but it is evident that with regard to "Enquests" an encroachment had already taken place. It is curious that, notwithstanding this statute, Thomas de Weyland, in the following year, deemed it necessary to procure a licence from the Bishop of Norwich to try an assize of last presentation to a church, non obstante instantl Quadragesima. ' This, however, may have been procured only ex abundante cautela, or, perhaps, because ecclesiastical matters were connected with the trial. The court of Common Pleas was always held, according to the provision of Magna Charta, "in aliquo ccrto loco," which in this reign was at Westminster. But the courts of 1 Spelman's Original of the Terms, Appendix, p. 104( 16 COURTS. Edw. I. King's Bench and Exchequer were frequently removed, ac- cording to the urgency of the time, to different localities ; and the Abbreviatio Placitorum mentions ' several places where the judges of the King's Bench occasionally sat. In 5 & 10 Edward I., 1277-1282, the King's Bench and the Exchequer were removed to Shrewsbury, when the king unfurled the royal banner against the Welsh.1 For seven years, from 26 to 33 Edward I., 1298-1305, they sat at York 2 ; during which period, by the statute Articuli super Cartas, 28 Edward I., it was enacted, u that the chancellor and the justices of his bench should follow the king, so that he might have at all times near unto him some sages of the law, who might be able to order all such matters as should come into the court at all times when need should require." The term " Justiciarius de Banco," continued occasionally, during Edward's reign, to be applied to the judges of both courts. A repetition of the enactment made by Henry III. relative to leap year, and mentioned in Yol. II. p. 183, occurs in the sixth year of this reign, addressed, in the same manner, to the judges by this title.3 The word "Bench" also is often indiscriminately used ; the ordinance for the removal of the King's Bench to York in 26 Edward I. describing it as " Bancus," without any addition.4 The court of Common Pleas is designated in one instance, in 10 Edward I., "Mag- num Bancum."5 Although the office of chief justiciary had been entirely abolished under Henry III., and the three courts of King's Bench, Common Pleas, and Exchequer, had been formed out of the Curia Regis before the end of that reign, it is probable that the precise duties of each had not been fully defined, and that the appropriation of the judges of the two 1 Lingard, iii. 193.; Lei. Coll. i. 459. 2 Ibid. 460.; Lingard, iii. 240. 3 Rot. Pari. i. 14. 4 Ibid. 143. 5 Abbrev. Plac. 274. 1272—1307. KING'S BENCH. 17 former benches had not been strictly established. Even under the reign of Edward I. it is not possible in all cases to distinguish to which court the different judges belong; and I have accordingly found it necessary, in some instances, to affix the mark ? as denoting a doubt. Of the justiciers under Henry III. nineteen were alive at the end of the reign ; six of whom, as far as I can discover from the published records, did not resume their functions in that of Edward I. These were Robert de Brus, chief justice of the king's bench, Laurence de Brok, Thomas Trevet, Adam de Greinvill, Henry de Wollavinton. John de Oketon, The rest certainly acted in this reign ; and I have placed them, except Geoffrey de Leuknore, who does not appear to have been appointed till some years after the accession, in the first year in the courts to which they seem to belong ; because, though some of them are not mentioned judicially till the second or third years, there is a sufficient probability that they were not removed at the death of Henry III. In pursuing the enquiry in each court the most convenient course will be to trace the succession of the chief justices in the first instance. Chief Justices of the King's Bench. Robert de Brus, who filled the office of chief justice of the King's Bench at the close of the last reign, does not appear, from any existing evidence, to have acted at all in thin. I have, therefore, not felt myself warranted in in- serting his name, although the :iksence of it leaves the place vacant during the whole of the first and part of the second year of Edward's reign; since it is not till the concluilin^ month of the latter year that the name of VOL. III. c 18 king's BENCH. Edw. I. Ralph de Hengham is first introduced. He is then mentioned in such a manner as to shew plainly that he occu- pied the highest place in the court, though he is not expressly called chief justice. The words are, " Placita coram Domino Rege et R. de Hengham et sociis snis, justiciis de Banco Domini Regis in Octabis S. Michaelis anno regni, &c. secundo incipiente tercio apud Westm."1 That he was not appointed in the first year, but was then a justice of the Common Pleas, appears from the fact that fines were levied before him till fifteen days of St. Martin in the second year, viz. November 26, 1273 2 ; so that his nomination must have occurred between that date and the following October. He continued to preside in the court till 18 Edward L, when, sharing in the disgrace with which several of his brethren were visited, he was removed from his office and fined. Gilbert de Thornton succeeded Hengham, and a curious confirmation of the view I have taken of the use of the title " Justiciarius de Banco" in those days, is afforded by that designation being applied to him'5, although he never filled any judicial office but that of chief justice of the King's Bench. If, as Dugdale alleges, he had previously acted as the king's attorney, and there are several instances of his being employed in the courts for the king, as late as 13 Edward I., his appointment forms the first example of that officer being raised to the highest place on the bench, though it may be doubtful whether he was the king's attorney at the time of his elevation. This occurred in 18 Edward I., 1289-90, and the last date on which his pleas are mentioned is August, 1295.4 Roger de Brabazon, who was a justice of the King's Bench at this time, was his successor ; but there is no evidence of the precise date of his appointment. As, how- 1 Abbrev. Placit. 263. "■ Dugdale's Orig. Jurid. 44. 3 Abbrev. Placit. 286. 4 Rot. Pari. i. 134. 1272—1307. KING'S BENCH. 19 ever, he is mentioned in this character in Hilary Term, 25 Edward I., 1297 l, he was probably constituted in the previous year, and he continued in the office during the remainder of the reign. Judges of the King's Bench. The surviving judges of this Court, under Henry III., were — I. 1272-3. John de Cobbeham, ? John de Reygate, Walter de Helyun, ? Richard de Stanes. Martin de Littlebiri, Those subsequently appointed were the following : — William de Saham, Nicholas de Stapleton. III. 1274-5. Walter de Hopton, vice R. de Stanes, removed to the Common Pleas. IV. 1275-6. John de Metingham, in the room perhaps of J. de Cobbeham, removed to the Exchequer. Walter de Wymburn, loco ? M. de Littlebiri. XI. 1282-3. Dugdale inserts ? John de Cave in this year ; but I can find no other evidence of his acting as a justice. XIII. 1284-5. Elias de Sutton. XVII. 1288-9. ? Ralph de Sandwich ; but probably only acting as constable of the tower. XVIII. 1289-90. Roger de Brabazon, loco John de Metingham, made chief justice of the Common Pleas. Robert Malet, loco William de Saham, disgraced. XXII. 1293-4. John Lovel, perhaps in the place of Nicholas de Stapleton. XXIIL 1294-5. Gilbert de Roubury, loco John Lovcl. XXIV. 1295-6. AVilliam de Ormesby, loco Roger de Brabazon, made chief justice of this court. XXIX. 1300-1. Henry Spigurnell. No change took place in this court for the remaining ten years of this reign. The number of its judges, leaving out those who are doubtful, seems to have been generally four, but for the latter years only three, besides the chid": and at the death of the king they were, — Roger de Brabazon, chief justice, Gilbert de Roubury, William de Ormesby Henry Spigurnell. I Abhrev. IMacit. 39 C 2 20 COMMON PLEAS. Emv. I. Chief Justices of the Common Pleas. Gilbert de Preston, who filled this office at the end of Henry's reign, was continued in it by his successor, and the Liberate Roll of the first year so designates him, being the first instance, as Dugdale declares, of the title being used. The last fine that was levied before him was in the Octaves of St. John the Baptist, 2 Edward L, June, 1274.1 Roger de Seyton was put in his place in the following Michaelmas, having occupied a seat on the same bench from April, 1268, 52 Henry III.2 He continued to preside till after the Octaves of Trinity, 6 Edward I., 1278, the last fine levied before him bearing that date. Thomas de Weyland was his successor in the same year, having been also previously a judge in this court. His disgrace and removal occurred before Hilary Term, 18 Edward I., 1290, as he is called " nuper justiciarius " at the parliament then held.3 John de Metingham, at that time a judge of the King's Bench, was raised to the presidency of the court of Common Pleas in the same term. The last fine levied before him was in fifteen days of Michaelmas, 26 Edward L, 1297 ; but his name appears after that of Roger de Brabazon, the chief justice of the court of King's Bench, in the Statute de Escaetoribus, Hilary, 29 Edward I., 1301. He lived for a few months only after this, as his successor, Ralph de Hengham, the late chief justice of the King's Bench, now restored to favour, was appointed on the 19th of the following September. He retained his place during the remainder of the reign, and was continued in it by Edward II. 1 Dugdale's Orig. Jurid. 39. 43. z Excerpt, e Rot. Fin. ii. 469. 3 Rot. Pari. i. 23. 1272—1307. COMMON PLEAS. 21 Judges of the Common Pleas. Besides the chief justice, Gilbert de Preston, the following were the judges of the court of Common Pleas under Henry III., who acted in this reign. I. 1272-3. Robert Fulcon, Henry de Monteforti, Ralph de Hengham, Roger de Seyton, Stephen Heym, William de Weyland. The following were subsequently appointed : II. 1273-4. Richard de Stanes, f aPP^ently in the room of Ro- removedfromK.B.i?er.de Se?ton' made cllief Thomas de Weyland, JUSj1C! °f '\he Common Pleas' *-and of William de Weyland. {in the room of Ralph de Hengham, constituted chief justice of the K.B., and Ste- phen Heym. IY. 1275-6. Roger de Leicester, in the room of Richard de Stanes. Dugdale introduces three others for whom I cannot find a place, nor any other evidence of their sitting in this court ; viz. Geoffrey de Leuknore, Geoffrey de Newbald, and Roger Loveday ; and on a reference to the patent he quotes, I find that they were merely appointed to hold the pleas pertaining to the tenants of the liberty of the priory of Dunstable. I have therefore inserted them among the justices itinerant. VI. 1277-8. William de Brompton, in the room of Thomas de Weyland, made chief justice of this court. Walter de Ilelyun, in the place of Ralph de Frening- ham. ? Stephen dePencestre is introduced by Dugdale; but I think only acted judicially as warden of the Cinque Ports. Elias de Beckingham, loco Walter de Helyun. Robert de Hertford, f in the PIaces of lloSer de Lei" Robert de Thorpe, J cester' John de Lovet°t> ** William de Giselham, WlIham de Brompton, dis- ^graced. William » 13 O -, CU !- .O C s O cu - -S K 91 eu ti CU o o •T3 & -O .g eC 1 *: cu • I 1 •§.•§ pq 09 3<2 §1 o- Cv. 'ZL G 5 w CU ■si w |? 1 8 (LI 1 H 53 3£ h § * O en a> e H T3 3 0 ^ J2* 1 1 1 Q is 'a) 1 1 1 P -3K i-s £ I 1 | X -G rt 1 J3 •3 ^ r<* 1 1 cu ill PQ ii a> >. 1 ° 1 1 g III « 11^-^1 4 4J ^ S G John Roge Willi Or 5 1 CU G o > o 0) 'G X a J Is 1 cu 1 T3 CU 1 2 a* CU "3 ton John lias d c £ CV. W to u c ds 9 CU C E 3 >5 ■ 9 cu T3 13 1 g ilbert de Thornton oger de B bazon » O « > o o Q 525 « in T ill l II II «o 01 ■<£ co Oi co -r >o Q ^ Ol CO «* t*- l» 1 - I- » 00 CO CO Cl O CT> o Ol 01 Ol ON Ol Ol M CM OJ 01 Ol CO « -i M CO ■<*< — 00 t- CO 01 CO Tf O ^h _ ^h ~ CM CM CM CM •< 26 COMMON PLEAS. Edw. I. land land a o ft lham ford I1 fr S 2 o >-> 1 i S-i 1 | 1 | c 1 CD 1 1 1 '2 &g«§!S ' ' U O c« >- , I 1 1 1 J3 a ■8 1-5 CD JS ^J CD J 99 < .-) Ph ft CD 03 s S a a 1 c o % JZ bfi 3 bC a o o bO d 0) c 1 1 1 III 1 1 1 1 S 1 CD U CD o Cfl H O P P c3 § 1 .2 0 0) CO O bfl be H 1 1 B 1 I* 1 III 1 1 a 0) 1 1 a o) a) ij H a; -2 e 13 o .o fcJ3 CI CS »-8 ft a Oi "— • o § ft Q z ■* *o to 00 O ■* Ulffi rH CM •* l>- CO 7 CO ti (35 O <-h CO CO a> rr1 in i> i> i- t- t» co co x a> o> o> o CO CO CM CM CM CM CM CM CM CM CM CM CM CM CM CO « IH CM co ^ CO CM CO C5 CT> O N if) CO CD CO ■* •< ,_, ,-, ,_, _ CM Ol CM CM CM CO CO 1272—1307. EXCHEQUER. 27 W o W H S H I a O H s 3 I Ja CJO 9 W | 1 o T3 h B bO o £ o o £ "ee rt > 3 jj 1 1 1 1 1 CO t-^ 8) 0) -9 T5 c a ,c x o o i-j ■"% co P c o a o CO K o "S h 'rt £ £ ^3 s (A £ M o 1 1 1 g a> 5 1 I 1 a> B9 X & 1 1 1 0) '3 Hi 1 i 1 a J 0) H3 E O BQ o CU P u 6 P-l > o PQ a, o 1 2 O | | | 1 | JO < 1 41 0 , a> 8? Hi JO, S 0) <8 1 Jt 1 £ 1 u 1 V T3 1 1 1 l 0) '9 g 3 .&• 8 ■ S 1 "8 S ^ t^ Oi CN •-1 n > -I ->• 4_; q •< o « W CO Tf CO M o CO o o of CO 1 •c 1 CO 10 3 iO 1 c£ CO !*■ 1^ i - r^ CO CO CT> en Oi Oi O M CM CN o> cm CM CN CM CM Ol CO « ~ CN CO ■v M * a. CO CN CO CN £ CO < 28 JUSTICES ITINERANT. — TRAILBASTON. Edw. I. At the convocation of bishops, peers, and commoners, held at Westminster in January, 1273, just after the death of Henry III., it was ordained that there should be no itinerant judges until King Edward's return to England.1 He arrived in the following year, when the circuits were renewed ; all the regular justiciers acting in their turns, with the assistance of other lawyers, whose commissions were limited to this duty. Delays, however, being frequently occasioned by the inability of the judges to attend at the times and places appointed, in consequence of the pressure of their other duties, or of special precepts, a new ordinance was issued by the king in the 21st year of his reign, 1293, directing that eight justices should be assigned to take assizes, jurats, and certificates throughout the year ; namely, two to each of four divisions, comprehending all the counties in the kingdom, with the exception of Middlesex, which was left to the sole jurisdiction of the justices of the bench.2 There does not seem to have been any real difference between these and the other justices itinerant, except that they were to be constantly engaged in their functions. Several of them were afterwards raised to the superior bench. Towards the end of the reign another itinerant court was erected, the judges of which were called Justices of Trail- baston. The first commission is given in Hemmingford, under the year 1304, and is confined to Yorkshire, being there ad- dressed to Ralph Fitz- William, then the king's lieutenant in that county, and John de Barton, a resident.3 It occurs again among the parliamentary writs bearing the date of November 22, 1304, 33 Edward I., with the addition of two other justices, viz,, William le Vavassur and Gerard Salveyn. 1 Angl. Sac. i. 499. 2 Rot. Pari. i. 99. 3 Historia. Ed. Hearne, p. 208. 1272—1307. JUSTICES ITINERANT. — TRAILBASTON. 29 Whether this is the same writ as that mentioned in Hem- mingford, or one of subsequent date, is uncertain ; but another writ was at the same time issued to three justices to act in the counties of Lincoln, Nottingham, and Derby ; and a short time afterwards, others to three in Norfolk and Suffolk, dated January 9, 1305, and to two in Lancashire, dated March 12.1 A new arrangement, however, was made in the following April, when four commissions were issued, comprehending all the counties in the kingdom, except Cheshire and Durham, which were subject to separate jurisdictions, and the five counties in the home district.2 These latter were added in a fifth commission, in February, 1307, 35 Edward I., when the other four were renewed.3 Both of these latter series of commissions included the counties mentioned in the earlier writs ; and neither Ralph Fitz- William nor John de Barton, nor several others, were re-appointed; so that it seems probable that the offences which the first commissions were intended to punish, and which were probably supposed to be confined to the northern and eastern counties named, were found to be more widely extended than was originally suspected, and to require larger powers to be given for their suppression, and more experienced judges to be appointed for the purpose. Accordingly, to that division which comprehended York- shire five justices were appointed, one of whom, both in the commission of 1305 and in that of 1307, was a regular justicier at Westminster, and was always to be present, while the rest were barons and knights resident in the several counties to which it extended. The same course was adopted in each of the three other districts, under both these coin- 1 Pari. Writs, i. 407. » Unci. 403. ; N. Podera, i. 970. 3 Rot. Pari. i. 218. 30 JUSTICES ITINERANT. — TRAILBASTON. Edw. I. missions, while the justices named in 1307 for the five home counties were all of them members of the superior courts. There is a curious petition to the parliament of 35 Edward I., alledging that persons who had been convicted before the justices of trailbaston for conspiracies and other misde- meanors,, and had paid their fines for them, got themselves afterwards placed on inquisitions and juries to confound those who had honestly indicted them. An order was therefore given to forbid this in future.1 To the writ of this parliament, appointing the justices of trailbaston, is added the oath to be taken by them; one clause of which is, " that they shall take no gift of any one for pleading or other thing which he may have to do before them, except it be to eat and drink d lajornee"2 Various significations have been given to the term trail- baston. There is no doubt that the judges under these com- missions were called justices of trailbaston ; but the question is, from what they received their designation. In the Annals of Worcester3, under the year 1305, it is said, "hoc anno Justiciarii Domini Regis, qui vocantur Trailbaston, primo itineraverunt." Thomas Trivet, in his Annals 4, says that this name was given them by the people ; " ab hominibus popu- laribus vocati sunt de Traylebastoun," adding, " quod sonat trahe baculum." Holinshed5, who quotes from Trivet, translates this last expression, " which signifieth traile or draw the staff; " and Jacob, in his Law Dictionary, professing to quote from Holinshed, calls this staff "the staff of justice." Thus, out of Trivet's simple statement of a fact, an hypothesis is framed for which his words certainly give no authority ; namely, that these justices were so styled from trailing the staff of justice. I find no other foundation for this inter- pretation, and I have little hesitation in discarding it ; for if 1 Rot. Pari. i. 201. 2 Ibid. i. 219. 3 Angl. Sac. i. 529. 1 Trivet, p. 404. s Holinshed, ii. 538. 1272—1307. JUSTICES ITINERANT. — TRAILBASTON. 31 such were the meaning of the words, no reason appears why they should not have been used in the previous years of the reign, or in reference to any of the itinerant justices who had traversed the counties from the time of Henry I. Indeed, in this view, it might be applied as appropriately to our modern judges, when they go their circuits. Sir Edward Coke's definition, — that they were so called from the rapidity of their proceedings, which equalled that of the blow with a baton, — seems to be even less defensible. It is not very probable that a term, which, according to this interpretation, must have been given to them by the people, in something like derision, to express the hastiness of their judgments, should have been adopted, as it undoubtedly was, in the records of the state. Both the origin and termination of these commissions appear to point out that the institution of them was a tempo* rary measure, adopted to meet a particular emergency. Neither in the commissions of 1304, nor in that of April, 1305, does the word trailbaston occur ; but the latter is docketed " De transgressionibus nominatis Trailbaston au- diendis et terminandis." The ordinance also made at the parliament of the latter year1, referring to that commission, does not contain the word, but is marked " Ordinatio de Trailbastons." There is little doubt, therefore, that the word trailbaston applied originally to the offences or the offenders, and not to the judges ; although the latter, beinu; assigned to try them, were, as they naturally would be, subsequently so denominated. Thus, in the list of those summoned to the parliament at Carlisle in Hilary, 1307, 35 Edward I., we find William le Vavasour called " Justic. Trailb. ;" and William Inge, the judge, is excused his attendance " pro Trailb." - I n the petition, also, to the same parliament, already referred to, the phrase " coram Justic. de Trailbaston" is Qsed. 1 Rot. Pari. i. 178. * Ibid. i. 188. 32 JUSTICES ITINERANT. — TRAILBASTON. Edw. I. The expressions " Pleas of Trailbaston," and " business of Trailbaston," inserted in the two writs dated in February, 1307, afford further proof that the pleas or business were not derived from the designation of the judges, but that the judges were so called from the duty they had to perform ; and the king's anxiety to expedite the work, by adding his own judges to those already specially appointed, as exhibited in the body of these writs, shews that the offence had not yet been eradicated, and that the offenders were numerous and bold. The precise nature of the offence it is difficult to discover. In the original commissions, — after reciting that " many male- factors and disturbers of the peace, perpetrating homicides, depredations, fires, and other wrongs, both by day and night, wander about in woods, parks, and divers other places, in the counties named, and there are harboured, to the great danger of those travelling through those parts and resident in them, and in the king's contempt and the manifest breach of his peace, — by which greater evils might happen, unless a remedy were more quickly applied," — the king, " desirous of obviating this mischief, and providing against these evils and dangers," appoints certain persons his justices, " to enquire who are these malefactors and their harbourers and confederates, affording them aid and assistance, or procuring and instructing these transgressions to be done : And also to enquire of those who for gifts make a compact with male- factors and disturbers of the peace, and lure them to beat, wound, illtreat, and kill many in the kingdom, in fairs, markets, and other places, from enmity, hatred, malice, and also because they spoke the truth on assizes and inquisitions of felony ; whereby the jurors, from fear of these malefactors and their threats, often dare not speak the truth or indict the said malefactors : And also to enquire of those who give gifts of this nature, and how much,- and to whom, and who , 127 2—1307. JUSTICES ITINERANT. — TRAILBASTON. 33 encourage, support, and maintain malefactors of this sort in their wickedness : and of those, who, by reason of their power and influence, take others under their protection for hire (pro suo dando): and of those who maliciously extort money from any one by threats : and to hear and determine those felonies and transgressions according to the law and custom of the kingdom, and the form of the ordinance made hereon by the king and his council, and delivered to them in parliament."1 These instructions are contained in the " Ordinatio de Trailbastons " before referred to ; and principally direct that all offences committed before Easter, 33 Edward I. (the date of the commission) shall be tried according to law ; but that those charged with the above transgressions shall be proceeded against, although no one prosecutes, and if convicted shall be committed to gaol. This commission is evidently very different from that which was ordinarily issued to the justices itinerant ; and it may be inferred from its language that about this period bands of men congregated together and infested the country, robbing and ill-treating the people ; that they hired them- selves to revenge private quarrels, and received payment from the timid to be free from their attacks ; that jurors and witnesses were prevented from prosecuting or giving evidence by their threats, and were beaten, and even killed, if they did so ; and that persons of rank and property were not exempt from the charge of supporting these villains for their own purposes. It is observable that no allusion is made to the arms they bore, except what may be collected from the words, " beat, wound, ill-treat and kill ; " but it has been supposed that they carried no other weapon than a club, and that they thus obtained their name. 1 See also the "Ordinatio de Conspiratoribus" in the same parliament, upon which, it would seem, the writ was founded. Rot. 1'arl. i. 183. VOL. III. D 34 JUSTICES ITINERANT. TRAILBASTON. Edw. I. This seems probable from the following extract from Peter Langtoft's Chronicle \ which not only evidences that they were called Traylbastouns, but describes their practices and their punishment. " Respouns ount fet au reys gentz de been voyllance, Coment parmy la tere fet est grant grevaunce Par comune contekours, ke sunt par fiaunce Obligez ensemble a, une purviaunce ; Traylbastouns sunt nomez de eel retenaunce, En fayres et marchez se proferent fere covenaunce, Pur tres sous ou iiii, ou pur la valiaunce, Batre un prodomme ke unk fist nosaunce A cors cristiene, par nuli temoygnaunce. Si homme countredye a nul de l'aliaunce, Ou marchaund de ses merz li vee fere ereaunce, En sa mesoun demene, sauntz altre daliaunce, Balut serrait been, ou par Tacordaunce Dora de ses deners et prendre aquitaunce. Si en la riot ne seit fet desturbaunce, Une commune guere se levera par chaunce. Entendu ad ly reys la plaint et la parlaunee, Escutez ore coment purveu est la vengaunce. Parmy Engletere gentz de graunz resouns Assignez sunt justizes sur les traylbastouns; Mr. Wright, from whose " Political Songs," p. 319., this passage is taken, thus translates it : — " People of good will have made answer to the king how a great grievance is made in the land by common squabblers, who are by oath obliged together to a purveyance ; this company are called trailebastons ; they offer to make conventions at fairs and markets for three or four shillings, or merely to show their courage to beat a good man, who never did hurt to any christian body, by the testimony of no one. If a man contradict any one of the alliance, or a merchant will not trust them with his merchandise, taken in his own house, without other interference, he shall be well beaten, or by agreement he shall give of his money and take acquittance. If there be no hindrance made to their riot, a war among the commons would by chance arise. The king has heard the complaint and the talk, now hear how the punishment is provided. " Throughout England men of great account are assigned as judges on the trailbastouns ; some by inquest are judged to prisons; others to go to the gallows, to hang thereabout; many are deprived of their possessions ; those who had done least ill, are obliged to pay fines. If there was not chastisement of ribalds and rascals, people would not dare to live in their houses." 1272—1307. JUSTICES ITINERANT. — TRAILBASTON. 35 Les una par enquest sunt jugez It prisouns ; Li altre alcz a fourches a pendre envirouns ; Plusours sunt privez de [lour] possessiouns ; Ke meyns mesfesaynt sunt passez par raunsouns. Si chastiment ne fust de ribaldes et bricouns, Ose ne serrait homme vivre en niesouns." The commission of 1305 into Cornwall and nine other counties, south-western and western, was addressed to William Martyn, Henry Spigurnell, William de Knovill, Roger de Bellafago, and Thomas de la Hyde; the first four of whom are mentioned in a contemporary song on the subject, the date of which is thus identified, as one of them was not re-appointed in 1307. " Ly Martyn et ly Knoville sunt gent de piete, E prient pur les povres qu'il eyent sauvete ; Spigurnel e Belllour sunt gent de cruelte, Si il fuisent en ma bay lie ne serreynt retornee." x This song, a version of which, at once spirited and faithful, has been published by Mr. Lockhart 2, although it professes to be written by one who had fled to the woods to eschew the cruelty of the justices, is in fact an evidence of the general detestation in which the new commission was held. It opens thus : — " In rhyme I clothe derision, my fancy takes thereto, So scorn I this provision, provided here of new ; The thing whereof my geste I frame, I wish 'twere yet to do, An guard not God and Holy Dame, 'tis war that must ensue. " I mean the articles abhorred of this their trailbaston ; Except the king himself our lord, God send his malison On the devisers of the same : cursed be they every one,' For full they be of sinful shame, and reason have they none. " Sir, if my boy offend me now, and I my hand but lift To teach him by a cuff or two what's governaunce and thrift : This rascal vile, his bill doth file, attaches me of wrong; Forsooth, find bail, or lie in gaol, and rot the rogues among." 1 Wright's " Political Songs," p. 23:5. * The Bijou, 1838, j>. J. i, a 36 JUSTICES ITINERANT. — TRAILBASTON. Edw. I. And so through four-and- twenty stanzas does the writer enlarge on the quick injustice administered, and the tempta- tion thus held out to persons to join the " outlaw's crew," in order to avoid its penalties. One verse peculiarly exemplifies the practices of the trailbastons. After speaking of the two cruel justices, as above, it proceeds : — " I'd teach them well this noble game of trailbaston to know, On every chine I'd stamp the same, and every nape also ; On every inch in all their frame I'd make my cudgel go ; To lop their tongues I'd think no shame, nor yet their lips to sew." In these two compositions we thus see the contemporary arguments for and against the institution ; and it is worthy of observation, that while one anticipates a war from a con- tinuance of the mischief, the other predicts a war from the adoption of the remedy. Both, however, speak of beating as the common practice of the offenders. Commissions of trailbaston continued to be issued at intervals till the middle of the reign of Bichard II., when they finally ceased. We find the preparation for the dis- continuance of separate justices itinerant, which occurred about the same time, in the statute of Nisi Prius, West- minster II., chap. 30., 13 Edward I., followed by those of gaol delivery and persons appealed, 27 and 28 Edward I. Stow relates that in 1294 and divers other times, the justices itinerant sat without London at the stone cross in the High Street near unto the Strand, over against the Bishop of Coventry's house, and sometimes within the bishop's house.1 It will be the most convenient course to include all these justices itinerant in one list, naming them in that year in which they were first appointed, omitting all who were 1 Thorns' Stow, p. 165. 1272—130: JUSTICES ITINERANT. 37 regular justices at the time, and distinguishing those who in this reign were justices of trailbaston only with the letter T. Justices Itinerant. II. 1273-4. III. 1274-5. IT. 1275-6. VI. 1277-8. VII. 1278-9. VIII. 1279-80. IX. 1280-1. XIII. 1284-5. XIV. 1285-6. XV. 1286-7. XX. 1291-2. XXI. 1292-3. XXIII. 1294-5. XXVII. 1298-9. XXX. 1301-2. Elias de Beckingham, William de Northbury, "William de St. Omero, Geoffrey de Leuknore, Roger Loveday, Godfrey Giffard, Bishop of Worcester, Geoffrey de Picheford, Richard de Boyland. William de Braboef, ? Roger de Clifford, Se- nior, ? Matthew de Colum- biers, Thomas de St. Vigore. Nicholas le Gras, ? Richard de Crepping, ? Thomas de Norman- ville, Roger le Brabazon, Walter de Stircheleye, ? William de Bereford, John de Berewyk, Hugo de Cressingham, ? John de Crokesley, ? Simon de Ellesworth, Peter Heym, John de Batesford, John de Bosco, Walter de Cambhou, Hugh de Cave, Adam de Crokedayk, Henry de Eyncfeld, Robert de Retford. John de Bank well, William de Burnton, John Randolf, d 3 Solomon de Rochester. ? John de Saunford. Geoffrey de Newbald, Thomas de Sadington. John de Vaux, Richard de Ware, Abbot of Westminster. ? Adam Gurdon, ? William de Hamilton, Alan de Walkingham. Hamon Hauteyn. William de Vescy. William Wyther. John Lovel, William de Mortimer, William de Ormesby, Roger le Strange, John Wogan. Thomas Fisheburn, William Howard, William Inge, John de Insula, Gilbert de Kirkeby, John de Lythegrenes. Lambert de Triking- hum. Hervey de Staunton. 38 COERUPTION OP THE JUDGES. Edw. I. XXXII. 1303-4. XXXIII. 1304-5. XXXV. 1306-7. Henry de Guldeford. John de Barton, T. Roger de Bellafago, John de Botetourt, T. John le Breton, T. Thomas de Burnham, T. William de Cressy, T. Edmund D'Eyncourt, T. Nicholas Fermbaud. Ralph Fitz-William, T. Robert de Harwedon, T. Thomas de la Hyde, T. Geoffrey de Hertelpole, Hugh de Louthere, T. John de Mutford, T. William de Kerdeston, T. Gilbert de Knovill, T. Peter de Malo Lacu, T. William Martyn, T. Adam de Middleton, T. Gerard Salveyn, T. Milo de Stapleton, T. William le Vavasour, T. Richard de Walsing- ham, T. Thomas de Snyterton, T. John de Thorp, T. Edward was not merely desirous of establishing the laws on a firm foundation by judicious enactments, he was equally anxious to preserve the purity of their administration, and ready to punish those who perverted them to selfish and corrupt purposes. The correspondence of the time, as exhibited in the various appendices to the Annual Reports of the Deputy Keeper of the Public Records, contains many instances of interference with the judges in reference to private suits, by princes, nobles, patrons and friends; any one of which would justly excite the indignation of a modern member of the bench. The influence which these recom- mendations would have would of course vary with the dispositions of the receivers ; but there is too much reason to believe that a very general corruption prevailed; and it was not long before the king determined to make an example that should effectually prevent any future de- linquency. In May, 1286, Edward, leaving the Earl of Pembroke regent in his absence, went to France, where he remained more than three years. On his return in August, 1289, 17 Edward I., he was met with complaints that his judges^ corrupted by bribes, and enriched by extortion, gave false 1272 — 1307. CORRUPTION OF THE JUDGES. 39 judgments, and were guilty of even more heavy transgres- sions. He immediately instituted enquiries; the result of which was the disgrace and dismissal of almost all the mem- bers of the judicial bench. In the King's Bench, Ralph de Hengham, the chief justice, and William de Saham, were removed ; leaving only John de Metingham untouched. In the Common Pleas four of the five were discharged, viz., Thomas de Weyland, the chief justice, John de Lovetot, Roger de Leicester, and William de Brompton ; while Elias de Beckingham was the only one found pure. The justices itinerant who were charged with corruption were, Solomon de Rochester, Thomas de Sodington, Richard de Boyland, and Walter de Hopton. Besides these, Adam de Stratton, an officer of the Ex- chequer, erroneously described by some writers as chief baron, Henry de Bray,.escheator, and Robert de Lyttiebury, styled by some master, and by others clerk of the Rolls, were also involved in similar charges. The precise nature of the offences committed by most of these individuals it is difficult now to ascertain with precision. No parliamentary enquiry seems to have been instituted; but the king appointed the Earl of Lincoln, Bishop Burn ell, the chancellor, and others, enquirers into the various charges ; and no record of their discoveries is extant. It may well be supposed that their task was not a light one; as, inde- pendently of any real grounds of complaint, they would no doubt be inundated with querulous representations of suitors dissatisfied with judgments pronounced against them, and willing to take advantage of such a chance of reversal. One of the charges against Thomas de Weyland is de- scribed with some particularity in the Chronicle of Dunstable. J 1 Ed. Hearne, p. 573. i. i 40 CORRUPTION OF THE JUDGES. Edw. I. He is stated to have been guilty of having instigated his servants to commit a murder, and then to have screened them from punishment. Escaping from those who arrested him, he took sanctuary among the Friars Minors at St. Edmunds- bury, where he remained for forty days. He was then forced, by the prohibition of all food, to surrender himself; when, rather than stand his trial, he was allowed to abjure the realm, and was taken, with all the usual formalities, to the place of his transportation. He was thenceforth described in the records as a felon ; and all his real and personal pro- perty was confiscated to the king's use. The extent of the guilt of the other judges can only be estimated by the amount of the fines (which, however, vary according to different authorities) by which they were eventually permitted to redeem themselves from imprison- ment. The highest of these, 7000 marks, is stated to have been imposed on Ralph de Hengham. The falling off of one invested, as he was, with high authority during the king's absence, and holding the principal judicial position in the kingdom, would deserve to be visited with the severest retri- bution ; but the nature of his crime is nowhere recorded ; and the complaints that appear against him on the rolls of the parliament held in the following year, 18 Edward I., were evidently the consequences, rather than the causes of his disgrace. He is charged in one petition with confirming a false judgment pronounced by Solomon de Rochester ; and by another with having arbitrarily imprisoned Robert de la Ward.1 His restoration to the bench some years afterwards is a sufficient indication that his offence was not very grievous; and, according to a tradition in the reign of Richard III., his fine was only 800 marks, which was imposed for altering a record by reducing a penalty inflicted 1 Rot. Pari. i. 48. 52. 1272—1307. CORRUPTION OF THE JUDGES. 41 on a poor man from 13s. Ad. to 6s. 8d. Justice Southcote, temp. Eliz., refused to consent to a similar rasure of the roll, saying that " he meant not to build a clock-house ; " and adding that with Hengham's fine the clock-house at West- er O minster was built, and furnished with a clock to be heard in Westminster Hall. Chief Justice Holt also alludes to this story, the probability of which is attempted to be impugned by the assertion that clocks had not come into common use till a hundred years afterwards ; but this is not a sufficient denial, as they were certainly invented before this time ; and a nearly contemporary entry of expenses in Canterbury Cathedral proves that a great clock, costing SOL, was put up there in 1292.1 Though there is no positive evidence of the erection at this time of " the great clock within the palace of "Westminster," there is clear proof of its existence in 1370; when its keeper, John Nicole, had sixpence a day "for his wages for the custody thereof2 ; " and no doubt in earlier rolls entries would be found of similar payments. Fines of 4000 marks each were imposed upon Solomon de Rochester and Richard de Boy land, justices itinerant. The specific charges against them do not appear ; but several complaints were made in the succeeding parliament against the former, besides the false judgment already referred to, including the imprisonment of Christopher de Axon without cause.3 Boyland was one of the commissioners of the government during the king's absence, and is supposed to have accumulated large property in Norfolk by his iniquitous proceedings. Three were fined 3000 marks each as the price of their redemption, viz., William dc Saham, justice of the King's Bench, and John de Lovetot and William de Brompton, justices of the Common Pleas. Against William de Saham, 1 Areln-rologla, xxxiii. II. 2 Issue Roll, 44 Eilw. III., 108. 3 Rot. Rail, i. 46". 48. 59. 42 CORRUPTION OF THE JUDGES. Edw. I. I can find nothing imputed, and in one document he is described " in quo dolus seu fraus non est inventus ] ; " but one of the charges against John de Lovetot, "coram auditorihus querelarum " is, that he took a verdict from eleven jurors, although the twelfth disagreed with them ; and as to William de Brompton, it is a curious circumstance that a complaint before these auditors, that he had pronounced a partial verdict, was discharged as unconfirmed.2 The next grade of punishment was a fine of 2000 marks, which Thomas de Sodington and Walter de Hopton, justices itinerant, were each adjudged to pay. No recorded allusion to the offence of the former exists ; but the latter seems to have been charged with some judicial transgressions in Nor- folk, in which Solomon de Rochester was chiefly implicated ; as in the parliament of Easter, 18 Edward I., he declares by his petition that he was not joined in the commission with Solomon, at the time the transaction took place.3 Three others, Roger de Leicester, justice of the Common Pleas, Henry de Bray, the escheator, and Robert Littlebury, were fined 1000 marks each; but the records are silent as to the specific charges against them. The detention, however, of money, and the illegal seizure of property by Henry de Bray in his office, are the subjects of some petitions to the next parliament.4 Of Robert Littlebury I can find no entry whatever, except that the document before alluded to calls him clerk of the Rolls, and adds " qui minimus censebatur." The fine inflicted upon Adam de Stratton, who was merely an officer in the Exchequer, and not chief baron, is stated at the enormous sum of 32,000 marks, but the actual price of his redemption seems to have been only 500 marks.5 To this, however, must be added the amount of his possessions both real and personal, which, it is clear, he forfeited ; and 1 Pari. Writs, i. Chron. Abst. 15, note. s Rot. Pari. i. 286, 287. 8 Ibid. 56. * Ibid. i. 56. 61. 5 Ibid. ii. 42. : 1272—1307. JUDGES. 43 from the word "felo" being frequently added to his name, it is evident that a more than common degree of guilt attached to him. We have seen the oath against receiving any kind of gift which was imposed upon the justices of trailbaston in 35 Edward I. Rapin refers its introduction to this earlier period, and makes the exception " a breakfast, which they might accept, provided there was no excess." l Some instances occur in this reign of parties being punished for contempt of the judges. In 21 Edward I. Eustace dc Paries and John his brother were convicted of insulting William de Bereford in the Aula Regis, by imputing to him corrupt and improper conduct during his circuit in Staffordshire, contrary to his oath of office ; a charge which was proved to be false by the testimony of his companions on that iter. The offenders were both committed to the Tower at the king's pleasure ; but John, having less transgressed than his brother, was allowed to be bailed.'2 In 34 Edward I., also, Roger de Hegham, a baron of the Exchequer, complained3, that having pronounced a judgment against William de Brewcs, the said William contemptuously mounted the bar, and with gross and bitter words, called in question the said judgment, and afterwards insulted the judge as he was passing from the court. Whereupon the king, after alluding to his having dismissed his son Edward, Prince of Wales, from his house for nearly half a year for some outrage towards one of the king's officers4, ordered that William de Brewes, with his body ungirt, his head uncovered, and his coif laid aside, should go from the King's Bench at Westminster through the middle of the hall, when the court was full, to the Exchequer, and there ask Roger de Hegham'e pardon, and apologise for 1 EUpin, iii. 245. 8 Rot. Pari. i. 95. 3 Abbrov. Plant. S 1 This probably refers to the punishment ho bad inflicted on Prince Edward for an offence against Walter de Langton, Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry. 44 judges' robes and salaries. Edw. I. his offence to him ; and that for the contempt done to the king and his court, he should be committed to the Tower, there to remain at the will of the king. The "coif laid aside" (" tela deposita ") would ceem to shew that this contumacious defendant was a serjeant at law. The robes of the judges were still supplied by the crown, but their salaries seem to have been reduced in this reign. The 100 marks, allowed by Henry III. to Gilbert de Preston as the head of the court of Common Pleas, was continued to him during his life; but his successors, chief justices of either court, were not paid even to that extent of stinted liberality, none of them receiving more than 60 marks or 40/. a year. There was some little difference in the payments made to the other judges of the two courts ; 50 marks being given to a few, and 40 marks to the remainder. That the barons of the Exchequer held a lower grade than the judges of the two other courts is evident from the amount of their salaries being limited to 201. or 30 marks a year, which, to some of them, was increased, towards the end of the reign, to 40 marks. Making every allowance for the difference in the value of money, such stipends must have been wholly inadequate for the support of these officers; and if the deficiency was to be made up by fees in every variety of form, we can scarcely be surprised that the anxiety to increase them should sometimes look like extortion, and that this temptation to bribery should now and then overcome their virtue. The designation "Attornatus Regis" was certainly adopted before 6 Edward I., inasmuch as there are two instances in that year of such an officer appearing, without any name being mentioned.1 The title was not yet, however, in common use, Abbrev. Placit. 193, 194, 1272—1307. THE KING'S ATTORNEYS. 45 for though some few are $o called, the ordinary mode of description is " qui sequitur pro rege." In the following list of those who are distinguished by one or the other of these terms, it will be apparent, as several are acting in the same years, that some were only locally engaged on special occa- sions. It is equally clear, also, that in most years two were regularly employed, who may perhaps be supposed to answer to our modern officers, the Attorney and Solicitor General. The latter title, however, had certainly not been then adopted; and, as far as I can find, was not used till the reign of Edward IV. That there was an established advocate on the part of the king appears probable from the fact that in the last year of Edward's reign, John de Mutford was called before the treasurer and barons of the Exchequer, to inform them of the king's right in the matter of a petition then presented.1 In that year also, both John de Chester, " who followed for the king," and the " King's Serjeants," are mentioned as arguing a case on the king's behalf.2 Attornati Kegis. VI. 1277-8. William Boneville, in Essex.3 VII. 1278-9. William de Giselham4 ; and in 8, 9, 10, 14 Edw. I. He is called Attornatus Regis in 9 Edw. I., and also king's serjeant5, and was raised to the bench in 18 Edw. I. VIII. 1279-80. Gilbert de Thornton4; and in 10 and 13 Edw. I. In 10 Edw. I. he and William de Giselham arc called narratores pro rege in the same process.6 In 9 Edw. I. he was a king's serjeant, and was made chief justice of the King's Bench in 18 Edw. I. IX. 1280-1. Alan de Walkingham, in Yorkshire.4 1 Rot. Pari. i. 197. 8 Abbrev. Placit. 261. 3 Ibid. 1 4 Dugdale's Chronica Series. « Ablnvv. Placit. 873, 8 Ibid. '274. 46 SERJEANTS. Edw. I. X. 1281-2. John le Fawconer ; and in 14 Edw. I. l XIII. 1284-5. William de Seleby, in Warwickshire.2 XY. 1286-7. William Inge ; and in 18, 19, 20 Edw. I.2 Justice of assize in 21 Edw. I., and chief justice of King's Bench under Edw. II. XVITI. 1289-90. John de Bosco, in Norfolk.3 Nicholas de Warwick2 ; and in 23, 28, 29, 32, 33 Edw. I.4 A king's serjeant in 21 Edw. I.; died about 34 Edw. I. John de Haydell, for the king and queen-mother.5 XX. 1291-2. Richard de Breteville, Attornatus Regis.6 Hugh de Louther, in Salop. 2 XXI. 1292-3. Roger de Hegham, in York7; made a baron of the Exchequer in 26 Edw. I. XXII. 1293-4. John de Mutford ; and in 30 and 35 Edw. II. 8 In the latter year a justice of assize ; and a justice of the Common Pleas under Edw. II. XXIX. 1300-1. John de Chester2 ; and in 32 and 35 Edw. Lfl He also acted in the same character under Edw. II. ; in the tenth year of whose reign he was made marshall of the court. XXXIII. 1304-5. John de Drokenesford is also mentioned on one occasion10; but evidently only in connection with his office of treasurer. The queen also had an attorney to attend to her separate interests11, but the name of no one who held the office is recorded. In the statute 4 of 18 Edward I., as to the manner of levying fines, the word "Countour" appears, without the addition of serjeant; and in the statute of Champerty, 33 Edward I., the terms " Countours, Attournees, Apprentis," are used. In the enactment also against Maintenance, in the Articuli super Cartas, chap. 11., 28 Edward I., provision is made that it is not to prohibit parties from having counsel 1 Abbrev. Placit. 202. ; Rot. Pari. i. 368. 8 Dugdale's Chronica Series. 3 Abbrev. Placit. 284. 4 Rot. Pari. i. 18. 140. 146. 149. 172. 5 Ibid. 18, 19. G Ibid. 102.; Abbrev. Placit. 286. 7 Arch. Inst. York, Holy Trin. 154. 8 Rot. Pari. i. 197. 9 Abbrev. Placit. 261. 297. 10 Ibid. 255. » Rot. Pari. i. 53. 1272—1307. SERJEANTS. 47 of "Contours c de sages Gentz" for their fee. The former word Coke says includes Serjeants at law, and " Sages Gentz" he interprets apprentices at law.1 An action for conspiracy, maintenance, &c, had been brought in 25 Edward I. against Thomas le Mareschall, who pleaded that he was a common scrjeant-narrator before jus- tices and elsewhere, and that he stood with and assisted the party in his plea as much as he could as his serjeant, and as it is lawful for such Serjeants in such cases.2 Although it was adjudged that he ought not to answer, such a plea may very well have been the origin of the above mentioned pro- vision in the statute three years afterwards. That Serjeants were not exempt from the corruption of the time may be inferred from the existence of an enactment for its punishment. The statute of Westminster I., 3 Edward I., chap. 29., provides, that if any " serjeant-countre do any manner of deceit or collusion in the king's court, or consent unto it in deceit of the court, or to beguile the court or the party, he shall be imprisoned for a year and a day, and from thenceforth shall not be heard to plead in the court for any man." An instance is recorded in the petitions to the par- liament of 1 8 Edward I. of a counsellor of one party having received a bribe from the other, for whom he procured a false verdict.3 Coke, in his preface to the Tenth Keport, says, that in the great case of Thomas de Weyland, the Serjeants are called " Servientes in legibus et consuetudinibus Anglire experti.', But this is not quite so. By a convenient omission of the context, he confines to the Serjeants the description which is given of those whom the king commanded to attend him on the question raised in that case, viz., as well the judges ] Preface to 10 Report. * Abbrev. Placit. 237. '■' Hot. Pari. i. 59. 48 APPRENTICES. Edw. I. of both benches, as others of his kingdom, "tarn Milites quam Servientes in legibus, &c. experti."1 In this reign the list of Serjeants commences. All those named by Dugdale and by Wynne2 are called Servientes Regis ad legem ; and the only one I find, to whom that title is not given, is Thomas le Mareschall, who, as we have seen, calls himself " a common serjeant-narrator, or countor." The following is the order in which their names appear ; but as they are extracted from Liberate Rolls, their actual appointments probably took place at earlier periods. John de Cobbebam, Elias de Beckingham. William de Giselbam. Serjeants. III. 1274-5. Thomas de Weyland, John de Metingham, IX. 1280-1. Gilbert de Thornton, XX. 1291-2. William Inge. XXI. 1292-3. Nicholas de Warwick. All of these had some allowance out of the Exchequer, perhaps for their service to the king ; and all, except the last, became judges : indeed Thomas de Weyland and John de Cobbeham appear to have been paid after they were raised to the bench ; but this might have been only for an arrear then due. XXV. 1296-7. Thomas le Mareschall. The word Apprentices, as applied to the law, was first used in this reign. By an ordinance of the parliament of 20 Edward I., entitled " De Attornatis et Apprentices," John de Metingham and his companions were enjoined to provide a certain number for every county of the better and more legally and liberally learned, according to what they con- ceived to be for the convenience of the court and the people ; and none but those were to follow the court or interfere in its proceedings. The mandate suggests that 140 will be 1 Rot. Pari. i. 67. 8 Dugdale's Chron. Series ; Wynne's Serjeant at law. 1272—1307. REPORTERS. 49 sufficient, but gives these judges power to increase or di- minish the number.1 The words "attornatis et appren- tices" are probably used here synonymously, and were in- tended to apply to pleaders in the court. The necessity for this addition no doubt arose from the division of the courts being carried into full effect, and the Common Pleas being fixed at Westminster, while the King's Bench and Exchequer frequently followed the king. About the same time, also, all justices of assize were appointed to perambulate the kingdom, while all the courts were sitting. Weever mentions Edmund de Hengrave as a renowned lawyer flourishing at this period.2 Although the published editions of the Year Books com- mence with this reign, they contain no reports of cases decided within it, but only a few memoranda of the Ex- chequer, from Michaelmas, 2 Edward I., to Trinity, 29 Ed- ward I., omitting six years during that interval and the six concluding years. In Keilway's Reports there are eight cases in the sixth year of this reign. David Jenkins reports a few in the 18th and 34th years; and some others are in Fitz-Herbert's Abridgment. A very valuable selection also from the Rolls of Pleadings in the court of King's Bench is contained in the Abbreviatio Placitorum, published in 1811. 1 Rot. Pari. i. 84. * Wccvcr, 86ii. VOL. 111. 50 BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES OF THE JUDGES UNDER THE REIGN OF EDWARD I. ABYNDON, RICHARD DE. B. E. 1299. See under the Reign of Edward II. BALDOCK, RALPH DE, Dean and Bishop of London. Chancellor, 1307. See under the Reign of Edward II. BANKWELL, or BAUKWELL, JOHN DE. Just. Itin. 1299. See under the Reign of Edward II. BARDELBY, ROBERT DE. ? Keeper, 1 302. See under the Reign of Edward II. BARNSTAPLE, Archdeacon of. See G. Giffard. BARTON, JOHN DE. Just. Ttin. T. 1304. John de Barton is the second of the two justices (Ralph Fitz- William being the first) to whom the commission of trailbaston confined to Yorkshire, and copied in Spelman, is 1272—1307. JOHN DE BARTON. 51 directed.1 The date is there omitted; but in Hemingford (p. 208) it is placed under the year 1304. Among the parliamentary writs is one dated November 23, 1304, addressed not only to these two, but to two others 2 ; so that it is probable there were two commissions, and that the first was issued before the great extent of the offence was known; especially as in April, 1305, a still more formal appointment of judges for almost every county in England, including Yorkshire, took place 3 ; among whom, or among those afterwards nominated, neither Fitz- William nor Barton appear. In the above commission he is erroneously called " de By ton," as he is afterwards designated "de Fryton," not only in the parliamentary writ, but also in a commission to enquire relative to a chest of specie found on the sea shore in Yorkshire, claimed by the king as a wreck ; in which he was afterwards superseded by four other commissioners, at the head of whom was the above-named Ralph Fitz- William ; and the whole proceedings were stopped in 8 Edward II.4 He is so called, also, in another commission in the latter year, by which he was assigned to collect and levy the scutage of the county of York.5 He was summoned to perform military service against the Scots in 24 Edward I., and in the 28th and 31st years of that reign, was named in commissions of array in Yorkshire.6 BATESFORD, JOHN DE. Just. Itin. 1293. See under the Reign of Edward II. 1 Glossary, Traitbastvn* '' Pari. Writs, 1. 407. 3 N. Feeders, i. 970. ' Rot Pari. i. ■ Abbrer. Rot Orig. L Pari. Writs, L 277. 345. 370. E 2 52 ELIAS DE BECKINGHAM. Edw. I BATH AND WELLS, Bishops of. See R. Burnel ; W. de Marchia ; I. de Drokenesford. BAUKWELL, JOHN DE. See Bankwell. BECKINGHAM, ELIAS DE. Just. Itin. 1274. Just. C. P. 1285. It is to be regretted that so little is known of the history of a man, who, amidst the corruption of his fellows, stood with- out taint. Elias de Beckingham was one of the two judges who alone were found pure, when all the others were con- victed of corrupt practices, and dismissed in disgrace from the seat of justice. Nothing is recorded of him beyond this fact, and the dates of his judicial career. He is first mentioned at the bottom of the list of justices itinerant into Middlesex in 2 Edward I., 1274; and it would appear that the appoint- ment was cancelled, as another commission follows in the next Roll of that year, in which the name of Solomon de Rochester is substituted for his. He clearly was not then a regular justicier, as he is mentioned in a Liberate of the following year as a king's serjeant. In 4 Edward I. he was one of the justices of assize then appointed.1 He afterwards filled the office of keeper of the records and writs of the Common Pleas ; and an allowance of twenty shillings was made to him for the expenses of their carriage from Westminster to Shrewsbury, where the king, on his expedition to Wales in 1 1 Edward I., had ordered the court to be held.2 It was not till Michaelmas, 13 Edward I., 1285, that he was raised to the bench as a judge of the Common Pleas ; and, except that he went the circuit into Dorsetshire in 16 1 Dugdale's Chron. Series. 8 Madox's Exch. ii. 7. 1272—1307. THOMAS BEK. 53 Edward I., and that fines were levied before him, there is no other mention of him till the period when the judges were all apprehended by the king on charges of bribery and corrup- tion, and he and John de Metingham only were honourably acquitted. This occurred towards the end of 17 Edward I., 1289 ; and the Parliament Roll of 20 Edward I. contains an honourable record of his purity. After stating that a certain proceeding in the Common Pleas was not found on the Roll of Thomas de Weyland and his companions, it proceeds thus : "Et quia Elias Bekingham, qui de societate praedicti Thoma3 tunc fuit, recordatur, quod tenens semper formam brevis calumpniavit, cujus soli recordo major fides est adhi- benda quam rotulis predicti Thoma?, in quibus falsitas mani- festa reperiebatur ; per quod idem Thomas et alii de societate sua omnes tunc justic. preter predictum Eliam, et falsitati sue consentientes penitentiam suam sustinuerunt, et idem Elias semper fidelis extiterit, et in servitio regis fideliter se ges- serit," &C.1 He retired from the bench, or died, in 34 Edward I., 1305, the last fine levied before him being dated in fifteen days of St. Martin in that year.2 He was buried at Bottisham church in Cambridgeshire ; and on his sepulchral memorial he is designated " Justiciarius Domini Regis Anglige." 8 BEK, THOMAS, Archdeacon of Dorset, Bishop of St. David's. ? Keeper, 1 279. Thomas Bek, or Becke, was second son of Walter Ink, baron of Esseby in Lincolnshire; and Mr. Hardy places him in his Catalogue of Keepers of the Great Seal, on the 1 Rot. Pari. i. 84. * Dugdale*i Orig. .lurid, p. 44. 3 Proceedings of the Areh.i'ological Inst., vol. i. p. 24. E 3 54 THOMAS BEK. Edw. I. questionable ground that when John de Kirkeby, in whose possession it was left by Robert Burnel, the chancellor, was commanded to attend the king in May, 1279, 7 Edward I., he was directed to leave the seal, sealed up with his own seal, in the custody of Thomas Bek; and that in the same month they were both ordered to attend with it at Dover, and there to await the king's messenger.1 There is also a writ from the king to them both, dated June 8, relative to a prebend in the church of St. Martin's-le- Grand.2 Bek was no doubt at that time, as he certainly was three years before 3, keeper of the king's wardrobe, the usual place of the seal's deposit. In the same year, also, he was constituted treasurer ; but re- mained so a short time only, as Joseph de Cancy, prior of St. John of Jerusalem, held it very soon after.4 Like most of the officers of the court in those days he was an ecclesiastic, and in 3 Edward I. was in possession of the archdeaconry of Dorset, which he held till he was elected Bishop of St. David's on June 3, 1280. He sat there for thirteen years, during which time he founded two colleges in Wales, one at Aberguilly, and the other at Landewy-brevy. He died on April 14, 1293.5 His two brothers, John and Anthony Bek, were both officers in the Exchequer about this time, the former of wThom succeeded his father as eldest son, and the latter was employed in various missions, and ultimately became Bishop of Durham.6 1 Hardy's Catalogue, 12. 2 7 Report Pub. Rec, App. ii. 25.3. 3 Issue Roll, iii. 91. 4 Dugdale's Chron. Ser. 5 Godwin de Praesul. p. 580. ; Le Neve, 218. 512. 6 Madox's Exch. ii. 103. ; Sixth Report Pub. Rec, App. ii. 91. 102. 107. Nicolas's Siege of Carlaverock, 288. ; Dugdale's Baronage, i. 426. 1272—1307. ROGER DE BELLA FAGO. 55 BELLA FAGO, ROGER DE. Just. Itin. 1305. Dugdale does not mention Roger de Bella Fago, (Beaufoe, or Belfour,) but the rolls of parliament prove that he was one of the justices of assize for Warwickshire in 33 Edward I., 1305, in conjunction with William de Mortuomari1, and that he was appointed in 33 and 35 Edward I. a justice of trailbaston for Cornwall and nine other counties.2 His harshness and cruelty in performing this duty is commemo- rated in a contemporary song.3 His connection with the court is further evidenced by his being named in a patent of uncertain date, as one of the commissioners to survey the obstructions of the river Thames between London and Oxford.4 It does not appear in what manner he was related to the opulent family of his name, which was settled in Norfolk, and which traced its lineage to Ralph de Bella Pago in the time of the conquest; but we find that he resided in Oxfordshire, and that his daughter Isabella married John de Walerico, and, being afterwards divorced from him, became the wife of William Ulgar.3 BENSTEDE, JOHN DE. ? Keeper, 1296. See under the Reign of Edward II. BEREFORD, WILLIAM DE. Just. Itin. 1298. Just. C. P. 1296. See under the Reign of Edward II. 1 Rot. Pari. i. 168. * Ibid. 218. j N. Fcedert, i. 970. :' Wright's Political Songs, p 233. ' Hot. Pari. i. 475. 5 Abbrev. Placit. 214. i i 56 JOHN DE BOSCO. Edw. I. BEREWYK, JOHN DE. Just. Itin. 1292. See under the Reign of Edward II. BEVERLEY, Provost of. See P. de Chester. BOREHAM, HARVEY DE. B. E. 1272. See under the Reign of Henry III. Harvey de Boreham was of a family which took its name from the village so called in Essex. He was an officer of the Exchequer, and also belonged to the ecclesiastical pro- fession. The latter is shewn by his being a canon of St. Paul's ; and the former by his appearing before the barons of the Exchequer with Adam de Stratton for Isabella, Countess of Albemarle, and in her name presenting Ralph de Stratton, her clerk, to act as chamberlain in her place.1 This was in 49 Henry III., 1264, and in the same year fines were levied before him from November till the following Easter. Dugdale accordingly introduces him at that time among the justices of the Common Pleas2, but he does not appear to have acted afterwards in that character. He is, however, recorded as a baron of the Exchequer in 1 Edward I.3, and probably continued so till his death in the fifth year of that reign.4 BOSCO, JOHN DE. Just. Ass. 1293. John de Bosco was an advocate in the courts, and in 18 Edward I. was employed to plead on the part of the king.5 1 Madox's Exch. ii. 296. 8 Dugdale's Orig. Jurid. 21. 42. 3 Madox's Exch. ii. 28. 320. 4 Cal. Inquis. post mortem, i. 62. 5 Abbrev. Placit. 284. 1272—1307. JOHN DE BOTETOURT. 57 On the appointment of the eight justices of assize in 21 Edward I., 1293, he was selected as one, and the circuit to which he was attached comprehended the counties of Cornwall, Somerset, Dorset, Devon, Wilts, Hants, Oxford, Berks, Suffolk, and Surrey.1 In the same year he claimed, with his brothers-in-law, the manors of Toleshunt, Tregoz, and Blunteshale in Essex, as son of Lucy, one of the four sisters of Nicholas de Tregoz.2 He was summoned among the judges to parliament in the twenty-third and twenty- fifth years of that reign.3 His career seems to have termi- nated disgracefully, as he was convicted in 6 Edward II. of abstracting a king's writ, and substituting a false one in its1 place.4 BOTETOURT, JOHN DE. Just. Itin. T. 1305. John de Botetourt was appointed one of the justices of trailbaston in 33 Edward I., 13055, and in the same year received his first summons to parliament6, and was sent to treat with the Scots on the affairs of that kingdom.7 Dugdale states nothing of his origin, but mentions his ap- pointment as governor of St. Briavel's Castle in Gloucester- shire, and as warden of the Forest of Dene in 19 Edward I. Two years afterwards he was a justice of gaol delivery in the counties of Warwick and Leicester8; and in 22 Edward I., being then admiral of the king's fleet, he was summoned to serve in Gascony, and was in the expedition there in the twenty-fourth year, during which period various sums of money were paid to him on the king's account.9 In the 1 Dugdale's Cbron. Scries. 2 Rot. Pari. i. 92. :< Pari. Writs, i. 29. 52. 4 Abbrev. Placit. 316. 5 N. Pettier*, i. 970. ; Rot. Pari. i. 330. 478. ; ii. I 6 Nicolas's Synopsis, Corrigenda, SI. .7 Rot. Pari. i. 267. 8 Ibid. 95. 8 Ibid. 169. 194. 58 JOHN DE BOTETOURT. Edw. I. following years he accompanied the king in his Scottish wars, and was present in June, 1300, at the siege of Carlaverock, the metrical chronicler of which describes him as " light of heart and doing good to all."1 He wras a party to the barons' letter to the pontiff in 29 Edward I., in which he is styled "Lord of Mendlesham," in Suffolk. Two years afterwards he was nominated the king's lieutenant in Cum- berland, Westmoreland, &c. 2 and in 33 Edward I. he was assigned with two others to hear and determine certain trans- gressions committed at Bristol.3 Under Edward II. he wras equally distinguished, being appointed one of the peers to regulate the royal household, and afterwards to treat with the Earl of Lancaster. He was again admiral of the king's fleet, and governor of the castles of St. Briavel and Framlingham ; he also served again against the Scots, besides being engaged in several commis- sions of a civil character. He died in 18 Edward II.4, leaving his wife, Matilda, surviving him.5 She was the daughter of Beatrice de Beauchamp, widow of William de Beauchamp, and on the death of her brother Otho became his heir. By her he had three sons, Thomas (wTho died in his father's lifetime), John, and Otho; and two daughters, Elizabeth, who married, first, William, Lord Latimer, and secondly Robert de Ufford, and Joane, married to Robert Fitz -Walter. Thomas's son John succeeded to the honours, which devolved at his death on his grand -daughter Joyce, the wife of Sir Hugh Burnell. At Joyce's death, without issue, in 1406, the barony fell into abeyance among the three daughters of the last baron, and so remained till 1764, a period of 358 years, when Norbonne Berkely, the lineal descendant and heir of one of the daughters, was summoned 1 Nicolas's Siege of Carlaverock, 32. 202. 2 Pari. Writs, i. 368. 3 Rot. Pari. i. 168. 4 Cal. Inquis. post mortem, i. 319. 5 Abbrev. Placit. 355. 1272—1307. KICHAKD DE BOYLAND. 59 to parliament by the old title; but, dying in 1776 without issue, the barony again remained in abeyance till 1803, when it was confirmed to Henry Somerset, fifth Duke of Beaufort, the son of Charles, the fourth duke, by Elizabeth, the sister and sole heir of Norbonne Berkely, the last lord, and it is still held by the present duke.1 BOYLAND, RICHARD DE. Just. Itik. 1279. Blomefield thinks that Richard de Boy land was the son of Roger de Boy land and Alice his wife. In 1268 he pur- chased part of the manor of Brisingham in Norfolk, which was afterwards called by his name. In part payment he gave eighty acres which he had previously held in Pulham in the same county. He was then a successful lawyer, and in 7 Edward I., 1279, he was appointed one of the justices itinerant into Dorsetshire, Somersetshire, and Wiltshire, an office which he continued to execute in various other counties'-, until, for his corruption in the administration of justice, he was disgraced in 1289, 18 Edward I., and was fined 4000 marks for his extortions. After his discharge he retired to his manor of Boylands, and built a noble mansion there, famous for the moat that surrounded it, and for the magnificent conduit which he constructed. He lived for six years afterwards, dying in 24 Edward La His son, John Boy land, presented a petition to the parliament of 30 Edward I. relative to a debt of 400/. due by his father to the king.4 The name of his first wife was Matilda, and his second was Ellen, the daughter of Philip de Col vile. The extent 1 Dugdale'a Baronage, ii. 46. ; Nieolas'a Synopsis. * Dugdale'a Cbron. Series, ;| Cal, Inquis. post mortem, i. i 1 Rot. Pari, i. 158. 60 WILLIAM DE BRABOEF. Edw. I. of his possessions, which, in 1295, comprehended many manors and lands in Norfolk and Suffolk, over part of which he had a grant of free warren in 1285, may shew either his success as a lawyer or his corruption as a judge ; but it would be unjust to attribute his riches to the latter, con- sidering that King Edward was not likely to be lenient or to discourage complaints against him. He left, besides the above mentioned John, another son named Richard, but in three generations the family became extinct in its male branch.1 BRABAZON, ROGER LE. ?Just. Itin. 1287. Just. K. B. 1289. Ch. K. B. 1295. See under the Reign of Edward II. BRABOEF, WILLIAM DE. Just. Itin. 1280. The ancestor of William de Braboef came into England with the Conqueror, and his descendants held lands in Surrey, Hampshire, and several other counties.2 William de Braboef acted as assessor for Hampshire for the fifteenth granted in 3 Edward I., and in the sixth year that county was com- mitted to his charge as sheriff. He held the office for the next two years, in the latter of which he had a licence to convert his wood of Haywoode within the forests of Penbere and Everle into a park.3 In the same year he was the last named of the four justices itinerant in Hampshire, De- vonshire, Cornwall, and Wiltshire ; a duty which the same four, with one added, again performed in Cornwall in 10 Ed- i Blomefield's Norfolk, i. 38.; Abbrev. Placit. 208. 319. 339. 2 Manning and Bray's Surrey, i. 86. ; Abbrev. Placit. 48. 78. 1 64. 3 Cal. Rot. Pat. 48. 1272—1307. JOHN LE BRETON. 61 ward I.1 He was again employed as assessor in Hampshire for the thirteenth granted in the following year. He died in 12 Edward I., soon after which Joane, his widow, and John Randolf (hereafter mentioned as a justice itinerant in this and the next reign), the executors of his will, accounted for the issues of the forfeitures of certain Jews, to discover and sell whose goods and chattels he had been appointed a commissioner.2 BRETON, JOHN LE. Just. Itin. T. 1305. The family of Breton held considerable possessions in Nor- folk, but to what branch of it this John le Breton belonged is uncertain. He was probably the " Dominus de Sporle" of that name who joined in the barons' letter to Pope Boniface VIII. in 29 Edward I. On January 9, 1305, 33 Edward I., he was one of the justices of trailbaston, then appointed for the counties of Norfolk and Suffolk, and was again nominated on April 6, 1305, and on February 18, 1307.;3 It was no doubt in this character that his name occurs among the judges and clerks of the council summoned to parliament in 1 & 2 Edward II. In the next year he was an assessor of the twenty-fifth granted in Norfolk4, and he died in 4 Edward II.5 In 17 Edward I., the king committed to a John le Breton the city of London, which had been deprived of its liberties6 ; and we find him still custos in the twenty-fifth year7, when the 1 Dugdale's Chron. Ser. 8 Pari. Writs, i. 3. 13. ; Abbrev. Rot. Orig. i. 32. 34. 48.; Madox'a Exch. i. SSL 3 Pari. Writs, i. 497. ; N. Fcedcra, i. 970. ; Hot. Pari. i. 218. 4 Pari. Writs, ii. 592. 8 Abbrt-v. Rot. Orig. i. 177. 6 Cal. Rot. Pat. 53. 56. 59. 7 Madox'a Exch. II 62 WILLIAM DE BROMPTON. Edw. T. liberties were restored ; but whether he was the same person as the justice of trailbaston is not apparent. BROMPTON, WILLIAM DE. Just. C. P. 1278. The Fine Roll of 52 Henry III., 1268, contains an entry that William de Brompton and Cecil his wife paid for an assize in Essex.1 He was constituted a judge of the Common Pleas in 1278, 6 Edward I.2; and fines were levied before him from the morrow of St. Martin in that year till Michaelmas, 17 Edward I., 1289.3 Soon after this he was disgraced and imprisoned in the Tower for corruption in his office.4 One of the charges against him was that he im- peded the prior of Huntingdon in an assize of Darrein Presentment to the church of Suho, whereby the bishop took it by lapse of time.5 An enquiry also took place as to a judgment he was alleged to have pronounced through favour to John de Kirkeby, Bishop of Ely, for one John Paynell, against the abbot of Rupe by default of the latter. It was attempted to be proved by witnesses on one side that the abbot was dead at the time of the supposed default, who were met on the other by evidence that he was alive. The result was that the new abbot's witnesses were disbelieved, and the judgment was ordered to stand.6 But his offences must have been of a far more heinous nature than either of these, as the fine of 6000 marks, which he is stated to have been compelled to pay for his enlarge- ment, was one of the highest that was imposed upon those who shared in his disgrace. 1 Excerpt, e Rot. Fin. ii. 471. 2 Pari. Writs, i. 382. 3 Dugdale's Orig. Jurid. 44., where he is called Burton. 4 Stow's London, 44. 5 Rot. Pari. i. 48. 8 Abbrev. Placit. 287. 1272—1307. ROBERT BURNEL. 63 His name is sometimes spelled Burnton, two instances of which occur during the time he was upon the bench.1 A William de Brompton is named as one of the king's coun- cillors in the Statute de Escaetoribus, 29 Edward L, 1301 2, and as one of the justices of the Bishop of Durham in the same year3; and in the following a justice itinerant in Corn- wall called William de Burnton occurs4, but whether they were the same person I have not been able to discover. BURNEL, ROBERT, Archdeacon of York, and afterwards Bishop of Bath and Wells. Chancellor, 1274. The parentage of Robert Burnel is variously described. Dugdale 5 makes him uncle (as he certainly was) of his heir Philip, whom he calls the son of Hugh, who was the son of another Philip, the brother of William and Robert, both of whom, he adds, were drowned in 1282, 11 Edward I. ; thus the bishop must have been the brother of Hugh, and the son of the last named Philip. Godwin 6 agrees in his being the brother of Hugh, but says that he was the son of Robert. Again, by Dugdale's account, the Robert who was drowned procured a market and two fairs for Acton Burn ell in Shrop- shire, in 54 Henry III. ; while Mr. Hartshorne, in his in- teresting article on the subject 7, appropriates this grant as one made to Robert, the bishop. In regard to this, it appears probable that Dugdale is in error; for there is no doubt that the bishop, four years before this date, was in possession of property at x\cton Burncll, an annual payment of fifteen shillings for certain lands reduced into cultivation in the woods of that manor, and others within the forest of 1 Abbrer, Placit 205. 277. ; Abbrev. Rot. Orig. i. I :; Stat, at lar^e, i. 147. :l Pari. Writs, i. [08. 1 Dugdala'a Cbron. Series. 5 Dugdale's Baronage, ii. 60. ■ Godwin de PrSBSuL :;7 1. 7 Arclnvol. Journal, ii. SS 64 ROBERT BURNEL. Edw. 1. Salop, being remitted to him by a patent of 50 Henry III., 1265, wherein he is described as clerk to Edward, the king's eldest son.1 Discarding the story of a Robert being drowned with his brother William, for which there does not seem sufficient authority, another Robert is mentioned by Dugdale, at an earlier period, who died 1249, 34 Henry III. He, probably, was the father of William, Robert, the bishop, Philip and Hugh. William died before his father, and homage was done in 31 Henry III. for some lands he held in Shropshire by William, his son 2 ; who, if he be the same, was in a state of outlawry for felony in 35 Henry III. 3, and was dead in the following year, his widow, Ducia, being mentioned in 36 Henry III.4 Bishop Robert, if the eldest son, would have succeeded at his father's death in 1249, or, if the second, at his nephew William's death, about 1252. In either case the discordant statements would be reconciled, and his possession of Acton Burnell in 1265 be accounted for. However this fact may be, there is proof on the Patent Rolls that he was born there 5 ; and it has been already shewn that, in 1265, he was acting as clerk or secretary to Prince Edward. In the year previous, also, certain demands for which he had been summoned into the Exchequer were respited, as he was then going as nuncius or agent for the king and prince into Ireland.6 He therefore was, no doubt, the Robert who is mentioned by Dugdale as being signed with the cross with Prince Edward in 1269. If he accom- panied that prince to the Holy Land, he must have returned to England before him ; as Madox cites two records in the first year of Edward's reign, by which it is evident that he 1 Archaeol. Journ. ii. 326. ■ Excerpt, e Rot. Fin. ii. 21. 3 Ibid. p. 118. * Ibid. p. If56. 5 Tat. 12 Edw. I. m. 7. 6 Madox's Exch. ii. 218. 1272—1307. ROBERT BURNEL. 65 held a high place in the council during the king's absence ] ; and there are also several letters addressed by him to Walter de Merton the chancellor.2 Although Godwin states that he was treasurer before he was chancellor, there is nothing to show that he held that appointment. Indeed, one of the two records last cited seems to prove the contrary, as it is a view taken of an ac- count before Brother Joseph de Chancy, Prior of St. John of Jerusalem, then treasurer, and Robert Burnel, without any addition. He was at this time Canon of Wells and Arch- deacon of York, and, from the above fact, probably held some office in the Exchequer. King Edward returned to England on August 2, 1274, in the second year of his reign, and was crowned on the 19th. Within a month afterwards, Burnel, on the retirement of Walter de Merton, was raised to the chancellorship, the Great Seal being delivered to him on September 21, 1274.3 He filled this office all the remainder of his life, and never, during the eighteen years that it lasted, lost the confidence of his royal master ; a distinction which he well merited from the wisdom of his counsels, and the zeal and assiduity with which he aided his sovereign's efforts in the improvement of the law. In January, 1275, he was elected Bishop of Bath and Wells, and was consecrated at Merton on the 7th of the following April.4 On the abdication'of the Archbishoprick of Canter- bury by Robert Ascwardby in 1278, the monks elected Bishop Burnel as his successor ; but the pope, not deeming him a man fitted for his purposes, annulled the appointment, and placed John Peckham in the vacant seat.5 In 6 Edward I. he went into foreign parts, when he ap- 1 Madox't Exch. ii. 207. 2 6 Report Pub. Etee., App. ii. 92, 93. 113. 8 Dugdale's Chron. Ser. * Godwin dt Prmul. 374. s Ibid. p. 97. VOL. III. F 66 ROBERT BURNEL. Edw. I. pointed John de Kirkeby to transact the business of the Chancery during his absence, leaving the Great Seal under his custody1 : and in February, 1283, 11 Edward L, he pursued the same course on his going "usque partes pro- prias." 2 In the following year he left the Seal in the care of Hugh de Kendal and Walter de Odyham3: and in 14 Edward L, August, 1286, when the king went abroad, he accompanied him with the Seal, and did not return till August, 1289 4; and lastly, on his visiting his diocese in the next year, he left the Seal in the custody of Magister William de Marchia.5 All these were evidently officers of the Chancery. Acton Burnell, the place of his birth and residence, has acquired an interest in historical recollections by having given its name to the Statutum de Mercatoribus, which was enacted there on October 12, 1283, 11 Edward I. The king was then paying a visit to his chancellor, while a par- liament, which he had summoned to meet at Shrewsbury, were determining the fate of the Welsh Prince David. When that trial was over, the parliament joined the king at Acton Burnell, and passed this statute ; after which the king extended his royal visit till November 12. Some remains of the room in which the parliament sat, still exist. They belong to the old mansion of the Bishop's ancestors. But soon after this he commenced a new building, for the erection of winch he had the royal permission to take timber from the Forest of Salop, and a license to embattle it. This mansion still remains, but the interior is now so much choked up with modern erections that its original arrangement can scarcely be ascertained.6 The great hall in the episcopal palace at 1 Lib. 6 Edw. I., m. 2. 2 Lib. 1] Edw. I., m. 8. 3 Pat. 12 Edw. I., m. 7. * Claus. 14 Edw. I., m. 4; 17 Edw. I., m. 5. 5 Claus. 18 Edw. I,, m. 14. 6 Mr. Hartshorne's Paper, Archaeol. Journal, ii. 325., &c. 1272—1307. THOMAS DE BURNHAM. 67 Wells, which was destroyed by Sir John Gates, was erected by Burnel ; and it is amusing to see Bishop Godwin assigning the knight's subsequent decapitation as a just reward of his sacrilege.1 One of the last acts which is recorded of Bishop Burnel is his attendance at Norham as chancellor at the meeting of the Scottish peers, on June 3, 1291, when King Edward acted as arbitrator between the competitors for that crown.2 On October 25, 1292, he died at Berwick on Tweed, when his body was removed to Wells and buried there. His large property devolved on his nephew Philip, whose son Edward was summoned to parliament in the next reign, but died with- out issue. His nephew Nicholas, the son of his sister Maud by John de Handlo, assumed the name of Burnell, and was also summoned under Edward III. ; but his son Hugh leaving only daughters, the barony fell into abeyance.3 Robert Burnel was an active and a wise minister, serving the crown with zeal, energy, and prudence. No chancellor before him had ever held the Seal so long, or retained so un- interruptedly his sovereign's confidence. The monk of Wor- cester gives his character in these words : " Regi tarn utilis, plebi tarn affabilis, omnibus amabilis : vix nostris temporibus illi similis invenietur." 4 BURNHAM, THOMAS DE. Just. Itin. T. 1304. In the first commission of Trailbaston into the counties of Lincoln, Nottingham, and Derby, dated November 23, 1304, 33 Edward I., Thomas de Burnham was the last justice of the four to whom it was addressed.5 On the renewal of the commissions in the following April, he was not re-appointed : 1 Godwin de Pnecul. 374. * Lingard. iii. 206. ! Dugdale; Nicolas's Synopsis. 4 AngK Sac. i. 514. 8 Rot. Pari. i. 407. F 2 68 WILLIAM DE BYRLAY. Edw. I. but he had in the mean time been returned as knight of the shire for Lincolnshire, which he had already represented in three parliaments, and was again elected to that of 2 Ed- ward II. l BURNTON, WILLIAM DE. Just. Itin. 1302. William de Burnton was the last named of five justices itinerant appointed in 30 Edward I., 1302, for the county of Cornwall- : whether he was the same as William de B romp- ton, the justice of the Common Pleas in this reign, whose name was sometimes written Burnton, does not clearly appear ; but as thirteen years had elapsed since his disgrace, it may have been his son. BYRLAY, WILLIAM DE. ? Keeper, 1298. Although Mr. Hardy introduces William de Byrlay (Birlaco) among the keepers, he can hardly be considered entitled to that designation. He seems to have been merely a clerk in the Chancery, to whom, with two of his brethren, the Great Seal was on some occasions entrusted during the temporary absences of the chancellor. On March 15, 1298, 26 Edward I., John de Langton, the chancellor, deposited the Great Seal in the hands of him and of Master John de Craucombe and Master John de Caen, to be kept in their custody till his return.3 Another entry on December 28, 1298, of these three delivering the Seal into the wardrobe to be taken to the chancellor, states that it had been committed to them when that officer went to advise with the Archbishop 1 Rot. Pari. i. 86. 97. 120. 146. 8 Hardy's Catal. p. 14. 2 Dugdale's Chron. Series. 1272—1307. JOHN DE BYRUN. 69 of Canterbury relative to his election to the see of Ely. ! I am inclined to think that Mr. Hardy is mistaken in noticing these two entries as having relation to each other ; because the interval between them is too long for an occasional absence, and because at the first date the bishoprick of Ely was not vacant, as William de Luda did not die till March 25 or 28, and the election would not take place till some time afterwards. The Seal was next placed under his seal and those of John de Caen and Robert de Bardelby, on August 23 and October 30, 1302, 30 Edward I.2; and on December 29, 1304, it was again in his possession in conjunc- with Adam de Osgodby, the Master of the Rolls, and Robert de Bardelby.3 After the latter date his name does not occur. BYRUN, JOHN DE. Just. Itin. T. 1305. A separate commission of Trailbaston was issued on March 13, 1305, 33 Edward L, for the county of Lancaster, ad- dressed to two justices, one of whom was John de Byrun. In the following month, Lancashire was consolidated with the other northern counties in a new commission, in which his name was not included. 4 John de Byrun was a lineal descendant from Ralph dc Burun, who at the time of the Conqueror's survey had eight lordships in Nottinghamshire and five in Derbyshire. His great-grandfather Robert obtained considerable property in Lancashire by his marriage with Cecilia, the daughter and heir of Richard Clayton, of Clayton in that county, by whom he had a son, also Robert, the father of a John, who by marry- ing Joan, daughter of Sir Baldwin Thies, and widow of Sir Robert Holland, greatly increased his possessions in Lanca- 1 Rot. Claus. 27 Edw. I., m. 18. * Madox's Exch. i. 4S1. 3 Rot. Claus. 33 Edw. I., m. 22. * Pari. Writs, i. 407, 408. r 3 70 JOHN DE BYRUN. Edw. I. shire by the addition of extensive lands in Rochdale. He was the father of John de Byrun, the subject of the present notice. It was said that the barony was lost in the reign of King John, who gave it to William Briwer. We find John the father, however, seated at Clayton, and appointed one of the conservators of the peace for that county in 15 Edward I. 1 He was sheriff of Yorkshire for seven years from 21 Ed- ward 1. 2, and actively engaged in raising the forces for the Scottish wars. In 28 Edward I. he held a high place in the commission to perambulate the forests of that and the neighbouring counties. John the son for the first nine years of the reign of Edward II. held an equally prominent position in Lanca- shire 3 ; after which he is not mentioned. Some little con- fusion arising from the identity of name, renders it difficult to distinguish precisely the acts of the two. The date of neither of their deaths is given. The son married Alice, cousin and heir of Robert Banastre of Hyndeley, Lancashire, and was succeeded by his son Richard de Byron. In regular descent from him came Sir John Byron, who for his faithful adherence to the fortunes of King Charles I., and his valiant support of his cause, was created Baron Byron of Rochdale on October 24, 1643. The present baron, the seventh lord, is his lineal descendant. The surpassing genius of George Gordon Byron, the last lord, has given to the title an immor- tality, which it could have never derived either from the antiquity of the family or the devoted loyalty for which the peerage was granted : his works will remain a lasting monu- ment of his glory, but a sad record of his unhappy disposition and of his unfortunate fate. 4 1 Pari. Writs, i. p. 389. * Fuller's Worthies. 3 Pari. Writs, i. 299. 398., ii. 8—17. 4 Dugdale's Baron, i. 518., ii. 469. ; Collins's Peerage, vii. 89. 1272—1307. JOHN DE CAEN. 71 CAEN, JOHN DPI ? Keeper, 1298. There can be little doubt that John de Caen (Cadomo) was one of the clerks in the Chancery. He is mentioned in December, 1292, as present on John de Langton's being appointed chancellor 1 ; and on four different occasions his name subsequently appears in connection with the Great Seal. On March 15, 1298, John de Langton, on retiring for a time from court, left it, under his own seal, with Master John de Craucombe, Master John de Caen, and William de Byrlay till his return2; and on December 18 of the same year, another record states that the three delivered it into the king's wardrobe, to be taken to the chancellor.3 Although it is improbable that they had possession of the Seal during the whole of this interval, for the reasons mentioned under William de Byrlay, yet it is certain that on October 3, John de Caen was acting in the Exchequer as locum tenens for the chancellor.4 Twice also in the year 1302, viz., on August 23, on the resignation of John de Langton ; and on October 30, when his successor, William de Greenfield, was sent abroad on a mission, the Seal was delivered to Adam de Osgodby, the keeper of the Rolls, to be kept by him under the seals of John de Caen, William de Byrlay, and Robert de Bardelby. On the first of these occasions, they held it till the vacancy was supplied, on September 30 ; and on the last, the chancellor was only absent twelve days, return- ing on December ll.5 When William de Hamilton was constituted chancellor in 1 Rot. Clans. '21 Edw. I., m. 10. ■ Hardy's Catalogue, 11, 15. 3 Rot. Claus. 27 Edw. I., m. 18. 4 Madox's Exch, i. 121. 5 Rot. Claus. 30 Edw. I., m. 6. 52. ; Ibid. 31 Edw. 1., m. 18. F 4 72 WALTER DE CAMBHOU. Edw. I. December, 1304, John de Caen's name was not among those who were directed to keep the Seal till his arrival l ; but he was a receiver of petitions in the parliament at Westminster in September, 1305, 33 Edward I., and was also summoned to that held at Carlisle in January, 1307 2; and in the next reign as late as February, 1310, 3 Edward II.3 CAMBHOU, WALTER DE. Just. Itin. 1293. Among the pleas of the crown at Newcastle in 14 Edward I., Walter de Cambhou is mentioned as a keeper of the tallies of the Exchequer.4 He was appointed a justice itinerant in Tindale in 21 Edward I.5, being at that time custos of the castle of Baumburgh 6 ; but he does not appear to have acted afterwards. In that year, he and Isabella his wife levied a fine of considerable property in Colwell in Nor- thumberland, in favour of their son William de Cambhou and his heirs, and in failure thereof to the right heirs of Isabella: and in a plea of Michaelmas term, 19 Edward II., it is shown that both William and his brother John (who was in the king's service in 26 Edward 1. 7) died without heirs, and that Emma, the wife of Robert de Coventre, the grand-daughter, through a daughter of Isabella, was en- titled to the estate.8 Walter was elected one of the knights of the shire for Northumberland in 24 Edward 1. 9 ; and died in the same year.10 1 Rot. Claus. 33 Edw. I., m. 22. 3 Pari. Writs, vol. i. div. i. 42. 5 Dugdale's Chron. Series. 7 Madox's Exch. ii. 219. 9 Pari. Writs, i. 39. 2 Rot. Pari. i. 182. 189. 4 Rot. Pari. i. 122. 6 Abbrev. Rot. Orig. i. 78. 8 Abbrev. Placit. 354. 10 Abbrev. Rot. Orig. i. 94. 1272—1307. JOHN DE CAVE. 73 CANTERBURY, Archdeacon of. See J. de Langton. CARLETON, WILLIAM DE. B. E. 1286. See under the reign of Edward II. CAYE, HUGH DE. Just. Itin. 1293. Hugh de Cave in 5 Edward I. was clerk to Ralph de Hengham, chief justice of the King's Bench, as appears by a grant of lands to which the chief justice's seal was affixed in his presence.1 In 21 Edward I., 1293, he was the last named of four justices itinerant assigned for the county of Surrey 2 ; and he was among the justices summoned to the parliament of August, 23 Edward 1. 3, in which year he is mentioned as acting also at Tamworth.4 He and his brother, I presume the undernamed John, in 15 Edward I., had a grant of land at Cokefrueddinge in Staffordshire, from Alwyn de Norton and his wife.5 CAYE, JOHN DE. ? Just. K. B. 1283. A Justicier of this name has already been noticed under Henry III., whose judicial life commenced in 1254, and terminated in 1261. Dugdale inserts a John de Cave as having been appointed a justice of the King's Bench in 1283, 11 Edward I. Although there is no absolute im- possibility that he may have been the same person, the lapse 1 Dugdale's Orig. Jurid. p. 94. 8 Dugdale's Chron. Series. 3 Pari. Writs, i. 29. * Abbrev. Rot. Orig. i. 92. 5 Abbrev. Placit. 213. 74 ROGER DE CLIFFORD. Edw. I. of time renders it very improbable. Whether he were so or not, I can find no subsequent record of his name in which his connection with the courts is recognised. He appears to have been the brother of the last-mentioned Hugh de Cave, and to have had grants of land made to him by various persons in 11, 15, 16 Edward I., and 2 Ed- ward II., in Shropshire, Staffordshire, Gloucestershire, and Yorkshire.1 CHESTER, PETER DE, Provost of Beverley. B. E. 1284. See under the Reign of Henry III. Peter de Chester is another of the justices itinerant whose duties on his iter in 54 Henry III,, 1270, were confined to pleas of the forest. His name next appears as a baron of the Exchequer, to which he was appointed in 12 Edward I., 1284, and he continued to act till 1288.2 In 1282 he received the provostship of Beverley, and as his successor was named in 1298, it may be presumed that his death occurred about that time.3 CHICHESTER, Bishop of. See J. de Langton. CHICHESTER, Dean of. See W. de Greenfield. CLIFFORD, ROGER DE. ? Just. Itin. 1280. See under the Reign of Henry III. Roger de Clifford traced his descent from Richard Duke of Normandy, the grandfather of William the Conqueror. Richard's third son, called Ponce, was Earl of Arques and > Abbrev. Placit. 213. 215. 275. 305. 2 Madox's Exch. ii. 322. 8 Dugdale's Monast. vi. 1307. 1272—1307. ROGER DE CLIFFORD. 75 Thoulouse, and accompanied his nephew Duke William into England. His son Richard Fitz-Pontz, by his wife Maud, daughter of Ralph de Toney, became lord of Clifford Castle in Herefordshire, and left a son, Walter, who assumed that surname.1 Walter's grandson, Roger, married Sibilla, daughter and heir of Robert de Ewyas and widow of Lord Tregoz ; and by her had the subject of the present notice, who at his father's death, in 16 Henry III., 1231, was a minor.2 He attended the king in his expedition into France in 43 Henry III. For a short time he joined the rebellious barons, but, returning to his duty, he gave effective assistance to his sovereign, both at the siege of Northampton and in Wales, and in the decisive victory at Evesham in 1265. In the next year he was made justice of the forests south of the Trent, the duties of which he performed till August 1, 1270, 54 Henry III., when he went to the Holy Land, and was named one of the executors of the will which Prince Edward made there.3 His son, Roger junior, was appointed justice of the forests in his stead.4 According to Dugdale's list he was placed, in the year previous to his retirement, at the head of the justices itinerant visiting Rutland, and five other counties ; and again held the same position in 8 Edward I., 1280. On the last occasion his commission was certainly confined to pleas of the forest only ; and it seems most pro- bable that those of the former iter did not extend beyond the same object. His bravery and experience in military affairs obtained for him many important governments ; among which were, at various times, the custody of the castles of Marlborough, Ludgershall, Gloucester (with the sheriffalty of that county), 1 This "Walter was the father of Fair Rosamond. 8 Excerpt, e Rot. Fin. i. 219. J Testaments Vetusta, 8. 4 Excerpt, e Rot Fin. ii. 520. 76 ROGER DE CLIFFORD. Edw. I. and Erdesley in Herefordshire. His last office of trust and responsibility was justice of North Wales, to which he was appointed in 8 Edward I. ; and his severity in the execution of its duties is said to have induced David, the son of the Prince of Wales, to break out into open hostility. He was attacked by the Welsh in the castle of Hawardyn in 10 Edward I., and taken prisoner 1 ; and in a skirmish that followed in the next year, his eldest son, Roger junior, was unfortunately slain on November 6, 1182. His own death occurred in 14 Edward I., 1286, when he was succeeded by his grandson Robert, the son of Roger junior. The name of his first wife is not recorded : but his second, whom he married a few years before his death, was the Countess of Lauretania, who survived him.2 Robert, his grandson, was summoned to parliament from 28 Edward I. ; and his descendants enjoyed the title till 1525, when Henry Clifford, the then baron, was created Earl of Cumberland. By the death of the third earl in 1605 without male issue, the earldom devolved on his brother ; on the death of whose son in 1643, it finally became extinct. The barony, however, fell to his daughter Anne, successively the wife of Richard Sackville, Earl of Dorset (by whom she had two daughters), and of Philip, Earl of Pembroke. The future succession to the barony is remarkable for the fre- quency with which it fell into abeyance. The claim made to it by Anne was not decided till 1691, when her grandson, Thomas Tufton, Earl of Thanet, succeeded in establishing his title to it. At his death in 1729, leaving five daughters, a second abeyance occurred among them ; which was termi- nated in 1734 by a confirmation of the barony to the third daughter, Margaret, the wife of Thomas Coke, Earl of Leicester, on whose death without issue in 1775, there was 1 Pari. Writs, i. 222. » Dugdale's Baronage, i. 335. 1272—1307. JOHN DE COBBEHAM. 77 a third abeyance among the descendants of the four remaining daughters. This was decided in 1776 in favour of Edward Southwell, the grandson of Catherine, the eldest daughter. Edward Southwell's son died in 1832 without issue ; by which the barony was a fourth time in abeyance among the issue of his three sisters. This was terminated by William IV., in the following year, in favour of the present Baroness de Clifford (then Mrs. Russell), the heir of the eldest daughter, Catherine. The third son of Roger, the fifth Lord de Clifford, was Sir Lewis Clifford, a knight in the reign of Edward III. ; from whom, in regular descent, came Thomas (son of Hugh Clifford, of Ugbrooke, in Devonshire), whom Charles II* elevated to the peerage, April 22, 1672, by the title of Baron Clifford of Chudleigh, and his lineal descendant, the seventh lord, still enjoys it.1 COBBEHAM, JOHN DE. Just. ? K. B. or C. P. 1272. B. E. 1276. See under the Reign of Henry III. John de Cobbeham, the third in succession of the same family who occupied the judicial bench, was grandson of Henry de Cobbeham. the justice itinerant, and eldest son of John de Cobbeham, the justicier in the reign of Henry III.2 He was made constable of Rochester Castle so early in life that he was called the young constable ; and was entrusted with the sheriffalty of Kent for four years from 44 Henry III. His seat was at Monkton, in the Isle of Thanet in that county.3 In 52 and 55 Henry III., 1268, 1271, he acted as a justice itinerant for Surrey and Kent4 ; and was advanced to the 1 Nicolas's Synopsis of the Peerage ; Burke's Peerage. 8 Dugdale's Baronage, ii. 65. 3 Hasted's Kent, i. 181., iii. 407. 4 Dugdale's Chron. Series. 78 JOHN DE COBBEHAM. Edw. I. bench at Westminster in 54 Henry III. ; from February in which year, 1270, till July in the following, there are fre- quent entries of payments for assizes to be held before him.1 In the former of these years he had a grant of 40Z. for his salary; and Dugdale, who quotes a Liberate Roll, places him at that time among the judges of the Common Pleas. The same writer, on similar authority, inserts him as a judge of the King's Bench in 2 Edward I., and then in 4 Edward I. removes him again to the Common Pleas. It is difficult, however, to fix precisely from the Liberate Rolls the court to which judges are attached, especially as the mode of designating them was then scarcely fixed. There is, therefore, probably an error in one or other of these appro- priations. In the latter year he was certainly constituted a baron of the Exchequer, the mandate for which is dated June 6, 1276, with a salary of forty marks per annum2, and there are several records showing that he continued in that office during the remainder of his life.3 By an entry in the Year Book of Hilary, 28 Edward I., 1300, it appears that he was authorised to stay at home at his pleasure, and to come to the Exchequer and remain there when he would. This license was no doubt granted to him in consequence of bodily infirmity, as he died in the same year.4 The Liberate Roll of 3 Edward I. m. 2., directs the payment to him of a fee or pension as one of the king's Serjeants5, an entry which it is difficult to explain, except on the presump- tion that it was an arrear due to him in that character before he was raised to the bench. In 16 Edward I., while he was a baron of the Exchequer, we find him going the circuit into Dorsetshire, and in the next year taking an assize in Essex.6 1 Excerpt, e Rot. Fin. ii. 505 — 543. 2 Madox's Exch. ii. 56. 62. 3 Ibid. i. 291. 357., ii. 20. 255. 265. 4 Year Book, Part I. 40; Cal. Inquis. post mortem, i. 156. 5 Dugdale's Orig. Jurid. 110. 6 Abbrev. Plac. 218. 1272—1307. MATTHEW DE COLUMBIERS. 79 He was summoned among the justices to most of the par- liaments from 4 to 28 Edward I.1 He was twice married. His first wife was Joane, the daughter and heir of Sir Robert de Sept vans, by whom he left two sons, Henry and Reginald : his second wife was named Methania.2 The succession of the family has been already traced under Henry de Cobbeham in the last reign. COLUMBIERS, MATTHEW DE. ? Just. Itin. 1280. See under the Reign of Henry III. Matthew de Columbiers, or Columbariis, is stated by Dugdale to belong to the noble family of that name flourishing at this time, but in what manner is not mentioned. It is evident, however, that he includes in the history of one Matthew the facts which relate to several individuals, creating a terrible confusion. He makes him governor of Winchester Castle in 1 John, 1199, when it is to be pre- sumed he was not quite a boy; — marries him to Maude, daughter of Eudo de Morevill, in 22 Henry III., 1237; names him as justice itinerant in 55 Henry III., 1268; and kills him in 1 Edward I., 1272, making his brother Michael his heir, who he afterwards states died in 19 Henry III., 1234, thirty- eight years before him. It seems probable that these were four individuals ; that the Matthew, who was governor of Winchester, was the father of him who married Maude de Morevill ; that the second Matthew was succeeded by Michael, his brother, who married Avicia, daughter of Elias Croc ; and that they were the parents of the Matthew who is the subject of the present notice. By the Fine Roll it appears that he did homage as the heir 1 Pari. Writs, i. 6—83. * Hasted's Kent, iii. 408. 80 MATTHEW DE COLUMBIERS. Edw. I. of his mother Avicia de Columbariis on her death in October, 1259, 43 Henry III., for all the lands she held in capite, together with the bailiffwick of the forest of Cette (Chute) in Wiltshire.1 In the following year he was constituted governor of the castle of Salisbury, and soon after joined the rebellious barons, by whom, after the battle of Lewes, he was made governor of Rockingham Castle. He availed himself of the Dictum de Kenilworth to make his peace, and was appointed warden of the forests south of the Trent.2 Although Dug- dale introduces him as an ordinary justice itinerant in 53 Henry III., 1268, it seems more probable that his duties on that occasion were confined to the trial of pleas of the forest, as well on account of his above-mentioned appointment, as because the commission was headed by Roger de Clifford, the chief justice of the forests. If Dugdale's statement, that this Matthew died in 1 Edward I., be correct, which is not im- probable3, there must have been still another Matthew, who was chief assessor in Hampshire of the Fifteenth granted in 3 Edward I.4, and one of the king's butlers in the following year5, to whom was committed in the sixth year the office of one of the king's chamberlains, and of gauger of the wines sold in England.6 He was a justice itinerant of the forests in 8 Edward I., 12807, and his death is recorded in 10 Ed- ward I., when his brother Michael did homage for the lands he held in capite.8 To make the difficulty still greater, there is among the records a roll entitled " Compotus Mathaei de Columbariis Camerarii vinorum," from Michaelmas at the end of the ninth year to the same feast in the thirteenth ; and a Matthew is again mentioned as king's butler in. 18 Edward I.9 1 Excerpt, e Rot. Fin. ii. 3 IS. 2 Dugdale's Baronage, i. 633. 3 Cal. Inquis. post mortem, i. 53. 4 Pari. Writs, i. 3. 5 Devon's Issues Exch. iii. 92. 6 Abbrev. Rot. Orig. i. 31. 7 Dugdale's Chron. Series. 8 Abbrev. Rot. Orig. i. 41. 8 Second Report, Public Records, Appendix, ii. 55. ; Cal. Rot. Pat. 54. 1272—1307. JOHN DE CRAUCOMBE. 81 COVENTRY, Archdeacon of. See John de Kirkeby. CRAUCOMBE, John de, Archdeacon op York. ? Keeper, 1298. Master John de Craucombe was probably the son of Godfrey de Craucombe, who served King Henry III. as seneschall.1 He was evidently a clerk in the Chancery, and, like most of his fellows, an ecclesiastic, sharing in the dignities usually distributed among that class of officers, by being made archdeacon of the East Riding of Yorkshire. This preferment he was possessed of in 1288 2, and a letter is extant from him under this title, and in the character of vicar-general to the Archbishop of York, addressed to the king in 1292, praying the removal of certain laymen, who had seized the church of Bonigton.3 The great seal was deposited in his hands and in those of Master John de Caen and William de Byrlay during the temporary absence of the chancellor, John de Langton, which commenced on March 15, 12984, and by another entry we find that it was in their possession on December 28 in the same year5; but I have already shewn, under William de Byrlay, that it could not have remained with them during the whole interval. He was probably ill, when on August 23, 1302, a similar disposition of the great seal was made, as his name was omitted, for he still continued to be summoned to the parliament among the clerks of the Chancery till February, 1305, 33 Edward I.6 1 Madox's Exch. i. 63. * Le Neve, 327. 3 Seventh Report Pub. Ilec., A pp. ii. 255. 4 Hardy's Catal. 14. 5 Rot. Claus. 27 Edw. I., m. 18. Pari. Writs, i. 1:58. VOL. HI. 82 HUGH DE CKESSINGHAM. Edw. I. CREPPING, RICHARD DE. ? Just. Itin. 1286. Richard de Crepping was of a Yorkshire family ] , and, it seems probable, the son of Robert de Crepping, who died in 8 Edward 1. 2, having for several years in the reign of Henry III. been one of the king's escheators beyond the Trent3, and in the forty-ninth year of that reign a justice of the Jews.4 Richard can scarcely be considered to have been a regular justice itinerant, as he only acted in reference to pleas of the forest, in Lancashire and Nottinghamshire, in 14 Edward L, 1286. 5 He was returned as knight of the shire for York in 18 Edward I.6 A John de Crepping, who may have been his son, was made sheriff of Yorkshire, and custos of the castle of York, in 1 Edward II.7 CRESSINGHAM, HUGH DE. Just. Itin. 1292. Hugh de Cressingham was an officer of the Exchequer. In 10 Edward I. he went to Chichester, and took bail for several persons charged with certain transgressions against the property of the abbot of Ramsey8 ; and in the eighteenth year he is called seneschall of the queen, and was one of her bailiffs for the manor of Haverford. 9 In 20 Edward I., 1292, he was appointed with two others to investigate and audit the debts due to Henry III.10, and in that and the three following years was at the head of the justices itinerant 1 Rot. Pari. i. 77. 3 Excerpt, e Rot. Fin. i. & ii. * Dugdale's Chron. Series. T Madox's Exch. ii. 144. 9 Rot. Pari. i. 30. 33. 8 Cal. Inquis. post mortem, i. 69. 4 Madox's Exch. i. 234. ; ii. 319. 6 Pari. Writs, i. 21. 8 Abbrev. Placit. 274. ,ft Madox's Exch. ii. 291 . 1272—1307. HUGH L>E CRESS1NGHAM. 83 for the northern counties.1 Being also, as usual, of the ecclesiastical profession, he held about this time the parsonage of Doddington, and the rectory of Chalk in Kent.2 When the king defeated the Scotch and Baliol renounced the throne in 1296, Cressingham was appointed treasurer of that country, and, on the disorders which followed Ed- ward's departure, was commanded not to scruple to spend the whole money in the exchequer to put them down. Proud, ignorant, and violent, he made himself hateful to the Scots by his oppressions ; and on the rising of Wallace in the fol- lowing year, preferring the cuirass to the cassock, he joined the Earl of Surrey in leading the royal army to Stirling. Wallace left the siege of Dundee, in which he was engaged, and by a rapid march drew up his army on the other bank of the river Forth before the arrival of the English forces. By Cressingham's rashness the latter were led over the bridge, and were terribly defeated, he being among the first who fell. u So deep was the detestation in which his character was regarded, that his body was mangled, the skin torn from his limbs, and in savage triumph cut to pieces." It is said that Wallace ordered as much of his skin to be taken off as would make a sword-belt ; a story which has been absurdly extended to its having been employed in making girths and saddles.3 The Scots called him " non thesaurarium sed trayturarium regis."4 He held the town of Hendon and land in Finchley in Middlesex, with the manor of Coulinge in Suffolk.5 1 Dugdale's Chron. Series ; Year Book, i. 33. 8 Hasted's Kent, iii. 471. ■ Ty tier's Scotland, i. 123—143. 4 Triveti Annales, 366, note. • Cal. Inquis. post mortem, i. 134. 84 ADAM DE CROKEDAYK. Ems. I. CRESSY, WILLIAM DE. Just. Itin. T. 1304. Hugh de Cressy, whom I have already noticed as a justicier under the reign of Henry II., was the ancestor of this William de Cressy, whose father and mother were Stephen de Cressy, and Sibylla, the daughter and heir of John de Braytoft. William was summoned to attend the king on urgent affairs in the twenty-second and again in the twenty-fifth years of the reign of Edward I. : but Sir Harris Nicolas has stated reasons why these should not be considered as regular summonses to parliament ; and neither he nor his descendants were after- wards summoned. He was returned as holding lands in Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, and Lincolnshire ; and when the commission of trailbaston was issued for those counties, on November 23, 1304, 33 Edward I., he was the second of the three justices then assigned. In the following April these counties were united with the northern counties, and he was released from the duty. 1 CROKEDAYK, ADAM DE. Just. Ass. 1293. Adam de Crokedayk was one of the two justices of assize appointed in 21 Edward I., 1293, for Lincoln and nine other counties2, and was summoned among the justices to several parliaments from the twenty-third to the thirty-third year of that reign. 3 He is mentioned in 18 Edward I. as having been guardian of Roger, the son of Robert de Hereford4 : and in 25 1 Pari. Writs, i. 407, 408. ; Dugdale's Baronage, i. 708. ; Nicolas's Synopsis. * Dugdale's Chron. Series. 3 Pari. Writs, i. 29 — 138. * Madox's Exch. i. 242. 1272 — 1307, JOHN DE CROKESLEY. 85 Edward I. was assigned to assess and collect the ninth imposed for the king's confirmation of Magna Charta in Northumber- land, Cumberland, Westmoreland, and Lancashire.1 Three years afterwards he was appointed to perambulate the forests of the counties of York and Cumberland2; and in 31 and 33 Edward I. there are writs in his name, shewing he was still engaged in legal employments.3 In the latter year he died, possessed of very considerable property in Cumberland. 4 CROKESLEY, JOHN DE. ? Just. Itin. 1292. John de Crokesley was one of the king's escheators of the forest of Kockingham 5, and also custos of Skipton and other royal manors.6 It was only for pleas of the forest that he was a justice itinerant in Essex, in 20 Edward I., 1292 7 ; and he is mentioned as perambulating the forests in various counties till the twenty-ninth year of that reign, and as receiving six shillings a day for his expenses.8 He died in the following year ; and another John de Crokesley, who was probably his son, is recorded as connected with the king's lands beyond the Trent.9 DEYNCOURT, EDMUND. Jusr. Itin. T. 1305. See under the Reign of Edward II. DORSET, Archdeacon of. See Thomas Bek. 1 Rot. Pari. i. 239-241. 8 Pari. Writs, i. S98. 3 Abbrev. Placit. 249. 254. 4 Cal. Inquis. post mortem, i. 198. 5 Rot. Pari. ii. 414. 6 Madox's Exch. i. 721. 7 Dugdale's Chron. Series. 8 Pari. Writs, i. 88. 397. 9 Abbrev. Rot. Orig. i. 123. 128. JOHN DE DROKENESFORD. Edw. I. DROKENESFORD, JOHN DE, Bishop of Bath and Wells. ? Keeper, 1298. There is no other pretence for John de Drokenesford being called keeper of the Great Seal, than that it was deposited in the king's wardrobe, during the time he was keeper of that department. On December 28, 1298, 27 Edward I., he was merely the messenger to cany it to John de Langton, the chancellor, on his return from Rome l ; and on the same chancellor's resignation on August 12, 1302, 30 Edward L, it was placed, as was the usual custom, under his care in the wardrobe ; but with no power to use it, and eleven days after it was given to Adam de Osgodby, the master of the Rolls.2 He possessed the manor of Eston Crok, in the forest of Chute, and in 20 Edward I. had a licence to impark his wood of Horsley there and eighty acres in addition. In 30 Edward I. he had grants from the king amounting to 260 acres in Wolnemere and Windsor forests.3 He evidently had previously filled some office in the Treasury or the Exchequer, as he is mentioned in 24 Edward I., 1296, as the locum tenens of the treasurer ; an office to which he was again appointed in 33 Edward I., 1305, in which year he is also described as pleading for the king in a suit relative to the manor of "Woodhull in Bedfordshire.4 In the first of these years he likewise held the position of keeper of the king's wardrobe, which he retained till the end of that reign, when it would appear that, in 1 Edward II., he exchanged it with John de Benstede for the office of chancellor of the Exchequer.5 1 Rot. Claus. 27 Edw. I., m. 18. 2 Ibid. 30 Edw. L, mi. 8 & 6. 3 Cal. Rot. Pat. 55. 62. 4 Madox's Exch. ii. 324. ; Dugdale's Chron. Series ; Abbrev. Placit. 256'. 298 5 Madox's Exch. i. 72. 325. ; ii. 71. 1272—1307. SIMON DE ELLESWORTII. 87 His ecclesiastical preferment consisted at this time of a canonry in the cathedral of Wells, and he was also a chaplain to the pope ; but in the next year he was elected Bishop of Bath and Wells, and was consecrated on November 9, 1309. King Edward II. entrusted him with the care of the kingdom when he went into France in 1312; but he afterwards joined the partisans of the queen against her husband. He is mentioned as no less attentive to the embellishment of his see, and the preservation of its privileges, than to the advancement of his kindred ; but the nineteen years of his rule were continually disturbed by contests with the canons of his church. He died at Dogmersfield on May 9, 1329, and was interred in the chapel of St. Catherine in his own cathedral.1 ELLESWORTH, SIMON DE. ? Just. Itik. 1292. Simon de Ellesworth had a grant in 11 Edward I. from Simon de Torp of lands in Torveston, Bucks, with the advowson of the church there.2 He was not a regular justice itinerant, but merely for pleas of the forest ; in which he is mentioned as acting in 20 Edward I., 1292, for the county of Essex.3 In 23 Edward I. the custody of the religious houses belonging to France in the counties of Northampton, Rutland, Cambridge, and Huntingdon, was committed to him, and in the next year he was added to the chief justice of the forests in a commission to rent out the wastes of the forests beyond the Trent.4 In 21 Edward I. he was one of the sureties for the appearance of William de Luda, Bishop of Ely, on a complaint made against him by the Archbishop 1 Godwin de Prtesul. 375. 3 Abbrev. Thick. 206. 3 Dugdale's Chron. Series. * Abbrcv. Hot. Orig, i. !»1. 94. G 4 88 NICHOLAS FERMBAUD. Edw. I. of Dublin J ; and on Ellesworth's death, in 25 Edward I., the bishop returned the obligation by becoming security for the payment of his debts to the crown.2 ELY, Bishop of. See J. de Kirkeby. ESSEX, Archdeacon of. See R. de la Leye. EXETER, Chancellor of. See R. de Hengham. EYNEFELD, HENRY DE. Just. Itin. 1293. Henry de Eynefeld and John de Bosco were the two justices who, in 21 Edward L, 1293, were appointed to take assizes, &c. in Cornwall and nine other counties 3 ; and they still continued to act in 24 Edward 1. 4 ; the former being summoned among the justices to parliament till the twenty- fifth year.5 I know not whether he is the person of this name who was returned knight of the shire for Middlesex in 26 and 28 Edward I.6 FERMBAUD, NICHOLAS. Just. Itin. 1305. Nicholas Fermbaud, or Fernybatjd, was constable of Bristol in 22 Edward L, and is named in that character as late as the thirty-third year of the reign. In that city his family was probably established, as one Reymund Fermbaud, a burgess there, was ejected out of it in the reign of Edward II.7 In 28 Edward I. Nicholas was appointed to peram- bulate the forests of Gloucestershire and the neighbouring 1 Rot. Pari. i. 112. 8 Madox's Exch. ii. 44. 3 Dugdale's Chron. Series. 4 Manning's Serviens ad legem. s Pari. Writs, i. 29. 52. 6 Ibid. 72—86. 7 Abb. Rot. Orig. i. 82. ; Rot. Pari. i. 168. 360. 1272—1307. RALPH FITZ-WILLIAM. 89 counties ] ; and two years afterwards the custody of the bishoprick of Bath and YvTells was entrusted to him during its vacancy.2 He is mentioned with William Inge as a justice taking assizes in 1305 ; and in the same year he was also appointed a justice of trailbaston for Essex and ten other counties, one of which was Gloucestershire.3 He was re-nominated to the latter office in 1307, 35 Edward L; when he was also assigned to enquire into the facts mentioned in a petition to parliament relative to the tithes of the forest of Dean.4 He possessed considerable property at Wingrave and Rollesham in Buck- inghamshire.5 FISHEBURN, THOMAS DE. Just. Itin. 1293. See under the Reign of Edward II. FITZ-WILLIAM, RALPH. Just. Itin. T. 1304. The first two justices of trailbaston, whose names appear, were Ralph Fitz- William and John de Barton. Their com- mission was for Yorkshire, where they both resided, and of which the former was the king's lieutenant. The date of the writ is not stated, but it is inserted in Hemingford under 1304.6 In November of that year there is another writ ad- dressed to these two and two others 7 ; and in the next year new commissions, in which neither of them were named, were issued for all the counties of England, except those in the home district.8 It is therefore probable that the offences Pari. Writs, i. 398. N. Fcedera, i. 970, Abbrev. Placit. 222. Pari. Writs, i. 407. 276. Abb. Rot. Orig. i. 121. Rot. Pari. i. 161. 200. 218. Heiningfbrd, ed. Hearne, 208, N. Feeder*, i. 970. 90 RALPH FITZ-WILLIAM. Edw. I. which these commissions were intended to suppress, were at first supposed to be confined to the northern counties, and that the original appointments were therefore limited to that locality ; but that when they were found to be of a more serious nature, and more universally extended, new commis- sions were issued to meet the emergency, with larger powers and more experienced judges. Ralph Fitz- William Avas a son of William Fitz- Ralph of Grimsthorp in Yorkshire, by Joane, daughter of Thomas de Greystock. In 24 Edward I. he succeeded his brother, Geoffrey Fitz- William, in his lands, and was one of the barons summoned in the following year to join the king's armies in Scotland. He served with so much zeal and valour in those wars, that he was constituted capitaneus of the garrisons and fortresses in Northumberland, lieutenant of Yorkshire, and lord of the Marches, in which character, no doubt, the commission of trailbaston was directed to him. In 28 Edward I. he was present at the siege of Carlaverock, and was engaged in the Scottish wars to the end of the reign. Under Edward II. he was employed in the same manner, and was made governor of Berwick-upon-Tweed and of Carlisle. In the third year of that reign he was one of the ordainers to regulate the king's household and government, and was fre- quently appointed, in 8 Edward II., to take inquisitions as to wrecks and otherwise. The last mention of him is as one of the triers of petitions in the parliament of the following year, February, 1316.1 According to Dugdale he died about the feast of All Saints (November 1) in that year, which would be 10 and not 9 Edward II., as he calls it; and this agrees with the parliamentary writs and inquisitions post mortem.2 He was buried in Nesham Abbey, Durham, 1 Rot. Pari. i. 288. 304. 306. 342. 3J0. 2 Cal. i. 282. 1272—1307 RALPH DE FRENINGIIAM. 91 among the ruins of which a monumental effigy has been dis- covered, which is supposed to be his.1 The barony of Greystock was settled upon him by his mother's nephew, John, the last lord of that name, upon whose death, in 1305, he succeeded to it. By his wife Margery, the daughter and one of the co- heirs of Hugh de Bolebec, and widow of Nicholas Corbet, for the king's licence to marry whom he paid 100 marks in 10 Edward I.2, he had two sons ; William, who died in his father's lifetime, and Robert, who succeeded him, and died in 1317. His descendants assumed the name of Greystock, and held the barony till 1487, when the then lord dying without issue male, it was, by the marriage of his grand- daughter, united to that of Dacre of Gillesland till 1569, when it fell into abeyance among the sisters of George, the fifth Baron Dacre.3 FREN1NGHAM, RALPH DE. Just. C. P. 1275. Ralph de Freningham wTas a canon of St. Paul's ; and fines wrere levied before him, as a justice of the Common Pleas, from Michaelmas, 3 Edward I., 1275, to Trinity, 6 Edward I., 1278.4 He died in 15 Edward I.5, and his descendants apparently resided at East Farleigh, in Kent.6 One of them, of the same names, was sherhT of Kent in 17 Edward II.7 1 Siege of Carlaverock. p. 1G2. * Madox's Exch. i. 466. 3 Dugdale's Baronage, i. 740. ; Nicolas's Synopsis. 4 Dugdale's Orig. 21. 44. 5 Pari. Writs, i. 623, note. 6 Third Rep. Pub. llec., App. ii. 209. 7 Abb. Rot. Orig. i. 279. 92 ROBERT FULCON. Edtv. L FULCON, ROBERT. Just. C. P. 1272. See under the Reign of Henry III. Although Dugdale does not introduce Robert Fulcon until 55 Henry III., commencing with a patent dated May 15, 1271, appointing him a justice of the Common Pleas, there are frequent entries of assizes to be held before him, proving that he was raised to the bench as early as Septem- ber, 1267, 51 Henry III. As the fines mentioned by Dugdale do not commence earlier than the former date, it is not improbable that Robert Fulcon sat in the King's Bench for the intervening period. These entries of assizes before him are more numerous than before most of the other judges, and they extend almost to the very day of King- Henry's death. l That he was continued in his office on the accession of Edward I. appears from fines being levied before him till about Michaelmas in the second year of this reign.2 After that date he is not mentioned otherwise than as a justice itinerant. In this character he acted in Hampshire in 6 Edward L, in Devonshire in 8 Edward I., in Wiltshire in 9 Edward I., in Cornwall in 10 Edward I., and in Hertford- shire in 15 Edward I.3 There is no reason, however, to doubt that he sat on one of the benches at Westminster during the same period. He acted as assessor in Berkshire for the fifteenth granted in 1 1 Edward I.4 1 Fin. ii. 460—590. 3 Rot. Pari. i. 4. 186. 4 Pari. Writs, i. 12. 8 Dugdale's Orig. 42. Abbrev. Placit. 202. ; Dugdale's Chron. Ser. 127:2—1307. GODFREY GIFFARD. 93 GIFFARD, GODFREY, Archdeacon of Barnstaple, Bishop of Worcester. Just. Itin. 1277. See under the Reign of Henry III. Bishop Godwin ] says that Godfrey Giffard was near to the king in blood, and Richardson, his editor, adds that he was the brother of Walter Giffard, Archbishop of York, alread}*- noticed as chancellor in the reign of Henry III. It is not improbable that he may be the Geoffrey (Galfridus) there mentioned as Walter's brother; but I have not discovered any evidence of the royal connection. On November 6, 1265, he was collated Archdeacon of Barum (Barnstaple)2; but it does not appear that he ever held the archdeaconries of Wells or York, as stated by Godwin and Richardson. On the 9th of the following May he occupied the post of chancellor of the Exchequer ; and in the next year also, when he had permission to appoint a substitute to act during his absence.3 In the same year, 51 Henry III., 1266, he was appointed chancellor of England, in the room of his brother, Walter Giffard, probably soon after that prelate's translation from the see of Bath and Wells to that of York. In June, 1268, he was elected Bishop of Worcester, and continued chancellor till the 29th of October following.4 When certain grievances were brought forward " a Bur- gensibus Scholaribus Oxon." in 56 Henry III., he and Roger de Mortuo Mari were appointed commissaries to enquire into them : and in 6 Edward I., 1278, he was at the head of the justices itinerant for the counties of Hereford, Hertford, and Kent. 1 Godwin de Prscsul. 461. * Lc Neve, 98. 3 Madox's Ezeh. i. 476. ; ii. 52. * Rot. Pat. 5:5 Hm. III., m. 20. 94 WILLIAM DE GISELHAM. Edw. I. He died on January 26, 1301, 29 Edward L, having l^resided over his see nearly thirty-three years ; during which period he greatly ornamented his cathedral, and finished the castle of Hartlepool, which his predecessor, Walter de Canti- lupe, had begun. He was a man of high spirit, overbearing, and litigious, and made his visitations burthensome by the extent of his retinue, which amounted to nearly a hundred horse.1 GISELHAM, WILLIAM DE. Just. C. P. 1290. William de Giselham probably took his name from the place so called in Suffolk. On several occasions from 7 to 14 Edward I. he is described as the king's attorney ; and in the tenth year both he and Gilbert de Thornton are desig- nated " narratores pro rege." Other persons also during some of the same years were distinguished by the same title 2 ; so that it is difficult to determine whether any one of them was what we now call the attorney general, or whether different persons were not employed to conduct the king's business in separate counties. In 9 Edward I. he was called to the degree of king's serjeant at law : but it should be observed that all who are noticed at this time as of the degree of the coif seem to have been so designated ; and that it is doubtful whether the modern distinction then existed. When Edward I. purified the bench, in 1289, of those mem- bers who had disgraced it, William de Giselham was consti- tuted one of the new judges of the Common Pleas ; and fines were levied before him from the octaves of the Purification, 18 Edward I., 1290, till the octaves of St. Martin, 21 Ed- ward I., 1292.3 In the following January he came to an 1 Chambers's Illustrations of Worcestershire. 8 Dugdale's Chron. Ser. ; Pari. Writs, i. 382. ; Abbrev. Placit. 273, 274. 304. 3 Dugdale's Orig. 44. 1272—1307. NICHOLAS LE GRAS. 95 untimely end ; but I can find no other particulars of his death than are contained in a letter written by William de Were- minster to John de Langton, the chancellor, in which he simply communicates to him that William de Giselham had been killed. The date is ascertained by the same letter announcing the election of William de Marchia to the bishoprick of Bath and Wells, which took place on January 30, 1293.1 GRAS, NICHOLAS LE. Just. Itin. 1285. In the " Chronicon Petroburgense," published by the Camden Society, we have a copy of the writ by which the five justices itinerant into Northamptonshire were appointed, on August 3, 1285, 13 Edward I. The last of them is Nicholas le Gras, whose name is omitted in Dugdale, although he mentions the other four, viz. John de Vallibus, William de Saham, Roger Loveday, and John de Metingham. They sat at Northampton on the morrow of St. Michael, and for ten weeks afterwards.2 Nicholas le Gras was appointed sheriff of the counties of Surrey and Sussex in 8 Edward I., and held the office for five years. The castle of Odyham, in Hampshire, was also committed to his charge in 10 Edward I.3 He was possessed of the manors of Renger in Terling and of Little Badewe in Essex, which he gave up to his brother Roger and Johanna his wife. Roger dying first, Nicholas resumed possession, but they were recovered from him, in 33 Edward I., by Sir John de Tanny, who had married Johanna, Roger's widow.4 1 Seventh Rep. Pub. Rec., App. ii. 249. 2 Cbron. Petroburg. 102. 118. 3 Abb. Rot. Orig. i. 35. 41. 4 Abbrev. Placit. 190. 255. 266. 305. 96 WILLIAM DE GREENFIELD. Edw. I. GREENFIELD, WILLIAM DE, Dean of Chichester, Arch- bishop of York. Chancellor, 1302. William de Greenfield was born in Cornwall, but what his earlier occupations were can only be presumed from his subsequent career. From the practice that had been pre- viously adopted by King Edward of raising the superior officers of the court to the chancellorship, it is not unlikely that he had passed his probation as a clerk of the Chancery or Exchequer. Like those officers he was of the clerical profession ; like them he had been rewarded with the dignities of the church, the deanery of Chichester having, in 1299, been superadded to his canonry of York ; and like them he had been summoned to the parliament from 1293, on one of which occasions he is called clerk of the council.1 A few weeks after the resignation of John de Langton, the king appointed him chancellor, delivering the Seal to him in the chapel of St. Radegund (Bradsole Abbey), near Dover, on September 30, 1302 ; whither he took it, and sealed with it at the Domus Dei there.2 Within a month he was em- ployed on an embassy, which occupied him from October 30 to December 11, during which time his duties were per- formed by Adam de Osgodby, the master of the Rolls.3 On December 4, 1304, he was elected Archbishop of York, received the king's assent on the 24th, and on the 29th, according to the special entry on the Roll, he declared to the council, then at Lincoln, that it behoved him to take a journey to Rome on the business of this election, and requested the king to declare his will as to the custody of the Great Seal.4 William de Hamilton was immediately invested with the 1 Le Neve, GO. ; Pari. Writs, i. 28. 55—113. 2 Rot. Claus. 30 Edw. I., m. 5. 4 Ibid. 33 Edw. I., m. 22. 3 Ibid. 31 Edw. I., m. 18. , 1272—1307. ADAM GURDON. 97 office of chancellor, and the archbishop elect proceeded to the Roman court, where, notwithstanding the king's letters, the pontiff detained him till January 6, 1306, before he granted him consecration ; and then only on the payment of 9500 marks. To relieve him from the poverty resulting from so extortionate an imposition, the clergy of his province raised the money among them by benevolence and subsidy. The ten years of his rule were principally illustrated by his support of the knights templars in their fallen fortunes : and by his assisting at the general council held at Vienne, in 1311, where one of the highest places was assigned to him, being that next to the' Archbishop of Treves. He died at his palace at Cawrood on December 6, 1315, 9 Edward II., and was buried in the chapel of St. Nicholas in his own cathedral. He had the character of an eloquent man and an able statesman, with a sufficiency of learning : and his library was extensive enough to be wrorthy of a separate bequest to St. Albans abbey.1 GULDEFORD, HENRY DE. Just. Ttin. 1304. Just. C. P. 1305. GURDON, ADAM. Just. Itin. 1280. Adam Gurdon is mentioned in 16 Henry III., 1231, as one of the bailiffs of Alton in Hampshire.2 He died in 38 Henry III., and was the father of the subject of the present notice, who married Custancia, the daughter and heir of John de Venuz, with whom he received extensive lands at Scl- borne in that county, together with the bailiwick of the king's forests of Wulvermar and Axiholt ; paying in March, 1257, 1 Godwin de Pr.csul. 685. * Madox's Excli. ii. 304. vol. in. n 98 ADAM GUKDON. Edw. I. a fine of a mark and a half of gold for the king's confirmation of the grant.1 Adam seems to have been of a litigious dis- position, no less than six entries occurring in the Abbreviatio Placitorum of causes decided against him.2 He joined the party of De Montford, and even after the battle of Evesham raised an array against his sovereign in Hampshire. Prince Edward advanced against the rebels, and coming up with them between Farnham and Alton he inconsiderately leaped over the trench that surrounded their camp before his forces could follow him. Aclam met him, and after a severe fight hand to hand, was at last mastered and obliged to yield him- self prisoner to the prince. Edward generously gave him his life, and eventually his liberty, and thus secured the services of a brave and grateful enemy.3 His lands and his office having been restored to him, he built a mansion called the Temple, which overlooked the forest. In 8 Edward I., 1280, Dugdale places him among the justices itinerant in Wiltshire ; but the pleas of that iter were confined to the forest, and he was no doubt appointed in virtue of his bailiwick, as he is not mentioned upon any other circuit. He was frequently summoned to perform military service, and in 23 Edward I. was nominated custos of the sea-shores of Hampshire, and a commissioner of array in that county and in Dorset and Wilts. In 33 Edward I., 1305, he was elected a representative by the "communitas" of Scotland, and constituted a justice there ; and died in the same year.4 Besides his first wife Custancia, already mentioned, he married two others ; viz. Almeria, whom he divorced after having two sons ; and Agnes, by whom he had a daughter, 1 Excerpt, e Rot. Fin. ii. 252. 2 Abb. Placit. 161, 162. 173. 177. 191. 267. 3 Rapin, iii. 170. 4 Rot. Pari. i. 267. ; Pari. Writs, i. 161. &c; Cal. Inquis. p. m., i. 12. 196. 212. 1272—1307. WILLIAM DE HAMILTON. 99 Johanna, to whom he left his property in Selborne, and who married Richard Achard. That estate, still called Gurdon Manor, now belongs to Magdalen College, Oxford. I conceive that his wife Agnes was the daughter of Simon de Punde, about whose legitimacy there Avas a suit in 4 Edward I. It is stated that Matilda her mother was never married to Simon, but that he " aliquo tempore captus fuit per amicos Matildae in camera fornicando cum ipsa Matilda per quod compellabatur unum de tribus facere vel ipsam am* dare vel vitam suam amittere vel ipsam Matildam retro osculare." My opinion is founded on the fact that on the decision against Agnes and in favour of Simon's sister, Adam de Gurdon, although not previously mentioned, is recorded as being " in mercy." 1 His representatives still flourish in two families, both de- scended lineally from his second son Robert : one seated at Assington Hall in Suffolk ; and the other at Letton in Nor- folk, and Grundisburgh in Suffolk.2 HAMILTON, WILLIAM DE, Archdeacon and Dean of York. ? Just. Itin. 1280. ? Keeper, 1292. Chancellor, 1304. Where William de Hamilton was born, or who were his parents, is not mentioned ; but that he had property in Cambridge appears by his petition to the parliament in 18 Edward I., to grant three messuages there in mortmain to the brothers of Mount Carmel in that city. His name is first recorded as a justice itinerant, but for pleas of the forest only, in Hampshire and Wiltshire in 8 Edward L, 1280, standing last on the list.3 In 10 Edward L, he was custos of the bishoprick of Winchester, and of the abbey of Hide. ' 1 Abbrev. Placit. 267. 2 Burke's Landed Gentry, i. 514. 3 Dugdale'a Chron. Series. ' Abb, Rot. Orig. i. 401. n a 100 WILLIAM DE HAMILTON. Emv. I. He seems afterwards to have become a clerk in the Chancery ; as it was probably in that capacity that the Great Seal was occasionally placed under his care. There is one letter addressed to him as the king's vice-chancellor, dated November 12, 1286, 14 Edward I.1, which was during the interval that the chancellor, Robert Burnel, Bishop of Bath and Wells, was absent with the king for three years in France; and another from the regent Edmund, Earl of Cornwall, with directions relating to the Chancery. On the bishop's death, October 25, 1292, 20 Edward I, the Great Seal was delivered into the wardrobe under William de Hamilton's seal ; and the record expressly states that he sealed the writs therewith for the few days that intervened before his accompanying the chancellor's remains to Wells 2, as one of his executors.3 During a visit also of the next chancellor, John de Langton, to his prebend of Aulton juxta Cerne, from March 4 to 30, 1297, Hamilton held the Seal ; and so again, when the same chancellor proceeded to Rome relative to his election to the see of Ely, and was absent from February 20 to June 16, 1299, he performed the necessary duties of the Seal in the meantime.4 During this period he received the usual ecclesiastical pre- ferments which were conferred on this class of officers ; being in 1292 made archdeacon of the West Riding of York, and in December 1208 appointed Dean of York, after a successful resistance of the pope's nomination of a cardinal instead of him.5 He was also dean of the church of St. Berian in Cornwall.6 His name does not appear during the chancellorship of William de Greenfield, Dean of Chichester; but when Greenfield resigned the Great Seal at Lincoln on Dec. 29, 1 Seventh Report, Pub. Rec, App., xii. 242. 251. 2 Claus. 20 Edvv. I., m. 2. 3 4 Claus. 25 Edvv. I., m. 21. ; 27 Edw. T., m. 18. s Le Neve, 313. 322. Rot. Pari. i. 117. 6 Cole's Documents, 421. 1272— 13G7. HAMON HAUTEYN. 101 1304, being then about to proceed to Home, the king named William de Hamilton chancellor in his place. As he was then absent, the Seal was ordered to be deposited in the wardrobe till his arrival ; and it was delivered to him on January 16, 13C5.1 He held it till his death, on April 20, 1307, when he was succeeded by Ralph de Baldock, Bishop of London. - HARWEDON, ROBERT DE. Just. Itin. T. ]305. The last-named of the four justices of Trailbaston in the commission for Gloucestershire and ten other counties, dated on April 6, 1305, 33 Edward I., was Robert de Harwedon, who held land in the forest of Bernewood 3 ; but he was not re- appointed on the issuing of the new commissions of 35 Edward I. The only further mention that I find of him is, that he acted as deputy to Hugh le Despenser, the justice of the forests south of Trent in the next reign, in the fifth year of which the custody of the Manor of Rokele in Wiltshire, belonging to the Templars, was committed to him at an annual rent of eleven pounds, ten shillings, and fourpence ; and that he had a license in 7 Edward II. to inclose six acres of his wood of Shitelhangre within the bounds of the forest of Salceto.4 IIAUTEYN, HAMON. Just. Itin. 1285. THESE is a manor called Hauteyn's in the parish of Bernham- Broom in Norfolk, from which the family of Hamon Hauteyn 1 CUus. m Edw. I., m. 22. • Madox'a Exch. I. : 3 N. Foedera, i. 970.; Rot Pari. ii. 215. 4 Ibid. i. 321.; Abbrev. Rot. Orig. i. 184.; C«L Hot. Fat. 78. H 3 102 WALTER DE HELYUN. Edw. I. no doubt was named.1 He held some office in the Exchequer under Henry III. ; and was entrusted with the sheriffalty of Lincolnshire in the forty-fourth and forty-fifth years of that reign, during which he was either so negligent or corrupt, as to incur an amercement of ten marks for delaying the execution of a writ till it was too late to act upon it.2 In 1 Edward I. he was one of the justices of the Jews 3, the functions of which he performed for several years, during which he acted as assessor in London and Middlesex of the fifteenth granted in 3 Edward I.4 ; and sat with Ralph de Hengham and others as a justice itinerant for the county of Suffolk in 1285, 13 Edward I.5 In the next year, how- ever, being called to account by the treasurer and barons of the Exchequer, and convicted of various misdemeanours, he was suspended from his office of justice of the Jews in Trinity term, 1286.6 HEGHAM, ROGER DE. B. E. 1307. See under the Reign of Edward II. HELYUN, WALTER DE. Just. K. B. 1272. Just. C. P. 1278. See under the Reign of Henry III. Walter de Helyun is only noticed by Dugdale under Henry III. as a justice itinerant in the fifty-third and three following years of that reign. The Fine Roll, how- ever, would seem clearly to show that he was at that time a justicier at Westminster, as there are continual entries of Blomefield's Norfolk, i. 636. Pell Records, Introd. xxxiii. Abbrev. Placit. 2 77. 2 Abbrev. Placit. 152. 4 Pari. Writs, i. 4. 6 Madox's Excb. i. 254., ii. 321. 1272—1307. ROBERT DE HERTFORD. 103 payments for assizes to be held before him from May, 1269, 53 Henry III., till July, 1272, 56 Henry III.1 He is called " one of the king's justices appointed to hold the pleas of the lord the king" on the Fine Eoll of Easter, 1273, 1 Edward I., when he received " ten marks as an advance from the king till his return to England ; " and in the fourth year he was paid twenty pounds for his expenses in visiting " eleven places to expedite the king's business."2 It would appear that he was removed to the Common Pleas in 6 Edward I., when a salary of fifty marks was assigned to him ; as from that year till Trinity, 9 Edward I., 1281, fines were levied before him.3 He was present at the parliament held at Westminster at Michaelmas, 6 Edward L, when Alexander, king of Scotland, did homage.4 It was probably his son of the same name, who was returned as knight of the shire for Gloucester in 24 Edward I.5 HENGHAM, RALPH DE, Chancellor of Exeter. Just. C. P. 1272. Ch. K. B. 1273. See under the Reigns of Henry III. and Edward II. HERTELPOLE, GEOFFREY DE. Just. Itin. 1307. See under the Reign of Edward II. HERTFORD, ROBERT DE. Just. C. P. 1290. Robert de Hertford was one of the judges of the Common Pleas who were placed on the bench in the room 1 Excerpt e Rot. Fin. ii. 490 — 571. 2 Devon's Issue Roll, Si. 3 Dugdale's Orig. 44. * Rot. Pari. i. . 1 Pari. Writs, i. 37. H 4 104 STEPHEN HEYM. Edw. I. of those who were superseded for corruption. His name appears on the fines levied between the octaves of the Purification, 18 Edward L, 1290, and Michaelmas, 21 Edward I., 1293 l ; but he is subsequently mentioned as a witness to a mandate dated at Westminster, June 24, 1294 2 ; and he was summoned to the parliament which met in the' following year.3 In 34 Edward I., his two sons, Master Richard and Peter, fined forty shillings for license to enter certain tenements in Kadeclyve in Notts.4 HEYM, PETER. Just. Itin. 1292. Nothing has been ascertained relative to Peter Heym, except that he was appointed, in 20 Edward I., 1292, a justice to take assizes in divers counties, and that his pleas are recorded in 23 Edward I.5 He was probably the son of the undernamed Stephen Heym. HEYM, STEPHEN. Just. C. P. 1272. See under the Reign of Henry III. Stephen Heym is inserted in Dugdale's list of justices of the Common Pleas at Easter, 55 Henry III., 1271, and writs of assize were taken in his name from the following May till the end of that reign.6 He was continued in the office under the succeeding king, as fines were levied before him from the former date till fifteen days of St. Martin, in 2 Edward I., 1273.7 He died early in the following year.8 1 Dugdale's Orig. 44. 2 Rot. Pari. i. 70. 391. 3 Pari. Writs, i. 29. 4 Abbrev. Rot. Orig. i. 148. 5 Dugdale's Chron. Series ; Abbrev. Rot. Orig. i. 92. 6 Excerpt, e Rot. Fin. ii. 537 — 589. 7 Dugdale's Orig. 44. 8 Abbrev. Rot. Orig. i. 23. 1272-1307. WALTER DE HOPTON. 105 HOPTON, WALTER DE. B. E. 1274. K. B. 1274. See \inder the Reign of Henry III. To the ancestor of this family, whose property was situate in Herefordshire and Shropshire, King William is stated to have granted the following rhyming charter : — To me and to myne l, to thee and to thine While water runs and the sun doth shyne ; For lacke of heyrs to the king again. I William, king, the third of my reign, Give to the Norman Hunter, To me that art both Line and Deare, The Hoppe and Hoptoune , And al the bounds up and downc, Under the Earth to Hell, Above the Earth to Heaven, From me and from mine To thee and to thine, As good and as faire As ever they myne were. To witness .that this is sooth, I bite the white wax with my tooth Before Jugg, Marode, and Margery, And my third son Henery ; For one bow and broad arrow When I come to hunt upon Yarrow.2 "Whatever may be the authenticity of this record, there is little doubt that Walter de Hopton was a descendant of the alleged grantee. In 35 Henry III., 1251, Johanna, the widow of Walter de Hopton, paid for an assize in Hereford- shire.3 These probably were the father and mother of the judge. His own wife was also named Johanna, the daughter of William de Scalariis, on his marriage with whom he received thirty shillings rent in Herefordshire, which he recovered in Michaelmas, 1274.4 1 Qu. From me and from myne? 8 Blount*s Tenures, 108. Excerpt, e Rot, I'm. ii. 11<>. ' Abbrey. Placit. 187. J 06 WALTER DE HOPTON. Edw. I. In the last year of the reign of Henry III., 1272, he acted as a justice itinerant in Worcestershire, and on April 24, 1274, 2 Edward I., he was one of the barons of the Exchequer. At the end of that, or the beginning of the following year, he was removed into the King's Bench, and is mentioned (erroneously under the name of William) in 6 Edward I., when he was also one of the justices itinerant into Hertfordshire and Kent. His name does not again occur till 13 Edward I., 1284, in which and in the two following years he was joined in various commissions as a justice itinerant.1 In 15 Edward I., he and his wife, called in the record Matilda, lost some land in Shropshire in an action brought against them by the Abbot of Cum- bermere.2 He is mentioned as one of the justices itinerant who were fined for corruption by King Edward on his return to England in 1289. By his petition to the king at the parliament held at Michaelmas, 18 Edward I., 1290, he represents that he was not guilty of a charge brought against Solomon cle Rochester and his companions justices itinerant in Norfolk, inasmuch as he was not associated with them till after the time when the offence was committed, nor did he know of the presentment until he was taken before the council and committed to the Tower. If, as Weever says, he was fined in the sum of 2000 marks, there were probably further charges against him. It would seem, however, that his appeal to the royal favour was successful, for in the same year the king assigned to him the lands of which his wife had died seised ; and in 20 Edward I., he was impleaded of waste on property in Wemme, Shropshire, and Tirlegh, Gloucestershire.3 From the twenty-fifth to the thirtieth year of the reign, also, he was not only summoned to perform military service in respect of his lands, but was 1 Dugdale's Chron. Ser. ; Madox's Excb. ii. 320. ; Abbrev. Placit. 2G9. 2 Abbrev. Rot. Orig. i. 56. 79. 3 Rot. Pari. i. 56. 79. 1272—1307. THOMAS DE LA HYDE. 107 twice elected as assessor of the fifteenth and other charges on the county of Hereford. In 33 Edward I. he was returned as knight of that shire1, and in the same year he died in possession of property in Shropshire of very con- siderable extent.'2 This family has continued to flourish from that time at their manor of Canon, Frome Court, in Herefordshire, producing sheriffs of the county and members of parliament, and it is now represented by a lineal de- scendant still resident there.3 It seems to be more than probable that the above facts refer to two persons named Walter de Hopton ; that they were father and son ; and that the division should be made between the sixth and thirteenth years of the reign. HOWARD, WILLIAM. Just. Itin. 1293. Just. C. P. 1297. See under the Reign of Edward II. HYDE, THOMAS DE LA. Just. Itin. T. 1305. Thomas de la Hyde possessed considerable property in Cornwall, and was sheriff of that county from 29 Edward I. till 6 Edward II., as well as seneschal of the castles of Tintagel, Restormel, and Tremeton, and of the stannary and the coinage there.4 It was doubtless on account of this position that he was placed on the commission of Trailbaston which was issued for the ten western and south-western counties on April 6, 1305, 33 Edward I.5 He was not reappointed in the new commissions dated in 35 Edward I., being probably found more useful in his other employments, 1 Pari. Writs, i. 107. 132. 144. 291. * Cal. Inquis. p. m., i. 199. 8 Burke's Landed Gentry, i. 590. * Fuller's Worthies; Madox's Exeh. Hi. 44. 5 N. Ftcdern, i. 970. 108 HUGH DE KENDALL. Einv. I. of which many instances occur among the parliamentary writs. In 5 Edward II. a fine was imposed upon him for non-appearance at the Exchequer on the day of account, and his goods were ordered to be seized into the king's hands, and his person to be attached for the contempt, but the writ was discharged on its being shown that sickness prevented his attendance.1 He died in the eighth year of that reign.2 INGE, WILLIAM. Just. Itin. 1293. See under the Reign of Edward II. INSULA, JOHN DE. Just. Itin. 1293. B. E. 1295. See under the Reign of Edward II. KENDALL, HUGH DE. ? Keeper, 1284. By the Patent Roll of 12 Edward I., it appears that on July 25, 1284, on the occasion of the chancellor visiting his house at Acton Burnell, he left the Great Seal under the care of Hugh de Kendall and Walter de Odyham.3 This disposition of the Seal, however, seems to have been made to them solely as clerks of the Chancery ; and Madox quotes a record, two years later in date, which plainly proves that Hugh de Kendall then held that office.4 Among the public records there are many writs and directions addressed to them jointly, and some separately, on the business of the Chancery during July and the two following months ; but 1 Madox's Exch. ii. 237. 3 Cal. Rot. Pat. 51. 2 Cal. Inquis. p. m., i. 256. < Madox's Exch. ii. 257. 1272— 13C7. WILLIAM DE KERDESTON. 109 it is to be remarked that wherever the year is named, it is 1283, 11 Edward I.1 This proves either that there is an error in the former date, or that they were employed in the same duties in botli years. How long Hugh de Kendall had been one of the clerks of the Chancery does not appear, but he had been for several years engaged in official duties. In 1 Edward I., he received ten marks for his expenses in going to the king beyond the seas at his command'2; two years afterwards, he was appointed assessor of the fifteenth imposed on the counties of Cam- bridge and Huntingdon ; and in the ninth year he is styled the king's clerk.3 In 17 Edward I., he was paid 11 6s. ±\d. for erecting a house in the burial ground of the Abbot of Westminster, in which the statues of King Henry and Queen Eleanor, Edward's late consort, were being made ; and in 20 Edward I., he received 20/. in reference to some latten metal provided for the tomb of the former.4 KERDESTON, WILLIAM DE. Just. Itin. T. 1305. One of the five justices of Trailbaston, appointed on April 6, 1305, 33 Edward L, for Norfolk and Suffolk, was William de Kerdeston5, who had been sheriff of those counties in the twenty-fifth and twenty-sixth years of that reign, and held considerable possessions in the former of them. When the new commissions were issued two years afterwards, his name was omitted, probably on account of his death, as the fre- quent entries about him in the parliamentary writs cease in the thirty-fourth year.'5 They show him to have been summoned to perform military service, and to have been 1 Seventh Report, Pub. lice, App., ii. 240— 258. 8 Devon's Issue [toll, 87. 8 Par]. Writs, i. 3. 9. 1 Devon'i Issue Roll, 99. 10 3. 8 N. Feeder*, i. 970. s Pari. Writs, i. '27—409. 110 JOHN DE KIRKEBY. Edw. I. variously employed in those counties. He married Margaret, daughter of Gilbert de Gant, Baron of Folkingham, part of whose property his son, Roger de Kerdeston, inherited as one of his co-heirs.1 Roger was summoned to parliament in 6 Edward III. ; but the barony, on the death of his grandson without issue, fell into abeyance between his half-sisters.2 KIRKEBY, GILBERT DE. Just. Ass. 1293. Gilbert de Kirkeby, like many of his namesakes, was connected with the courts, and is mentioned in 18 Edward I. as being put in the place, or as being the attorney of Roger de Longspee, Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield, in a pro- ceeding he had before the parliament.3 That his standing was a high one is shown by his being selected in 21 Edw. I., 1293, as one of the eight justices of assize then appointed, when Kent and eight other counties were assigned to him and to John de Insula.4 He had property in Hinton and Brackley in Northampton5; and was sheriff of that county for five years, commencing 2 Edward I.6 KIRKEBY, JOHN DE, Archdeacon of Coventry, afterwards Bishop of Ely. ? Keeper, 1278. See under the Reign of Henry III. "Whether this John de Kirkeby is in any way connected with the justicier of those names in 11 Henry III., does not appear : as there are several places so called, these individuals 1 Rot. Pari. i. 325. 2 Dugdale's Baron, ii. 112.; Nicolas's Synopsis; Burke's Ext. Peerage. 3 Rot. Pari. i. 16. 4 Dugdale's Chron. Series. 5 Abbrev. Placit. 269. fi Fuller's Worthies. 1272—1307. JOHN DE KIRKEBY. Ill might not even have received their designation from the same locality. This John de Kirkeby was rector of the church of St. Berian in Cornwall1; Dean of Wymburn in Dorsetshire; a canon in the cathedrals of Wells and York; and in 1272, 56 Henry III., was appointed Archdeacon of Coventry.'2 When, on the death of Richard de Middelton on August 7th of the latter year, the Great Seal was delivered into the king's wardrobe under the seal of John de Kirkeby, to whom the king committed its custody, there is no doubt that he was either an officer of the Exchequer, or a clerk of the Chancery. He associated with him in this custody P. de Winton, the keeper of the wardrobe; and the Great Seal, secured under their several seals, was on the king's death3 on November 16 following, delivered up by him to the king's council. There is among the records in the Tower a letter addressed to him as the king's vice-chancellor about this time.4 It was not till nearly six years after this that he had again possession of the Great Seal. When Robert Burnel, the chancellor, went abroad on February 11, 1278, 6 Edward L, John de Kirkeby was named as his substitute ; and the same course was repeated on several other occasions during that chancellor's temporary absences; viz., on May 25, 1279, February 20, 1281, February 13, 1282, and March 1, 1283.5 Some of these deliveries of the Seal were made by the chan- cellor himself, and under no special appointment from the king; and as John de Kirkeby was left to expedite the business of the Chancery in the mean time, it is manifest that he was cognizant of the duties of the office, and most pro- bably that he was the senior clerk in the Chancery, then a 1 Rot. Pari. L 14. 8 Le Novo, 132. 3 Excerpt, c Rot. Tin. ii. 515. 590. ; Rot. Pat 5G Hen. III., m. 6. 1 Seventh Report, Pub. Rec., A pp., ii. Lib. (i EdV. I., m. 2. ; ll Edw. r., m. h. ; Pat. 12 EdV. I., m. 7. 112 GILBERT DE KNOVILL Edw. I. place of high importance. From this he was promoted, on January 6, 1284, 12 Edward L, to the office of treasurer1, which he filled until his death. On July 26, 1286, he was elected Bishop of Ely, and although he had previously held so many ecclesiastical digni- ties, was obliged to be ordained priest before his consecration. Within four years a violent fever terminated his career, on March 26, 1290. He was buried in his own cathedral, and was succeeded in his property by a brother named William. He is charged with neglecting the care of his diocese in his devotion to the affairs of the state, and to have borne him- self with too much arrogance, sinking the bishop in the treasurer. His successors, however, would not fail to bless his memory for the munificent bequest he made to them of the manor of Holborn, where their London palace was built, near the site which is now called Ely Place.2 There was another John de Kirkeby, who was remem- brancer of the Exchequer in 19 Edward I., and who, with certain others, was appointed to receive petitions to the parliament in 1305, 33 Edward I., at the dissolution of which, he alone was authorised to give briefs to the members to receive their wages in the several counties. He died in 1 Edward II.3 KNOVILL, GILBERT DE. Just. Itxx. T. 1305. It does not appear whether Gilbert de Knovill was a relative of Bogo de Knovill, a baron at this time in Shropshire ; but he was sheriff of Devonshire from 21 to 28 Edward I.4, during which time he witnessed the charter by which Isabella de 1 Madox's Exch. ii. 36. 2 Godwin de Prsesul. 257.; Angl. Sac. i. 637.; Chron. Petroburg. 150. 3 Madox's Exch. ii. 265 — 268. ; Lingard's Eng. iii. 247. 4 Madox's Exch. ii. 156. 179. 1272—1307. WALTER DE LANGTON. 113 Fortibus, Countess of Albemarle and Devonshire, granted to the king the Isle of Wight, and the manors of Christchurch in Hants and Lambeth in Surrey ; and was also one of her executors.1 He was indebted to her for the manor of Batishorn in the parish of Honiton, which long remained in his family. - In 31 Edward L, 1303, he was sent as a justice itinerant into the isles of Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, and Sark ; and two years afterwards was appointed one of the justices of Trailbaston into ten counties, of which Devonshire was one, and again in the thirty-fifth year.3 Judging from a contemporary song, he graced the seat of justice with mercy and a tender consideration for the poor.4 In 2 Edward II. he petitioned the parliament for relief, in consequence of having received during his sheriffalty 108/. in a coin called pollards, which had been reduced to half their value by a royal proclamation ; and the barons of the Exchequer were afterwards ordered to make him the allow- ance.5 He died in 7 Edward II.6 LANGTON, JOHN DE, Treasurer of Wells, Archdeacon of Canterbury, Bishop of Chichester. M. R. 1286. Chanc. 1292. See under the Reign of Edward II. LANGTON, WALTER DE, Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry. ? Keeper, 1292. Mb. Hardy introduces Walter de Langton among the keepers of the Great Seal, because, on the death of Bishop 1 Rot. Pari. i. 335, 33G. ■ Risdon's Survey of Devon, 40. 3 N. Fcedera, i. 970., called William by mistake; Rot. Pari. i. 218. 464. 4 Wright's Political Songs, 231. See ante, p. 35. 4 Rot. Pari. i. 273. ; Madox's Excb. i. 294. 6 Abbrev. Rot. Orig. i. 808. VOL. III. I 114 WALTER DE LANGTON. Edw. I. Burnel the chancellor on October 25, 1292, 20 Edward I., it was delivered to him as custos of the king's wardrobe, under the seal of William de Hamilton. If either of these is to be called Keeper, however, the latter is the more entitled to the designation ; because the same record states that he sealed the writs from that time till the following Wednesday, when he accompanied the bishop's body to be buried at Wells.1 They had no more than the temporary care of the seal, while in its usual place of deposit, till the appoint- ment of a new chancellor, which took place on the 12 th of the following December. Walter de Langton wTas born at West Langton, in the county of Leicester; and was nephew of William de Langton, Dean of York. He was himself dean of the free chapel at Bruges, a canon of Lichfield, and one of the pope's chaplains. In 18 Edward I. he received permission to impark his wood of Ashle, and twelve contiguous acres in the forest of Rocking- ham.2 He held the office of keeper of the wardrobe until he was raised to the treasurership of England on September 28, 1295, 23 Edward I., his salary for which was 100 marks.3 In the following February he was elected Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield, and was consecrated on December 22, 1296, still retaining the office of treasurer.4 Although possessing the king's confidence and favour, his integrity and boldness in correcting the insolence of Peter de Gaveston and Prince Edward's other servants, and restraining their expenses, occasioned him much trouble and persecution. In 1301, 29 Edward L, he was charged with such heinous crimes by one Sir John Lovetot, as adultery, simony, and homicide, that the king was obliged to dismiss him till he had purged himself. For this he was compelled to take a 1 Clans. 20 Edw. I., m. 2. 3 Devon's Issue Roll, 164. 1 Dugdale's Chron. Ser. ; Madox's Excfa. ii. 42 Cal. Rot. Pat. 53. 55. 1272—1307. WALTER DE LANGTON. 115 journey to Home, where, after great cost, he succeeded, and was not only reinstated in June, 1303, but received the strongest proof of his sovereign's conviction of his innocence, by being made principal executor of the king's will. On Edward's death, however, his persecution recommenced. He was turned out of his office, cast into prison, and a long list of charges brought against him for malversation, which were directed to be heard before William de Bereford, one of the judges. After a long imprisonment at London, Wallingford, and York, no proof could be brought against him, and he was absolved by the court in October, 1308. In 1311 he was again imprisoned on a charge of homicide, but again suc- ceeded in confounding his accusers. His adherence to the king against the barons was followed by his restoration to his office in March, 1321, 5 Edward II. There is a record showing, that in April, 1312, while he was presiding in the receipt of the Exchequer, taking the proffers of the accountants, Adomar de Valence, Earl of Pembroke, Humfrey de Bohun, Earl of Hereford, Sir John Botetout, and others, came there and held out threats to him if he con- tinued to act in the office. The king, however, on this out- rage being certified to him, issued his writ expressing his wonder that the bishop should omit doing the business for the threats of any man, and strictly charging him to execute his duties according to his commission.1 He finally retired from the treasurership in September, 1314, 8 Edward II., when Walter de Norwico was appointed; and he spent the re- mainder of his days in the quiet exercise of his episcopal authority. He died on November 16, 1321, and was buried in the chapel of St. Mary, which he had added to his cathedra] at 1 Madox's Excli. i. 267. This entry affords another proof of the Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry being sometimes called Bishopi of Cluster. I 2 116 ROGER DE LEICESTER. Edw. I. Lichfield. His benefactions to his see were numerous and munificent.1 LEICESTER, PETER DE. B. E. 1291. The relationship of Peter de Leicester to the undermentioned Roger de Leicester is uncertain. At the time of the disgrace of the latter, Peter was one of the justices of the Jews, for which he received an annual salary of forty marks up to Michaelmas, 18 Edward L, 1290. He had previously been an officer in the Exchequer, and was deputed in the seventh year to act for the Earl of Warwick, one of the chamberlains, in the Exchequer of Receipt. In 19 Edward I., 1291, the duties of his former office having terminated with the expulsion of the Jews from England, he was appointed a regular baron of the Exchequer, in which office he continued to act till his death in the thirty-first year of the reign 2, and was summoned among the justices to parliament up to the previous year. He left a son named Thomas, and had property at Stoke- mandeville in Buckinghamshire, at Kingsbrome and Eccleshall in Warwickshire, and at Horpol in Northamptonshire.3 LEICESTER, ROGER DE. Just. C. P. 1276. ? B. E. 1293. Roger de Leicester was the son of Sir Nicholas de Leicester, who possessed large estates in Cheshire, by Mar- garet, the daughter of Geoffrey Dutton, and widow of Robert de Denbigh, through whom, among other manors, he 1 Angl. Sac. i. 441.; Godwin de Praesul. 318. 2 Madox's Exch. i. 237. 254., ii. 62. 265. 300. 304. 323. 3 Pari. Writs, i. 113.; Abbrev. Placit. 348.; Cal. Inquis. p. m., i. 183. 187. 223.; Abbrev. Rot. Orig. i. 163. 1272—1307. GEOFFREY DE LEUKNORE. 117 acquired that of Tabley.1 He became a justice of the Common Pleas, with a salary of forty marks, in 1276, 4 Edward I., from Trinity in which year till Michaelmas in the seven- teenth, 1289, fines were levied before him.'2 Being then removed from his office with several of his brethren for ex- tortion and other judicial crimes, he was compelled to pay for his release from imprisonment 1000 marks3, a sum so much less than that imposed upon some of the others, that it is to be hoped his offence was not of so deep a dye. Dugdale introduces his name again on January 2, 1293, 21 Edward I., as being then appointed a baron of the Exchequer ; but both on the above account, and because in Madox's list of those who attended in the court after that date he is never men* tioned, it seems not unlikely that his name was by mistake substituted for that of Peter do Leicester, who certainly was appointed about the same time, and whose subsequent attend- ance is regularly noted. Peter Leicester of Tabley, his lineal descendant, was created a baronet on August 10, 1660 ; but the title became extinct in 1742, for the want of male heirs. A daughter, however, married Sir Peter Byrne, baronet, whose grandson, Sir John Fleming Leicester (the surname having been assumed), was created Baron de Tabley on July 16, 1826. His son George, who has taken the name of Warren, is the present Baron.4 LEUKNORE, GEOFFREY DE. Just. Itin. 1276. See under the Reign of Henry III, There was a Nicholas de Leuknore who at the time of his death, in 52 Henry III., was keeper of the king's wardrobe. 1 Burke's Ext. Baronet :i06. ' Dugdale^ Orig. 14, • Weever, 367. « Barke'i Peerage. i 3 118 GEOFFREY DE LEUKNOEE. Euw. I. Roger, his eldest son, succeeded him.1 This Geoffrey de Leuknore was perhaps either his second son or his brother. There is a record in the year after Nicholas's death of a royal grant to Geoffrey of a field in Chiselhampton in Oxford- shire, with a mill late belonging to a Jew ; and two years afterwards he had an additional grant of further property there.2 He appears with three others as a justice itinerant in 39 Henry III., 1255, for that county and those of Hunt- ingdon, Northampton, and Buckingham. The same four visited other counties in the following year ; and as they are then specially designated as justices itinerant for pleas of the forest, the probability is that they were only entrusted with the same duty in the former year. This seems the more likely, from the entry of a payment to him in 41 Henry III. of nine marks and eight shillings for his expenses in going to sell the king's demesne woods.3 He is next mentioned in the forty-fifth year, 1261, when he again acted as a justice itinerant into various counties ; and in the two follow- ing years he was also engaged in the same employment. Dugdale does not introduce him at all as a regular justicier in the reign of Henry III., but it would seem that he held that position ; inasmuch as from March, 1265, 49 Henry III., till September, 1271, 55 Henry III., there are numerous entries on the Rotulus de Finibus of payments made for assizes to be held before him.4 He is only named on one other iter in Henry's reign, being that to Cornwall and Devonshire in the fifty-second year. But if he were then on the bench, he must have been removed on the death of Henry, for his name does not occur among those appointed to either court on the accession of Edward I. Dugdale, however, introduces him as a justice of the Common Pleas on 1 Excerpt, e Rot. Fin. ii. 476. 512. ; Madox's Exch. i. 269. 2 Cal. Rot. Pat. 42. 44. 3 Devon's Issue Roll, 33. 4 Excerpt, e Rot. Fin. ii. 422 — 549. 1272—1307. ROGER DE LA LEYE. 119 November 2, 1276, in the fourth year: but the patent which he quotes as his authority can scarcely have been read by him ; for it merely appoints Geoffrey de Leuknore and two others to be justices to hold assizes and pleas in the liberty of Dunstable, lie is mentioned as a justice itinerant in 6 Edward I., with a salary of forty marks per annum ; but there is no record of his acting beyond the following year.1 Sir Roger Lukener, knight, one of the Serjeants in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, was descended from him, and the family was still existing in 1684.2 LEYE, ROGER DE LA, Archdeacon of Essex, Dean of London. B. E. 1272. See under the Reign of Henry III. Roger de la Leye was an experienced officer of the Exchequer, acquiring those royal favours and clerical digni- ties which were usually distributed among the high in place in that department. The custody of the lands and heir of Gilbert Daniel of Dunnesden was granted to him for a fine of 20Z., wbich he was allowed to discharge by small half-yearly instalments of five marks each ; and he even obtained a respite of a year for the payment of two of them.3 In 35 Henry III., 1251, he held the office of Remembrancer of the Exchequer, and had a grant of 20Z. a year, until he was other- wise provided for. 4 During the contests with the barons in 48 Henry III., 1263, the affairs of the Exchequer having got into great disorder, the rents not being paid, and no baron being resident there, the king, on November 1, directed that Roger de la Leye, then Remembrancer, should fill the office of 1 Pari. Writs, i. 382. • Grandeur of the Law, 1684, p. 159. 3 Excerpt, e Hot. Fin. ii. 65. ' Madox'i Exch. ii. 266. 120 MARTIN DE LITTLE BEKE. Edw. I. a baron there ; and on the 30th of the same month com- manded that he should execute the offices of treasurer and chancellor of the Exchequer until otherwise ordered. In the next year he was directed to continue to act as baron and treasurer, and a salary of forty marks was assigned to him. A treasurer and a chancellor of the Exchequer were subsequently appointed; but in 52 Henry III. the seal of that department, constituting him chancellor, was again placed in his hands, and was held by him for the three following years, when another was put in his place. He continued one of the barons of the Court during the first two years of Edward's reign ; and then was a third time raised to the office of chancellor of the Exchequer, and re- ceived a grant of 207. in discharge of his expenses in the service. In the latter year, 1276, he was removed, as he is spoken of as " nuper cancellarius," and was about that time appointed Archdeacon of Essex, being so designated in the same record. l From that dignity he was raised, on Octo- ber 25, 1283, 11 Edward L, to the deanery of London, which he held for less than two years; his death occurring on August 18, 1285. 2 LICHFIELD AND COVENTRY, Bishop of. W. DE LANGTON. LINCOLN, Dean of. See P. de Wileby. See LITTLEBERE, MARTIN DE. Just. K. B. 1273. See under the Reign of Henry III. Martin de Littlebere wras evidently brought up to the profession of the law. So early as 31 Henry III., 1247, an 1 Madox's Exch. ii. 28. 52. 55, 56. 112. 319, 320.; Dugdale's Chron. Ser. » Le Neve, 183. 189 1272—1307. ROGER LOVEDAY. 121 assize was held before him in Kent1, but this was probably on a special occasion. It was not tillJuly, 1261, 45 Henry III., that he was appointed a regular justicier. There is a letter among the public records addressed by him to Walter de Merton the chancellor, thanking him for past favours, and begging him to expedite his present affairs. 2 From that date assizes to be taken before him commence, and they continue without interruption till the last month of the king's reign, November, 1272. 3 In 1261 and the two following years he acted as a justice itinerant, and in the two latter he held the first place in the commissions for the counties to which he was appointed. So also in 1268, from which year till Trinity, 1272, fines were levied before him.4 In 1269, he had the grant of a salary of 20/. a year. He is mentioned as a judge of the King's Bench in 1 Edward 1. 5 ; and Dugdale quotes a Liberate in his favour in the following year, after which his name does not occur. LONDON, Bishop of. See R. de Baldock, LONDON, Dean of. See R. de Baldock; R. de la Leye. LOVEDAY, ROGER. Just. I tin. 1276. The introduction by Dugdale of Roger Loveday's name among those raised to the bench of the Common Pleas on November 2, 1276, 4 Edward L, turns out to be an error, the patent quoted only constituting him and two others justices to hold assizes and pleas in the liberties of the priory of Dunstable. He was appointed a justice itinerant, with a salary of forty marks, in 6 Edward I. ; and continued to act 1 Excerpt, e Rot. Fin. ii. 9- 2 Fifth Report, Till). Rec, A pp., ii. 96. 3 Fin. ii. 355—589. 4 Dugflale's Orig. 44. » Devon's Issue Roll, 87. 122 JOHN LOVEL. Edw, I. in that character till the fourteenth year of the reign, being also summoned among his fellows to attend parliament on several occasions. l He was one of the eight judges whom the king in the eighth year selected to inquire what were the services due from the tenants of the manor of Tavistock : and again in the twelfth year he was a commissioner of inquiry into the state of the walls, ditches, sewers, and bridges in Heyland, in Lincolnshire, and the damage done by an inundation there.2 His property was at Wytheresfield in Suffolk; and in 3 Edward I. he was proceeded against for having compelled William de Sprouston, by fear of imprisonment and other coercion, to execute a grant to him of lands in Sprouston and Burstall in that county, but was acquitted of the charge. He died in 15 Edward I., leaving a son named Richard. His widow, Sibilla, afterwards married William de Ormesby, the judge.3 LOVEL, JOHN. Just. Itin. 1292. Just. K. B. 1294. There were at this time two noble families of this name ; but to which of them Master John Lovel, as he is called, belonged, does not appear. He had the living of Yling, in the diocese of London, in 18 Edward I., and complaints wrere made against him to the parliament by his parishioners, for undue severity.4 He was the last but one of five justices itinerant sent into the northern counties in 20 Edward I., 1292, and two years afterwards is introduced into Dugdale's List as a judge of the King's Bench. In the various writs by which he was summoned to attend the parliament, he 1 Pari. Writs, i. 8. 16. 382. ; Chron. Petroburg. 136.; Chron. Ser. 2 Abbrev. Placit. 205. 270. 3 Ibid. 207. 242. 265. 307.; Cal. Inquis. p. m., i. 49. 4 Rot. Pari. i. 60. 1272—1307. JOHN DE LOVETOT. 123 seems to hold that place in the twenty -third and twenty- eighth years of the reign ; but in the intevening years he is called clerk of the council, and appears among those who are known to be clerks of the Chancery. In 26 and 28 Edw. I. he was one of the justices appointed to perambulate the forests of various counties, and is not mentioned after the latter date.1 LOVETOT, JOHN DE. Just. C. P. 1 275. John de Lovetot was of the noble family of that name, lords of Wirksop in Nottinghamshire ; and son of Oliver de Lovetot, of Carcolston in that county, and Alicia his wife.2 He was raised to the bench of the Common Pleas in 3 Ed- ward I., 1275, and had a salary of fifty marks assigned to him. There are entries of fines levied before him from that year till Michaelmas, 17 Edward L, 1289: and his rolls were carried into the Exchequer in the next year.3 At this time he was charged with extortion and other crimes committed on the judicial seat, one of which was taking a false verdict, when one of the jury differed from his fellows ; and he was accordingly removed and imprisoned in the Tower, for his redemption from which he paid a fine of 3000 marks.4 He died just before November 5, 1294, 22 Edward I., that being the date of the writ of diem clausit extremum ; leaving a son, also named John.5 LOUTHER, HUGH DE. Just. Itin. T. 1307. See under the reign of Edward II. 1 Pail. Writs, i. 29—83. 3!>7 . * Dugdale's Baronage, i. 569. ; Thoroton's Notts, i. 23 5. 3 Dugdale's Orig. 44. ; and Cliron. Ser. ; Madox'l Kxeh. ii. 25. 4 Stow's London, 44 ; Weever, 367. ; Abbrev. Placit. 286. 5 Pari. Writs, i. 717. 124 JOHN DE LYTHEGRENES. Edw. I. LYTHEGRENES, JOHN DE. Just. Itin. 1293. It seems probable that John de Lythegrenes was either a native of, or established as an advocate in one of the northern counties ; his name being mentioned so early as 52 Henry III. as employed on the part of the king in a quo warranto against the mayor of Newcastle-upon-Tyne.1 In 8 Edward I. he was appointed Sheriff of Yorkshire, and retained that office for five years2 ; and he is noticed in the parliament of 18 Ed- ward I. as a commissioner to inquire into the liberties claimed by the priors of Tynemouth and Carlisle.3 In 21 Edward L, 1293, he acted as one of the justices itinerant for Surrey ; two years afterwards he succeeded Thomas de Normanvili as king's escheator beyond the Trent, but in the next year exchanged the office for that on this side the Trent.4 In the twenty-sixth year, a day was given him, as late custos of the archbishoprick of York during its vacancy, to account for the issues thereof, and of the escheat of the honour of Tikehill and other lands in his custody.5 In that year he was employed in the perambulation of the forests of the northern counties, at a stipend of six shillings a day ; and was again appointed to the same duty two years afterwards6 ; being also recorded in the intervening year as a justice itinerant in the county of Kent.7 He was still alive in January, 1301, when his name appears in the Statute De Escaetoribus, then enacted at Lincoln, as one of the king's council.8 Abbrev. Placit. 170. Rot. Pari. i. 29. 38. Madox's Excli. ii. 45. Dugdale's Chron. Series. 2 Abbrev. Rot. Orig. i. 37. 4 Abbrev. Rot. Orig. i. 89. 93. 6 Pari. Writs, i. 397 398. 8 Statutes at Large, i. 147. 1272—1307. PETER DE MALO LACU. 125 MALET, ROBERT. Just. K. B. 1289. How nearly Robert Malet was connected with the noble family of that name, the elder branch of which failed for want of male issue in 1224, is not ascertained. He was amerced in 14 Edward I., for not appearing at the Ex- chequer with his accounts as sheriff of the counties of Bedford and Buckingham.1 But the offence was no doubt speedily removed, for in 18 Edward I., 1289, he was appointed a judge of the King's Bench in the place of one of those who were then discharged for corruption in their office, and had a salary of 26Z. 13s. 4d. assigned to him.2 He is mentioned in that character as late as 23 Edward I.3, in which year he died, and Robert, his son and heir, did homage for his lands in Buckinghamshire.4 Sir Thomas Malet, the eminent judge of the King's Bench in the reigns of the two Charles's, whose descendant is the present Sir Alexander Malet of Wilbury House, Wiltshire, baronet, was in all probability of the same family. MALLORE, PETER. Just. C. P. 1293. See under the Reign of Edward II. MALO LACU, or MAULEY, PETER DE. Just. Itin. T. 1305. The first of this family, also named Peter, was a Poictevin, who, being esquire to King John, is said to have owed his 1 Madox's Exch. ii. 237. * Dugdale'a Chron. Series. J Rot. Pari. i. 83. 85. 138. 4 Abbrcv. Rot. Or'i£. i. 87, 88. 126 PETER DE MALO LACU. Edw, I. fortunes to undertaking the murder of Prince Arthur: in reward for which act Isabel, the daughter of Robert de Turnham, was given to him in marriage with all her rich possessions, principally in Yorkshire. Some doubt of this origin arises from the fact that for a period of two hundred years, during the whole continuance of the family, every succeeding lord was called by the same christian name. Had the founder been really chargeable with a crime, so justly exciting abhorrence against its perpetrator, it is difficult to suppose that his successors would have perpetuated its remem- brance by a continuance of the name. The subject of this notice was the fourth baron in succes- sion, and the great-grandson of the first Peter. His father married Nichola, daughter of Gilbert de Gant, grandson of the Earl of Lincoln , and died about 7 Edward I., when this Peter, then only three years of age, succeeded to his inherit- ance1, paying the usual baronial relief of 100/. He was engaged in the Welsh and Scottish wars under Edward I., and was summoned to parliament from the twenty-third year of that reign till his death. In 29 Ed- ward I. he signed the barons' letter to the Pope by the title of Dominus de Musgreve. In 33 Edward L, 1305, he was placed at the head of the justices of Trailbaston appointed for Lincolnshire, Yorkshire, and eight other counties, and not improbably had acted previously as a justice itinerant in some of them. On the re-issuing these commissions in 1307, he held the same place.2 He married Eleanor, daughter of Thomas Lord Furnival, and died in 3 Edward II., 1310, leaving his son Peter, who succeeded him. On the death of the seventh Peter in 1415 without issue, the barony fell into abeyance between his 1 Archaeologia, xxi. 209. 2 N. Fredera, i. 970. ; Rot. Pari. i. 188. 193. 202. 216. 218. 1272—1307. WILLIAM MARTIN. 127 sisters, Constance, who married first William Fairfax and next Sir John Bigot ; and Elizabeth, the wife of George Salvaine.1 MARCHIA, WILLIAM DE, Bishop of Bath and Wells. ? Keeper, 1290. The Great Seal was delivered into the king's wardrobe to William de Marchia on February 24, 1290, 18 Edward L, by Bishop Burnel the chancellor, on his going to visit his diocese2, and Mr. Hardy therefore calls him Keeper, But he was then merely an officer of the wardrobe, the usual place for depositing the seal, and was certainly a clerk in that department five years before. He was promoted to the office of treasurer at the end of the same year, with an annual stipend of one hundred marks 3 ; and on the death of Burnel he was elected his successor in the bishoprick of Bath and Wells on January 30, 1293, being a canon of the latter cathedral at the time. After sitting there for nearly ten years, during several of which he continued treasurer, he died on June 11, 1302, and was buried at Wells. So great were his virtues, and so many were the miracles reported to have been performed at his tomb, that the pope was vehe- mently urged to canonise him. His merits, however, were not deemed worthy of that honour.4 MARTIN, WILLIAM. Just. I tin. T. 1307. This family commenced with a Norman knight, named Martin de Tours, who acquired the lordship of Camoys in 1 Dugd&le'fl Baronage, i. 733. ; Nk-olas's Synopsis. ■ Claus. 18 Edw. I., m. 14. 1 Madox's KncIi. ii. 323. 4 Godwin do Prawul. S74. 128 WILLIAM MARTIN. Edw. I. the county of Pembroke, and founded there the monastery of St. Dogmaels. Willam Martin was the sixth baron, suc- ceeding his grandfather, Nicholas, in 1282 ; his father, also Nicholas, having previously died. In 22 Edward I., he obtained licence for a fair at his manor of Merwood in Devonshire, and for free warren over his various lordships in that county, and in Somersetshire. He was summoned to parliament from the next year till his death ; and aided the king in his expeditions against Scotland. He signed the barons' letter to the pope, under the title of Dominus de Camesio. When the justices of Trailbaston were appointed, on April 6, 1305, 33 Edward I., he was placed at the head of those sent into Cornwall and nine other counties; and so again in February 1307. His clemency and kindness to the poor during these commissions are commemorated in a Norman song of the age. Both before and after this time he is mentioned as acting in a judicial capacity, as well in civil as in criminal pleas.1 In 4 Edward II., a writ of inquiry was addressed to him ; and in 9 Edward II., he was justice of South Wales.2 On his death, which occurred in 1325, 18 Edward II., he left, by his wife Eleanor, daughter of William de Mohun, three children ; William, who died in the following year ; Eleanor, the wife of William de Columbers ; and Joane, the wife of Nicholas de Audley. The son being childless, the barony is in abeyance among the representatives of the two daughter?.3 MAULEY, PETER DE See Malo Lacu. 1 Rot. Pari. i. 188. 196.218.; N. Foedera, i. 970. ; Abbrev. Placit. 261. Wright's Political Songs, 231. See ante, p. 35. 2 Abbrev. Placit. 312.; First Report, Pub. Rec. 101. 3 Dugdale's Baronage, i. 729. ; Nicolas's Synopsis. 1272—1307. WALTER DE MERTON. 129 MERTON, WALTER DE, afterwards Bishop of Rochester. Chancellor, 1272. See under the Reign of Henry III. This eminent benefactor to learning was born at Merton in Surrey. His father was William de Merton, Archdeacon of Berks, who died about 1239 ; and his mother, Christina, the daughter of Walter Fitz-Oliver, of Basingstoke, where the site of their tomb has lately been discovered in the church of St. Michael. He was educated in the convent of Merton, and became one of the clerks in Chancery, with some other place in the court. As was usual with those officers, he received various ecclesiastical preferments, among which were the rectories of Potton in Bedfordshire, and Stratton ; besides prebends in St. Paul's and Exeter, and, according to some, in Salisbury also.1 Several records show that the Great Seal was temporarily placed in his hands, no doubt as one of the clerks in Chancery, during the illness and occasional absence of Henry de Wing- ham, the keeper or chancellor; viz., on May 7, 1258, and on March 14 and July 6, 1259.2 But on July 5, 1261, when the king removed Nicholas, Archdeacon of Ely, to whom the Great Seal had been en- trusted by the barons, he, without reference to their assumed authority, appointed Walter de Merton his chancellor ; and on October 15 granted 400 marks for the support, not only of himself, but of the Chancery also.3 In the two following years there are several letters among the public records ad- dressed to him in that character, and one from the king, thanking him and Philip Basset for their attention to his 1 Chalmers's Biog. Diet. 2 Rot. Pat. 42 Hen. III., m. 29., and 43 Hen. III., m. G. & 1. 3 Ibid. 45 Hen. III., m. 8. ; Liberate, 45 Hen. III., m. ::. VOL. III. K 130 WALTER DE MERTON. Edw. I. affairs.1 He was superseded on July 12, 1263, by his pre- decessor, Nicholas de Ely. That he was not reinstated in the following year, when the king triumphed at Evesham, arose, probably, from his being then actively engaged in the foundation of the college, which has made his name familiar from that time to the pre- sent. It would appear, however, that he acted as a justicier, as there is an entry of a payment made for an assize to be held before him on December 10, 1271, 56 Henry III.2 On the death of Henry III., in November, 1272, King Edward being then absent in the Holy Land, the council selected Merton to fill the office of chancellor. A document on the Close Roll, dated on the 29th of that month, is at- tested by him in that character 3, in which also he assisted at a folk-mote of the citizens of London, held in St. Paul's Churchyard about the same time relative to the election of Walter Hervey as lord mayor of London.4 That King Edward approved of the choice is evidenced by a letter he addressed " to his beloved clerk and chancellor, Walter de Merton," on August 9 following, from Mellune-super- Skeneham, thanking him for his zeal, and exhorting him to continue to discharge the duties of the office.5 About July 20, 1274, he was elected Bishop of Rochester, and thereupon resigning the chancellorship, Robert Burnel, Archdeacon of York, was appointed his successor on Sep- tember 21 following.6 He presided over his see little more than three years ; and if Edmund de Hadenham, in his " Annals of Rochester," 7 is to be believed, he did no notable good to the prior and con- 1 4 Report, Pub. Rec, App., ii. 152. 158. 8 Excerpt, e Rot. Fin. ii. 555. 4 Palgrave's Merchant and Friar, 118. 5 6 Report, Pub. Rec, App., ii. 89. 7 Angl. Sac. 351. 5 Report, App., ii. 61, 62, 63. 3 Foedera, i. 498. 6 Claus. 2 Edw. I., m. 1, 1272—1307. JOHN DE METINGHAM. 131 vent, although he had great authority and power. He was drowned in crossing the Medway on October 27, 1277, and was buried in Rochester Cathedral.1 The marble tomb under which he was placed was taken down in 1598, and an elegant monument erected in its place, by Sir Henry Savile, the Warden, and the Fellows of Merton College, with an appro- priate inscription. King Edward granted writs, summoning all who were in- debted to the Bishop speedily to pay the debts they owed into the Exchequer ; in order that his executors might be enabled to perform the directions of his will : taking care, however, that security was first given by them for what was due from him to the crown. Previously to his founding the college which bears his name, he had commenced one at Maldon, near Merton ; but, altering his intention, he began his erection at Oxford, and removed to it the warden and priests of the former. Merton College is the most ancient establishment of that nature ; and was incorporated by three charters, all of which are preserved among its archives. The first is dated January 7, 1264, 48 Henry III. ; the second in 1270, when he further endowed it; and the third in 1274, 2 Edward L, when he brought it to completion. The regulations by which it was governed were esteemed so wise, that its charters were consulted as precedents on the foundation of Peterhouse, the earliest college in the sister university. METINGHAM, JOHN DE. Just. K. 13. 127G. Cii. C. P. 1290. In the county of Suffolk, in which John de Metingham was born, is a village so called, from which his family derived 1 Godwin de Pretul, K 2 132 WILLIAM DE MIDDLETON. Edw. I. their name. No account remains of his parentage, nor of his progress in the profession of the law, until he is mentioned in 3 Edward I. as one of the king's Serjeants. In the follow- ing year, 1276, he was constituted a judge of the King's Bench, and his name frequently occurs as acting in the court and on the circuits. In the sweeping exposure of the corruption of the bench made by King Edward in 1289, the only two who were found pure in the administration of justice were John de Metingham and Elias de Beckingham. Both the chief justices were disgraced ; and Metingham, in Hilary Term, 18 Edward I., 1290, was raised to the head of the Common Pleas, where he presided till his death. The last fine levied before him in that character was in fifteen days of Michael- mas, 26 Edward I., 1298 ; and he is mentioned as present in court in the following Hilary Term. His death, however, did not occur till 1301, when his place was filled by Ralph de Hengham. He wrote a Treatise called "Judicium Essoniorum."1 MIDDLETON, ADAM DE. Just. Itin. T. 1305. See under the Reign of Edward II. MIDDLETON, WILLIAM DE. B. E. 12S6. William de Middleton was an officer of the Exchequer, holding the place of Keeper of the Rolls and Writs of the Jews in 2 and 3 Edward I., together with the key of the 1 Dugdale's Orig. 44. 57.; and Chron. Ser. ; Rot. Pari. i. 6. 18. 40. 51. 85. 99. ; Madox's Exch. ii. 25. ; Fuller's Worthies, ii. 336. 1272—1307. HEN11Y DE MONTEFORTI. 133 Jewish Tallage; and for this he had a salary of 10/. per annum. In the following year, 1276, he was appointed Gustos Brevium of the Court of Common Pleas ; and in 1 1 Edward I., the lands of Isabella, the widow of Henry de Gaunt, were committed to his custody. On June 18, 1286, 14 Edward L, lie was associated with the escheat or in the custody of the bishoprick of Ely on its becoming vacant ; and in the course of the same year he wras appointed a baron of the Exchequer in the place of Roger de Northwood, with a salary of 207. a year ; and there is evidence of his continuance in that office for the four following years.1 He probably was some relation to the Bishop of Norwich of the same name, who died in August, 1288. MONTEFORTI, HENRY DE. Just. C. P. 1272. See under the Reign of Henry III. The name of Henry de Monteforti, with the addition of " Clericus," appears in 48 Henry III., 1263, as an escheator south of the Trent 2 ; and in the same year he was one of the conservators of the peace in the county of Kent. 3 I have not been able to discover whether any relationship existed between him and Peter de Montfort, the head of the noble family of that name, or Simon Earl of Leicester ; but as both of the latter were slain in 1265 at the battle of Evesham, in arms against their sovereign, it is not likely that the connection was very close ; since Henry's elevation to the bench took place about October, 1266, 50 Henry III., from which date till the end of that reign the Fine Kolls con- tain frequent entries of writs for assizes to be held before * Madox's Exch. i. 234. 243. 313., ii. 322. ; Abbrev. Rot Orig. i. Dugdale'a Chron. Series. 8 Excerpt, e Rot. Fin. ii. 411. ■ HftSted's Kent, i. 218. K 3 134 GEOFFREY DE NEWBALD. Edw. I. him.1 In 51 Henry III. the keeper of the wardrobe was commanded by the king to provide " Johanni le Breton et Henrico de Monteforti, Justiciariis suis," with the entire robes other jnsticiers received.2 He went circuits in 52, 55, and 56 Henry III., and was still on the bench at the decease of that king. There can be little doubt that he was continued in office on the accession of Edward I. ; for in the second and fourth years of that reign he again acted on the circuits, the com- mission of the former year extending over nineteen counties. Dugdale also quotes an entry on the Liberate Rolls of 3 Ed- ward I., in which he is named as a justice of the bench.3 He died at the end of the next or beginning of the folio wing CD O O year.1 MORTIMER, WILLIAM DE. Just. Itin. 1292. See under the Reign of Edward II. MUTFORD, JOHN DE. Just. Itin. T. 1307. See under the Reign of Edward II. NEWBALD, GEOFFREY DE. Just. Itin. 1276. Dugdale, by a misreading of the patent he quotes, states that on November 2, 1276, 4 Edward I., Geoffrey de New- bald was appointed one of the judges of the Common Pleas5; the record plainly proving that he was merely constituted a Excerpt, e Rot. Fin. ii. 446 — 586. Selden's Notes to Hengham Magna, 5. Dugdale's Chron. Series. Dugdale's Chron. Series. Abbrev. Rot. Orig. i. 27. 1272—1307. THOMAS DE NORMANV1LL. 135 justice to hold pleas in the liberties of the priory of Dunstable. He was soon removed to a more important station, for on August 22, 1277, he was raised to the office of Chancellor of the Exchequer, for which he had a salary of forty marks.1 In 6 Edward I. he complained to the parliament that the Bishop of Durham had refused to admit him to the church of Roubery in that diocese, in the king's gift, alleging it was already full ; and his petition was referred to the Court Christian.2 He is recorded as attending the Court of Ex- chequer as late as 9 Edward I. NORMANVILL, THOMAS DE. Just. Itiv. ? 1286. 1293. There was a Yorkshire family of this name ; of whom Gerard and Margery his wife, who were, perhaps, the parents of Thomas de Normanvill, paid for an assize in that county in 53 Henry III., 1269. 3 Thomas is called " senescallus regis" in the king's grant to him, in 4 Edward I., of the custody of the Castle of Bamburgh ; and the title is continued in numerous instances till the tenth year, when he was appointed to the same duties under the designation of king's escheator beyond Trent. He retained the latter office till the twenty-third year, except that he exchanged it for a short time for the southern escheatorship.4 It was probably in this official capacity that in 11 Edward I., 1283, lie received the king's commands to remove the sheriff of Cum- berland; his commission for which, and his letters to the barons of the Exchequer communicating his having obeyed the order, are mentioned in the Year Book of that reign (fol. 12.). He was one of the justices itinerant for pleas 1 Madox's Exch. ii. 52. 62. 321. - Hot. Pari. i. 6. ' Excerpt e Rot. Fin. ii. 491. 4 Abbrev. Hot. Orig. i. 26—88, K 4 136 ROGER DE NORTHWOOD. Edw. I. of the forest only in Nottingham and Lancashire in 14 Edward I., 1286, but his name appears as a regular justice itinerant in 20 and 21 Edward I., when he was appointed for Herefordshire and for Surrey.1 He died in 23 Edward L, 1295.2 NORTHBURG, WILLIAM DE. Just. Itin. 1275. Of William de Northburg no memorial remains except that he was one of the justices appointed in 3 Edward I., 1275, to take assizes beyond the Trent ; and that in 6 and 7 Ed- ward I. he acted as a justice itinerant in the counties of Hereford, Hertford, Kent, Dorset, Somerset, and Wilts.3 He is mentioned in that character at Lancaster in 23 Ed- ward L, but apparently in reference to a plea of earlier date.4 NORTHWOOD, ROGER DE. B. E. 1274. Northwood-Chasteners is a manor near Milton in Kent, and was granted in the reign of King John to Stephen, the son of Jordan de Shepey, who built a mansion there and assumed its name. His son, Roger de Northwood, who wras with King Richard in the Holy Land, was, by Bona his wife, father of Roger, the subject of the present notice. In 42 Henry III. he accounted for the proceeds of the sheriffalty of Kent as one of the executors of Reginald de Cobbeham ; and was possessed, besides the above manor, of that of Littlebrooke in Stone, near Dartford, and of Shorne, Thurneham, Harietsham, and Northwood without Shepey, and other property in the Dugdale's Chron. Series. Duijdale's Chron. Series. Cal. Inquis. p. m., i. 124. Abbrev. Rot. Orig. i. 92. 1272—1307. WALTER DE ODYHAM. 137 same county. In 41 Henry III. he procured the tenure of his lands to be changed from gavelkind to knights' service.1 He must have been a baron of the Exchequer in 2 Ed- ward I., since he is mentioned as being present in that character on the feast of St. Edmund the Martyr, Novem- ber 20, 1274, the first day of the third regnal year of that monarch. On July 25 following, he received a grant of 10/. for his expenses ; and in November another of 20/. ; and sub- sequently a regular salary of forty marks per annum. In 5 Edward I. he was excused from his service in the army against Wales on account of his residence in the Exchequer ; and there is sufficient proof of his continuing in the office till his death, which occurred in the thirteenth year.2 His son John was summoned to parliament ; as were his successors till 49 Edward III. The male line failing in 1416, the barony, on the death of John, the grandson of the last who was summoned, fell into abeyance among the representatives of his sisters.3 ODYHAM, WALTER DE. ? Keeper, 1284. When Bishop Burnel, the chancellor, paid one of his occa- sional visits to his mansion at Acton Burnell on July 25, 1284, he left the Great Seal in the custody of Hugh de Kendal and Walter de Odyham.4 On this account they are placed in Mr. Hardy's catalogue among the keepers of the seal. Both of them, however, probably were simply clerks in Chancery. Hugh de Kendal certainly bore that office two years afterwards5; and several letters and writs 1 Hasted's Kent, i. 181. 184., ii. 389., Hi. 444., v. 447. 522., vi. 177. 251. 2 Madox's Exch. i. 726., ii. 20. 62. 112.269. 320.; Abbrev. Plucit. 201.; (';d. Inquis. p. in., i. 86. :( Dugdale'fl Baronage, ii. 70. ; NicoW.s Synopsis. 1 Tat. IS Edw. I., m. 7. 5 Madox's Excli. ii. 257. 138 STEPHEN DE PENECESTRE. Edw. I. are addressed to Walter de Odyham separately, as well as to them both jointly, on the business of the Chancery. It has been already remarked under Hugh de Kendall that some of these bear date in 1283. ORMESBY, WILLIAM DE. Just. Itin. 1292. Just. K. B. 1296. See under the Reign of Edward II. OSGODBY, ADAM DE. M. R. 1295. ? Keeper, 1302. See under the Reign of Edward II. PENECESTRE, STEPHEN DE. Just. C. P. 1284. Although Dugdale introduces the name of Stephen de Penecestre (Penshurst) in his list of judges of the Common Pleas, quoting the "Communia" of Trinity Term, 12 Ed- ward L, there is considerable doubt whether he ever held that office or sat at all on the bench at Westminster. He certainly was often employed in a judicial character, but it seems to have been in his capacity of warden of the Cinque Ports. The manor of Penshurst in Kent belonged to him, and at the latter part of the reign of Henry III. was held by Sir John Belemeyns, a c. ' Excerpt, e Rot. Fin. vols. i. & ii. passim. 142 GILBERT DE PRESTON. Edw. I. justiciarius," of the Court of Common Pleas, there can be no doubt; and as the transition from the old to the new forms occurred in this reign, it will be interesting to endeavour to trace the successive steps of his judicial career. In 1242 he was at the bottom of the Justiciarii de banco. From this time, judging from the lists of justices itinerant, he gradually advanced to a higher station, until in 1252, 36 Henry III., he stood at the head of one of the com- missions, and retained the same position, with one or two slight exceptions, till 1257. It is not, however, to be pre- sumed from this circumstance, that he was then at the head of either of the courts, but simply that in the division of the circuits he was the senior in those he was appointed to take. Accordingly it appears that on October 3, 1258, 42 Henry III., he was the second of three, Roger de Thurkelby being the first, who were assigned to hold the King's Bench at Westminster, until the king should arrange more fully.1 In 1263 there are pleas before him and John de Wyvill at Westminster; and in 1267 pleas "de Banco" before him and John de la Lynde 2 ; which would seem to imply that he was no longer in the King's Bench, but that he acted in the Common Pleas. In the following year also he was called "justiciarius de banco"3, and was at the head of the justices itinerant in various counties. His salary in 39 Henry III., 1255, was forty marks per annum4; but in 53 Henry III., 1269, he had a grant of one hundred marks annually for his support " in officio justiciarii." Although the term " capi- talis " is not used, the amount of this stipend shows that he was then chief justice ; and it may be concluded that this was the date of his advance to that rank. The actual title of chief justice does not seem to have been applied to him till the following reign, when, on his 1 Cal. Rot. Pat. 29. 2 Dugdale's Chron. Series. 3 Madox's Exch. i. 236. 4 Ibid. ii. 202. 1272—1307. JOHN DE REYGATE. 143 re-appointment by Edw. L, he was so called in the Liberate that grants him livery of his robes ; and Dugdale remarks that he is the first whom he has observed to have the title of capitalis justiciarius of the Court of Common Pleas. He continued to preside there till his death, which occurred between Midsummer and Michaelmas, 1274, 2 Edward I.; the former being the date of the last fine acknowledged before him, and the latter that of the nomination of his successor, Roger de Seyton.1 RANDOLF, JOHN. Just. Itin. 1302. See under the Reigns of Edward II. and Edward III. RETFORD, ROBERT DE. Just. Itin. 1295. See under the Reign of Edward II. REYGATE, JOHN DE. Just. ? K. B. 1272. See under the Reign of Henry III. In 52 Henry III., 1268, John de Reygate succeeded Richard de Clifford as king's escheator north of Trent, and during the time he held that office he performed the duties of a justicier, from May 1269, to August 1271, 55 Henry III. ; numerous payments being made for assizes before him in the northern counties. He held the escheatorship to the end of that reign.2 Under Edward I. there is no actual entry showing that he 1 Dugdale's Orig. 39. 43. ; Cal. Inquis. p. m., i. 52. " Excerpt, e Rot. Fin. ii. 467—585. 144 SOLOMON DE ROCHESTER. Edw. I. was a justicier at Westminster ; but from his frequent em- ployment as a justice itinerant, and the position he gradually attained in the commissions, it seems probable that he con- tinued to hold the office. In 3 Edward I. he was the third of four justices itinerant into Worcestershire ; and in the next year the head of four justices of assize. In 6 Edward I. his name in two commissions of itinera, one into Herefordshire, and the other into Hertfordshire and Kent, was preceded only by that of the Bishop of Worcester ; in the following year he headed the circuit into Dorset, Somerset, and Wilts ; and in 12 Edward I. a writ was addressed to him and another to hold an assize in Northumberland.1 ROCHESTER, BISHOP OF. See W. de Merton. ROCHESTER, SOLOMON DE. Just. Itin. 1274. Solomon de Rochester, or, as his name is usually abbre- viated, Solomon de Roflf, was one of the canons of St. Paul's. He was first selected as a justice itinerant, to assist the regular judges, in 2 Edward L, 1274, when he acted in Middlesex ; and in the following year in Worcestershire. In 4 Edward I. he is called by Dugdale one of the justices of assize, but there was not at that time any distinction between the two classes ; and two years afterwards his name again appears among the justices itinerant, and so continues till 15 Edward I., 1287 ; on the last occasion being placed at the head of the list.2 In this position he is named in various documents among the rolls of parliament as acting for the two following years.3 These rolls contain several complaints 1 Dugdale ; Abbrev. Placit. 276. 2 Dugdale's Orig. 21. ; and Chron. Series. 3 Rot. Pari. i. 42. 48. &c. 1272—1307. SOLOMON DE ROCHESTER. 145 against him by parties in the country, but they probably were the consequence, not the cause of the disgrace, which he shared with most of his judicial brethren at the end of the seventeenth or the beginning of the eighteenth year of the reign, 1289. The corruption charged against him must have been of a far deeper die than those complaints exhibit ; for he was compelled to pay a fine of no less than 4000 marks, before he was discharged from his imprisonment. There is no evidence of his having been allowed to resume his duties as a judge ; and the only other published record we have concerning him, is a presentation made to the justices itinerant in Kent of his being poisoned at his house at Snod- land in that county by Master Wynand, the parson of the parish, on August 14, 1293, 21 Edward I.1 Sir Edward Coke, however, in pronouncing the sentence against Sir John Hollis and others, tried in the Star Chamber in 1615 for traducing the public justice, refers to this case, and states that the prayer of the monk (as he calls him) to be delivered to the censure of the church was denied, " because the same was a wrong to the state to poison a judge."2 But the entry by no means supports Sir Edward either in his fact or his inference. Solomon de Rochester is not mentioned in it as a judge, nor is any reference made to his having filled that office ; and though it appears that the king refused at first to deliver the delinquent to the Bishop of Rochester, it was because he had shown too great a desire to procure his liberation and to .purge him from the charge. Wynand was therefore handed over to the church of Canterbury, the archbishoprick being then vacant : but eventually was actually given up to the Bishop of Rochester. The result of the in- vestigation does not appear. ' Abbrev. Placit. 290. 2 State Trials, ii. 1081. VOL. III. L 146 WILLIAM DE SAUAM. Edw. L ROUBURY, GILBERT DE. Just. K. B. 1295. See under the Reign of Edward II. SADINGTON. See Thomas de Sodington. SAHAM, RICHARD DE. ? B. E. 1295. Dugdale names Richard de Saham as having been consti- tuted a baron of the Exchequer in 23 Edward I., 1295, in the place of Master Elias de Wynton. The absence of both of these names in Madox's list, and the total silence of the records with respect to either in connection with the court, were of themselves sufficient grounds for suspicion that some error had been committed, to which the want of a place for them in the regular succession of the barons gave additional weight. The Year Book, however, accounts for the mistake, for it there appears that Richard de Saham was sworn in as baron of the Exchequer in Ireland, in Trinity term, 23 Ed- ward I., before the chancellor and barons of the Exchequer in England.1 He was a son of Robert de Saham, of the manor of Saham-Toney in Norfolk, and brother of the under-mentioned William.2 SAHAM, WILLIAM DE. Just. K. B. 1272. William de Saham was another son of Robert de Saham, and founded a chantry at Saham-Toney in Norfolk.3 He was raised to the bench on the accession of Edward I., and continued for many years to act as a judge of the King's Bench, and to be employed in various itinera till 18 Edward I. In that year, although he shared in the disgrace of many of 1 Year Book, Part 1. 35. 2 Blomefield's Norfolk, i. 598. 3 Blomefield's Norfolk, i. 598.; Taylor's Index Monasticus, 68. 1272—1307. WILLIAM DE ST. OMEKO. 147 his brethren, and was not only removed from his seat, but fined in the sum of 3000 marks ], he is described in a docu- ment (Bib. Cott. Claud. E. VIII., p. 206.) as entirely igno- cent, " in quo dolus seu fraus non est inventus," and as paying the fine to conciliate the king.2 He was alive in 28 Edward I., when he was defendant in an action brought against him for damage done to property at Huningham in Norfolk.3 ST. DAVID'S, Bishop of. See T. Bek. ST. OMERO, WILLIAM DE. Just. Itin. 1275. See under the Reign of Henry III. Very little information has been obtained with regard to William de St. Omero. He had the custody of the castle of Hereford in 38 Henry III.4; and in the forty-sixth year, he and his wife, Petronilla, paid for a writ in Worcestershire.5 The only entry on the rolls of that reign which proves that he sat on the judicial bench, is a grant to him, in the fifty-third year, 1269, of an annual salary of 40/., " quamdiu placitis praedictis intenderit." Although Dugdale thereupon inserts his name in the column of the justices of the King's Bench, I doubt whether he was more than a justice itinerant. He is not mentioned afterwards in the former character ; and the only instance I have found of his acting in the latter, is the taking of an inquisition by him and Sir AYarine de Chaucomb at Lincoln in 3 Edward I., 1275.6 In the pre- vious year he attended at the general council held at Lyons under Pope Gregory X.7 1 Dugdale's Chron. Ser. ; Weever, SG7. ; Rot. Pari. i. 52. 63, ■ Pari. Writs, i., Cliron. Abst. 15. note. " Abbrev. Placit. 242. See also 206. 270, 271. 4 CaL Inquis. p. in., i. 19. 5 Kxcerpt. e Rot Pin. ii. 373. 8 Proceedings Arch. Inst. York, Holy Trin. 132. 7 Devon's Pell Records, Introd. xxxiii. L 2 148 THOMAS DE ST. VIGORE. Edw. I. ST. VALERICO, or ST. WALERICO, JOHN DE. B. E. 1274. John de St. Valerico, or St. Walerico (a town in Normandy), was the descendant of a noble family of that name, Ranulph, the ancestor of which at the time of the general survey possessed several manors in Lincolnshire. The elder branch failed for want of male issue in 1219.1 John was probably an officer in the Exchequer ; for in 55 Henry III. and 1 Edward I. he was appointed sheriff of the counties of Somerset and Dorset, with a special commis- sion to inquire what debts several sheriffs of those counties and their bailiffs had received, and not accounted for.2 He became a baron of the Exchequer about 2 Edward I., 1274, as he is noticed as such on November 20th, the first day of the third year. He is not mentioned after the follow- ing year, during which a sum of 207. was allowed for his expenses.3 He left one daughter, Maud, who married Sir Brian de Brampton.4 ST. VIGORE, THOMAS DE. Just. Ass. 1281. A Thomas de St. Vigore, with two other persons, was appealed of the death of a man in Hampshire in 41 Henry III., 1257, and paid a fine of a mark of gold for a writ " de par- donacione de sect a pacis ; " h but I have no certain means of identifying him with the subject of the present notice, who was appointed in 9 Edward I., 1281, to take assizes in different counties.6 He was summoned to the parliament at Shrewsbury in 11 Edward I., and died in the twenty- 1 Dugdale's Baronage, i. 454. - Madox's Exch. ii. 195. :i Ibid. ii. 112. 269. 320. 4 Brydges' Collins' Peerage, iv. 46. 5 Excerpt, e Rot. Fin. ii. 249. r' Dugdale's Chron. Series. 1272—1307. GERARD SALVE YN. 149 third year of the reign, leaving property in Wiltshire and Somersetshire, for which his son Thomas did homage on October 20 in that year.1 SALVEYN, GERARD. . Ins. T. 1304. Gerard Salveyn had large possessions in Yorkshire, and was appointed one of the four justices of Trailbaston for that county in the commission dated November 23, 1304. On the re-arrangement of these commissions in the following April, when York was united to the other northern counties, his name was omitted2; but he had been returned knight of the shire in the interval, and was again elected in 35 Edward I.3 The family was founded by Josceus le Flemangh, who came in with the Conqueror, and was settled at Cukeney in Nottinghamshire, from which place Josceus's son Richard was called ; but his grandson Ralph received the desig- nation of Le Silvan from his manor of AVoodhouse in that county ; and this was afterwards corrupted to Salveyne. Gerard was the son of Ralph Salveyn of Duffield in York- shire, and Sibilla, daughter and co-heir of Robert Beeston of Wilberfoss. He was one of the assessors of the fifteenth for that county, granted in 30 Edward I., and two years after- wards was sent on an embassy to the court of France. In 1 Edward IT. he was appointed eschcator north of Trent, and held it till the middle of the third year. lie was then entrusted with the sheriffalty of York for four years, com- mencing in 4 Edward II. In the twelfth year he obtained a pardon as one of the adherents of Thomas, Earl of Lancaster, and died in the following year. His grandson, Gerard Salveyn, succeeded him, and the two united names 1 Cal. In<|uis. p. m„ i. 123. ; Pari. Writs, i. 16. 824. ■ Pari. Write, i. 407, 408. ■ Ihi.l. i. 143. 196. L 3 150 RALPH DE SANDWICH. Edw. I. continued to designate every head of the family for more than four centuries, thirteen in number ; and after a lapse of about eighty years, i3 still held by its representative, Gerard Salvin, Esq., of Croxdale in Durham, an estate which came through a wife into the family in 1402. l SANDWICH, RALPH DE. ? Just. C. P. 1289. See under the Reign of Henry III. ^alph de Sandwich was of a knightly family in Kent, in which county he held the manors of Eynsford and Ham. In 49 Henry III. he was keeper of the wardrobe, and in that capacity, during the temporary absence of Thomas de Cantilupe the chancellor, the Great Seal was placed in his custody on May 7, 1265, under the seals of Peter de Mont- ford, Roger de St. John, and Giles de Argentein ; with a power to seal writs of course whether in their presence or ab- sence, but precepts in their presence only. He and his wife were both summoned to attend the coronation of Edward I.2 In the first year of that reign the custody of the vacant bishoprick of London was committed to him ; and in 5 Edward I. the castle of Arundel. From that year to the ninth, he acted as escheator south of the Trent under the title of " Senescallus Regis." 3 In 14 Edward I. he was appointed constable of the Tower of London ; and having held the office to the end of that reign, was confirmed in it on the accession of Edward II.4 Dugdale introduces him as a judge of the Court of King's Bench in 17 Edward I., 1289, on the authority of a fine levied before him in Michaelmas term of that year. This, 1 Pari. Writs, i. 106., ii. Part I. 26., Part II. 24. 127.; Fuller's Worthies; Burke's Landed Gentry; Inquis. p. m., i. 292. ; Abbrev. Rot. Orig. i. 159. 2 Madox's Exch. i. 71. k. 3 Abbrev. Rot. Orig. i. 21. 27 — 39. 4 Ibid. i. 155. ; Madox's Exch. i. 270, b„ ii. 108, 109. 1272—1307. JOHN DE SAUNFORD. 151 however, would rather seem to place him in the Common Pleas ; but as no subsequent fines appear with his name, and he is never otherwise mentioned as a judge at Westminster, great doubt may be entertained whether he ever filled the office. It does not seem improbable, as this was the precise period when King Edward cleared the bench of the judges who had disgraced it, and their successors were not yet nominated, that, in his character of constable of the Tower, an office then of great importance, he might have been commissioned to act ad interim in such formal proceedings as the levying of fines, &c, to prevent an interruption in the ordinary business, which would have been most inconvenient to the suitors and the public. In 30 Edward I., he is called " Justice de Newgate." 1 He probably died in 1 Edward II., as he is not named afterwards, and in that year John de Crumbwell was appointed constable of the Tower. SAUNFORD, JOHN DE, afterwards Archbishop of Dublin. ? Just. Itin. 1275. In the calendar of royal letters, &c, in the Tower, is a minute addressed to Hugh de Kendall and Walter de Odyham (who acted in the Chancery, of which they were clerks in 11 and 12 Edward I.), relating to a plea which had been before John de Saunfurd and his fellows, justices in eyre in the third year of the king's reign, between Elyas Scendall and Hugh de Bello-Manso.2 This shows that Saunford was a justice itinerant at that time ; but whether of England or Ireland is uncertain. The latter seems the more probable, as at the beginning of 11 Edward I. there is a plea recorded between these parties, which is marked "Hibernia; "3 and Saunford 1 Rot. Pari. i. 154. ; Ilasted's Kent, ii. 529., x. 178. 9 Seventh Report, Pub. Rec, App„ ii. 248. 3 Abbrev. Placit L 4 152 ROGER DE SEYTON. Edw. I. was the king's escheator in Ireland from the eighth to the twelfth year.1 In 1285, 13 Edward L, he was made Archbishop of Dublin, and there is a letter from him to John de Langton, apparently before he was chancellor, and which therefore may have been written either before or after Saunford was elected to the archbishoprick, requesting new writs relative to the process in the plea of Pencriz, to bear the same date as the former, as arranged when he attended at Knaresburgh before Langton and William de Hamilton.2 As Pencriz is either the collegiate church in Staffordshire, or the church in Derby- shire, it would appear that Saunford was then acting in a judicial capacity in England; but I have found nothing positively to decide the question. A contention arose between the archbishop and William de Luda, Bishop of Ely, in 21 Edward L, in consequence of a man of the former having been killed by a servant of the latter ; the particulars of which are recorded in the Par- liament Roll. I do not know the date of the archbishop's death ; but that of his successor, William de Hotham, occurred in 30 Edward I.3 SEYTON, ROGER DE. Just. C. P. 1272. Ch. C. P. 1274. See under the Reign of Henry III. Roger de Seyton was of the clerical profession, as is shown by the title Magister, invariably added to his name. There is no mention of him till April, 1268, 52 Henry III., from which date fines were acknowledged, and payments made for assizes, before him till the end of the reign.4 He travelled on various iters during the whole of this period, 1 Abbrev. Rot. Orig. i. 36. 42. 48. 2 Seventh Report, App., ii. 247. 3 Rot. Pari. i. 111. 152. * Dugdale's Orig. 44. ; Excerpt, e Rot. Fin. ii. 459 — 587. 1272—1307. THOMAS DE SNYTERTON. 153 being at the head of the commissions in the last two years ; and in 53 Henry III., he had the grant of a salary of 207. per annum. On the accession of Edward I., he was continued in the Common Pleas, and was constituted chief justice of that court in Michaelmas of the second year ; in which he also stands at the head of the justices itinerant.1 As the last fine acknowledged before him is dated on the octaves of Trinity, 6 Edward I., 1278, the period of his death or retirement may be fixed about that time. In the same year he was succeeded by Thomas de Weyland. SNYTERTON, THOMAS DE. Just. Itin. T. 1307. Snyterton is a village in Norfolk, from which no doubt Thomas de Snyterton took his name ; but he is not intro- duced into the account of the family in possession of the manor there, which about this time was more commonly called de Bokenham.2 In 29 Edward I. he was engaged in a suit in which he claimed the manor of Denham in Suffolk.3 He is only mentioned once as employed in a judicial capacity, being one of the justices of Trailbaston appointed in 35 Ed- ward I., 1307, for Essex and ten other counties; but not including Norfolk 4, from which omission it would seem that he was a lawyer by profession. In the same year he was returned as knight of the shire for Norfolk5, and in the following year, 1 Edward II. (being then described as a knight) he was one of the six sureties for Gilbert de Holm's faithful performance of the office of sheriff of the counties of Bedford and Buckingham.0 1 Dugdale's Chron. Ser. 8 Blomefield* Norfolk, i. 168. 1:»!». Abln-ev. Placit. 243. ' Rot Tail. i. 218. • Pari. Writs, i. 187. ° Madox'fl Kxcli. ii. 151. 154 THOMAS DE SODINGTON. Edw. I. SODINGTON or SADINGTON, THOMAS DE. Just. Itin. 1276. Weever, in speaking of the death of Robert de Shottinden, the justice itinerant in the reign of Henry III., calls him Sotingdon or Sadington.1 If he is correct in this, probably he was the father or grandfather of this judge, whose name is written both ways, and in some instances Suddington.2 He was a clergyman, as is proved by his title " Magister ; " and was probably, therefore, one of the officers of the court before he became a justice itinerant. His first appointment to that duty was in 4 Edward I., 1276, when he acted in the City and Tower of London ; and from that time he was regularly employed in various parts of the kingdom, till 17 Edward I.3 He was one of the ambassadors to the Earl of Holland in 12 Edward I., and was a party to the contract for the marriage of the earl's son John with the king's daughter Elizabeth.4 Sharing the corruption which pervaded the whole bench, he did not escape the retribution which they were all called upon to make ; he was dismissed with disgrace from his office in 1289, when he was sent a prisoner to the Tower, from which he was only discharged on the payment of a fine of 2000 marks. He died in 27 Edward I., in possession of the manor of Tidberst in Hertfordshire5, and considerably in debt to the king, inasmuch as all his goods were sequestered in the dioceses of York, Lincoln, Chichester, and Sarum, and in the county of Northampton.6 William de Sadington, who recovered twenty shillings against Geoffrey le Parcheminer in 22 Edward I., was, perhaps, his son or his brother.7 Weevev's Fun. Mon. 543. 2 Abbrev. Placit. 229. Dugdale's Chron. Series. 4 New Foedera, i. 645. 658. 661 Cal. Inquis. p. m., i. 153. 6 Abbrev. Rot. Orig. i. 104. Abbrev. Placit. 291. 1272—1307. MILO DE STAPEETON, 155 SPIGURNELL, HENRY. Just. Itin. 1302. Just. Ass. 1305. See under the Reign of Edward II. STANES, RICHARD DE. Just. K. B. 1272. Just. C. P. 1274. See under the Reign of Henry III. Richard de Stanes affords another example of a clerical judge, as the designation " Magister," always placed before his name, sufficiently proves. He seems to have acted as a justice itinerant before he became a justicier; visiting eleven counties in the former capacity in 52 Henry III., 1268, while his appointment as a justice of the King's Bench did not take place till the following year.1 From July, 1269, till the end of the reign, there are frequent entries of assizes to be held before him.2 In 55 Henry III. he is specially mentioned as a " justiciarius ad placita tenenda coram rege ; "3 and in the last month of the reign, 1272, he had a salary of 407. a year assigned to him. There is no reason to suppose that he did not retain his place on the accession of Edward I. ; but if he did so he must have been removed to the Court of Common Pleas in that or the following year, inasmuch as from Michaelmas in the latter till February, 1276, 4 Edward I., fines were levied before him.4 He was present at the council held at the following Michaelmas.3 STAPLETON, MILO DE. Just. Itin. T. 1305. Milo DE Stapleton was the son and heir of the under- named Nicholas de Stapleton, and served King Edward I. 1 Dugdale's Chron. Series. 3 Madox's Exch. ii. 203. 5 Pari. Writs, i. 6. ■ I'.Mcrpt. e Rot. Fin. ii. 493 4 Dugdale's Orig. Jurid. 44. 586. 156 NICHOLAS DE STAPLETON. Edw. I. throughout his Scottish wars. When the first commission of Trailbaston into Lancashire was issued, on March 12, 1305, 33 Edward I., he and John de By run were the two justices appointed under it ; but in the following month they were superseded by the more comprehensive commissions which were then issued.1 He was seneschal of Knaresborough Castle in 33 Ed- ward I.2; and was summoned to parliament as a baron in 6 & 7 Edward II., in the latter of which years he obtained a pardon as an adherent of the Earl of Lancaster, for his par- ticipation in the murder of Gaveston. He died in the fol- lowing year.3 By his wife Sibilla, one of the daughters and co-heirs of John de Bella Aqua, he left Nicholas, his son and heir ; but the barony, by failure of male heirs in 47 Edward III., became vested in the representatives of Elizabeth, the wife of Thomas Metham, the sister of Thomas, the last lord.4 STAPLETON, NICHOLAS DE. Just. K. B. 1 272. Nicholas de Stapleton was either son or grandson of a knight of the same name, who was governor of Middleham Castle in Yorkshire in the reign of John.5 His residence was at Hachilsay (Weshacheslay), in that county ; and it may be presumed, though no record remains of his early career, that he was a lawyer by profession. The first men- tion we have of him is in a Liberate Boll of 1 Edward I., as a judge of the King's Bench : and by another entry in 6 Ed- ward I., it appears that a salary of fifty marks yearly was assigned to him in that character. He was the first of four justices itinerant into the county of Worcester in 3 Edw. I.6 ; 1 Pari. Writs, i. 407, 408., ii. 67. 2 Abbrev. Rot. Orig. i. 145. 3 Cal. Inquis. p. m., i. 256. 4 Dugdale's Baron, ii. 70. 5 Rot. Claus. i. 248. 6 Dugdale's Chron. Series. 1272—1307. ROGER LE STRANGE. 157 and in 8 Edward I., one of three directed to take an inqui- sition. Various judicial acts are recorded of him until Trinity, 17 Edward I., 1289; and he was summoned to parliament among the judges up to the previous year.1 He died in 18 Edward I.2, leaving the above-named Milo de Stapleton his son and heir, and a daughter, Julian, who married Richard de Windsor.3 STAUNTON, HERVEY DE. Just. Itin. 1302. Just. C. P. 1306. See under the Reign of Edward II. STIRCHELEYE, WALTER DE. Just. Itin. 1287. Walter de Stircheleye was appointed sheriff of Glou- cestershire in 9 Edward 1., and in the next year sheriff of Lincolnshire ; holding the former office for four, and the latter for three years.4 He is the last named of six justices itine- rant sent into Hertfordshire in 15 Edward I., 1287. 5 In Michaelmas term of that year, there was a suit between Walter, the son and heir of Walter de Stircheleye, and Walter, the son of Reginald de Stircheleye, and others, relative to a considerable property in Stircheleye in Shropshire6 ; but which of the three Walters was the justice itinerant there is nothing to show. STRANGE, ROGER LE. ? Just. Itin. 1292. Roger le Strange was a grandson of John le Strange, the brother of Guy le Strange, of whom some account will 1 Rot. Pari. i. 349. ; Pari. Writs, i. 845, ; Abbrev. Placit. 205, 206, 213. 219. 279. 8 Cal. Inquis. p. m., i. 103. 8 Collins's Peerage, iii. 6 17. 1 Abbrev. Hot. i. 37. 43. ; Fuller's Wortbies. • Duj-ilalL-'s C 'broil. Series. 6 Abbrev. Placit. 21 6. 158 ROGER LE STRANGE. Edw. I. be found among the justices itinerant under Henry II. Hi3 father was also named John, who after a life of faithful and active service to his sovereign, died in 53 Henry III., leaving, by his wife Amicia, four sons, of whom this Roger was the youngest. His brother Hamon granted to him the manor of Ellesmere, to which King Henry added several others, with the sheriff- alty of Yorkshire, which he held during the last two years of that reign and the first two of Edward I. In the latter of these he was proceeded against for divers extortions he had committed while he was bailiff of the honor of Pec in Derby- shire. He does not appear to have been again employed till 8 Edward I., when he was appointed steward of the king's household with Hugh Fitz-Otho. In 11 Edward I. he be- came justice of the forests south of the Trent, and it is in that character that he is introduced into Dugdale's list of justices itinerant in 20 Edward L, 1292. l He was summoned to parliament in 1295, 1296, and 1297 ; in the last of which years, 25 Edward I., he surrendered the office of justice of the forest, being " adeo impotens " that he could not conveniently perform its duties.2 In 32 Edward I., 1303-4, he obtained a licence for a market and fair at his manor of Chesworthine, in Shropshire; and died in 5 Edward II.3 without leaving issue by his wife Matilda, widow of Roger de Moubray. From his brother John sprang the barony of Strange of Knockyn, which by the marriage of a daughter merged in 1504 in the earldom of Derby till the death of Ferdinand Stanley, the fifth earl, in 1594, and is now in abeyance among the descendants of his three daughters. The barony of Strange of Blackmere sprang from another brother, Robert, and was united by the marriage of a daughter in 1384 with that of Talbot; and both in 1442 1 Cal. Rot. Pat. 48. 50 ; Dugdale's Baronage, i. 666. ; Abbrev. Placit. 187. 2 Year Book, Part I. 39. 3 Abbrev. Rot. Orig. i. 182. 1272—1307. ADAM DE STRATTON. 159 were merged in the earldom of Shrewsbury, until the death of Gilbert Talbot, the seventh earl, when it fell into abeyance among his three daughters ; on the death of two of whom it devolved on Althea, Countess of Arundel, Surrey, and Xorfolk, and remained with her descendants till the decease of Edward Howard, the eleventh duke, without issue ; when it fell again into abeyance between the two daughters of his brother Duke Philip and their representatives.1 STRATTON, ADAM DE. ? B. E. ? Ch. B. E. Adam de Stratton was a clerk in the Exchequer at the close of the reign of Henry III. In the forty-ninth year of that king, he and Henry de Boreham, on the part of Isabella Countess of Albemarle, presented Ralph de Stratton to act as her deputy in the office of chamberlain of the Exchequer during her pleasure.2 In that year the office of weigher of the Exchequer (Ponderator de Scaccario) wras vested in him.3 He was still called clerk in 36 Henry III., and in the first year of the reign of Edward I. he was discharged, in virtue of his clerkship, from a suit before another jurisdiction. In the same year he was deputed by the countess to act in her office in the Exchequer of Receipt ; and in 4 Edward I. that lady granted to him (he being still called a clerk of the Exchequer) the manor of Sevenhampton, with the hamlets of Worth, Stratton, and Crikelade, together with the cham- berlainship of the Exchequer ; to hold of the king and his heirs, to him and his heirs, doing the duties of chamberlain as she and her ancestors had done.4 Two years afterwards the king committed to Ralph de Besages the place which Adam de Stratton lately had at the Exchequer, namely, as well in the Great Exchequer as the Exchequer of Receipt, 1 Nicolas'a Synopsis. - Madox'a Exch. ii. 296. :< I bill. :508. ' Ibid. 23. 264. -JiH, 1 GO ADAM DE STRATTON. Edw. I. which had been lately taken into the king's hands " ex certa causa." l At this time he seems to have been in some dif- ficulties ; for in the same year he was ejected on a writ of Quo Warranto from certain manors in Surrey for nonpayment of his fine on alienation2; and he was charged with destroying a charter of liberties granted by the Countess of Albemarle (for whom he appears generally to have acted) to the abbey of Quarr, in the Isle of Wight, of which he was convicted in the following year, and was committed to prison.3 He, however, obtained a second demise of the manors, and was restored to the offices he held. In 16 Edward I. he lent the Earl of Surrey 300/. upon mortgage of the manor of Gnoston, with a condition that if the money was not repaid in four years the manor should be Adam's for ever.4 When King Edward, in 1289, discovered and punished several of the judges and others for corruption, Adam de Stratton was most deeply involved. What was the precise cause of his disgrace is nowhere clearly stated ; corruption is charged by one, and felony by another. The latter is ex- pressly mentioned in several records, but its nature is not described. It must, however, have been some serious crime, for not only was he dismissed from the office of chamberlain on January 17, 1290, 18 Edward I., and from the moiety of that of usher of the Exchequer, which, it seems, belonged to him 5, but his person was imprisoned, and the whole of his property forfeited ; besides the imposition of a fine. The amount of this fine has been magnified to the sum of 35,000 marks ; but by a record dated June 12, 1290, 19 Edward I., it appears that it was only 500 marks ; on the payment of which he was released from prison, and his transgression pardoned. The property seized by the king at the time of 1 Madox's Exch. ii. 5. 2 Manning and Bray's Surrey, i. 189, 190. 3 Abbrev. Placit. 196. 4 Ibid. 280. 5 Madox's Exch. ii. 299, 300. ; Abbrev. Placit. 223. 283. 1272—1307. ADAM DE STRATTON. 161 his arrest, which all became forfeited, was no doubt considered as forming part of the fine ; and that, independently of the manors, may be estimated at the value of 26,000/., according to his petition to the parliament held at the fol- lowing Michaelmas for restitution of some part of it,- — a petition which appears to have been refused, notwithstanding the previous pardon.1 The word "felo" is attached to his name in the escheats of 22 and 33 Edward I.2 In virtue of this pardon, his nephew and heir, Walter de Stratton, in 4 Edward III., prayed the restoration of the manor of Sevenhampton and the hamlets he had received from the Countess of Albemarle ; and his petition was referred to the chancellor.3 The manor of Shenley, in Hertfordshire, and that of An- dretesbury, in Surrey, with those of Upton, Bengeho, and Cowick, were among the estates which he forfeited ; and he held some ecclesiastical benefices, of which the chapel of Colney was one.4 Dugdale calls him a baron of the Exchequer at the time of this disgrace ; and Weever, Chauncy, and other authors, even style him chief baron. It seems, however, that there is no sufficient ground for presuming that he held either of these titles. The office of chief baron, eo nomine, did not then exist ; and the authority quoted by Dugdale for calling him a baron is by no means satisfactory. He cites Leland's Collectanea ; but that work contains two contradictory passages. In the one quoted he is certainly called " Baro de Scaccario;" 5 but in the other, he is, in relation to the same event, merely designated " clericus thesaurarii ; " 6 neither of which was his actual title, but both sufficiently near to account for the error of the monastic annalists from whom they are extracted ; as, 1 Rot. Pari. i. 57. 2 Cal. IoquU it Eacaeft. i. 121. 201. ■ Rot. Pari. ii. 42. * Ibid. i. l!>. 5 Leland's Coll. i. 356. 6 Ibid. 443. VOL. III. M 162 ELI AS DE SUTTON. Edw. I. being chamberlain, he would sometimes sit with the barons, and might in a certain degree be called a clerk of the Treasury. It cannot be supposed, however, that if he had been a regular baron, his dismissal from the office would not have been noticed in the same record of the court that announced his removal from that of chamberlain. In the latter office alone he is mentioned in the Year Book of the reign1 ; he is altogether omitted in the list given by Madox, in which the succession of barons is very distinct ; and not only is no date of his appointment suggested, but no record exists in which he is so denominated. His brother William, who at this period held the office of Weigher of the Exchequer, claimed restitution of the manor of Eggeswere (Edgeware), in Middlesex, on the representation that he and Adam were jointly seised of it by the grant of Nicholas de Longspeye.2 SUTTON, ELIAS DE. Just. K. B. 1285. Elias de Sutton, on the death of his father, of the same name, in 46 Henry III., was a minor, for it was not till June 16, 1266, 50 Henry III., that he did homage to the king for the lands his father held in capite.3 That he was a judge of the King's Bench in 13 Edward I., 1285, appears from a Liberate quoted by Dugdale; and he is further mentioned in the same character in Easter, 15 Edward L, but not afterwards. In the same year he had a grant from Robert de Wyleghby of a bovate of land in Askern, York- shire.4 He died in 17 Edward II., leaving a son, Richard, who died in the same year.5 1 Year Book, Part I., 13. 8 Abbrev. Placit. 283. 3 Cal. Inquis. p. m., i. 21. ; Excerpt, e Rot. Fin. ii. 438. 4 Abbrev. Placit. 211. 279. s Abbrev. Rot. Orig. i. 276. 278. 1272—1307. GILBERT DE THORNTON. 163 THORNTON, GILBERT DE. Ch. K. B. 1289. Gilbert de Thornton, or de Torenton, as he is called in the Chronicon Petroburgense, is mentioned as the king's attorney from 8 to 14 Edward L, 1280-6 ; but it is uncertain whether this office was similar to that of the attorney-general of the present day, or anything more than a special appoint- ment to act on the part of the king in a particular proceeding. There were evidently at these times two or three so acting in different counties ; one of whom, William de Giselham, was called with Gilbert de Thornton, in 9 Edward I., to be a king's serjeant-at-law : and both appear together in court in Michaelmas in the next year, under the designation of "narratores pro rege." l On the disgrace of Ralph de Hengham he was constituted chief justice of the King's Bench, 18 Edward L, 1289, with a salary of 40/. per annum ; and there is evidence of his acting as late as August, 1295, 23 Edward I.2; soon after which Roger le Brabazon was raised to the same post. But whether the vacancy occurred by Gilbert de Thornton's death or resignation does not appear ; and there is no trace of his private history, except the fact that a messuage and two carucates of land at Caburn, in Lincolnshire, were conveyed to him in 17 Edward I. by John Priorell.3 During his presidency of the court, he composed a Com- pendium of the Law, which was in the nature of an abridg- ment of Bracton's work, but which has never been printed. The manuscript which Selden found in Lord Burleigh's library states that Gilbert de Thornton "tempore illo scicntia, bonitate et raansuetudine, floriat eleganter."4 1 Dugdale; Abbrev. Placit. 274. ; Cbron. Petroburg. 42. 141. 2 Rot. Purl. i. 134. 3 Abbrer. Placit. 218. 4 Hridginan's Legal Bibliog. 339. ; Dllgdale*8 Orig. 57. M 2 164 WILLIAM LE VAVASOUR. Ei>w. I. THORPE, JOHN DE. Just. Itin. 1307. See under the Reign of Edward II. THORPE, ROBERT DE. Just. C P. 1290. When Edward L, in 1289, punished nearly all the judges for corrupt practices in their office, he appointed Robert de Thorpe as one of their successors in the Common Pleas, and the fines levied before him commence on the octaves of the Purification, 18 Edward I., 1290, and continue for no mere than a year.1 He probably died shortly after, as his name does not again occur. His widow, Aveline, is men- tioned in a petition to the parliament of 35 Edward I., as being concerned in a process previously had relative to the manor of Thorpthewles, in Durham, to a third part of which she was entitled. TRIKINGHAM, LAMBERT DE. Just. Itin. 1299. Just. C. P. 1300. See under the Reigns of Edward II. and Edward III. VAVASOUR, WILLIAM LE. Just. Itik. T. 1304. William le Vavasour was of an ancient knightly family in Yorkshire, seated at Haselwood ; one of whom has been already mentioned in the reigns of Henry II. and Richard I. His grandfather was Robert le Vavasour, who flourished under John and Henry III., and married one of his daughters to Theobald Walter, and afterwards to Fulk Fitz- 1 Dugdale's Orig.44. 2 Rot. Pari. i. 18. 31. 33. 198. 1272—1307. WILLIAM LE VAVASOUR. 165 Warine ; and another to Thomas de Multon : and whose son John was the father of this William. He served his king in the expedition into Gascony, and in his wars in Scotland ; and his prowess is pithily described by the poetical historian of the siege of Carlaverock in 1300, in these lines : — • " E de celle mesme part Fu Guillemis li Vavasours Ki darmes nest muet ne sours." ' On November 23, 1304, 33 Edward I., he was appointed one of the justices of Trailbaston for York ; and again, on April 6, 1305, and on February 18, 1307, when the ten northern counties were assigned to him and four others.2 He was summoned to parliament from 27 Edward I. to 6 Ed- ward II. , the year in which he died.3 Dugdale says that his son Mauger ratified a grant he had made of his mill at Hunsflete to the monks of Sallay, in Yorkshire : but this is a mistake, since the witnesses to the confirmation prove that the deed was executed in the reign of Henry II.4, and, consequently, that it wTas made by Mauger, the father of William le Vavasour, the justice itinerant under Richard I. He had no son named Mauger : his three sons, by his wife Nichola, the daughter of Sir Stephen Wallis of Newton, being Robert, Henry, and William, neither of whom, nor their descendants, were summoned to parliament. From his son Henry descended Thomas Vavasour, of Haselwood, created a baronet in 1628. This title expiring in January, 1828, was revived in the following month in the person of the Honourable Edward Marmaduke Stourton, 1 Nieolas's Siege of Carlaverock, 8. 113. - N. Foetlera, i. 970. ; Hot. Pari. i. 18G. 218. ; Pari. Writs, i. 107. 8 Cal. Inquis. p. m., i. 949. 4 Monast. v. 514. M 3 166 JOHN DE VAUX, Edw. I. the cousin and devisee of the last baronet ; who assumed the surname, and now inhabits the family seat. Another baronetcy, conferred in 1801, and now held by Sir Henry Mervyn Vavasour, of Spaldington, Yorkshire, is derived from the same stock.1 VAUX, JOHN DE. Just. I tin. 1278. Among the justices itinerant appointed in 6 Edward I., 1278, to visit the counties of Cumberland, Westmoreland, and Northumberland, is John de Vaux, or de Vallibus. He stands next after the Abbot of Westminster, with four beneath him in the commission. In the following years, up to 13 Edward I., the same judges, except the Abbot of Westmin- ster, acted in various other counties, principally in the north of England ; and in that and the next year he and William de Saham went together into Northamptonshire and Hunting- donshire.2 As he takes precedence on all these occasions of three who were regular justices, he was no doubt selected as a principal baron of the district to head the commission. He was the grandson of Oliver de Vaux, noticed in the last reign as a justice itinerant. His father, Robert, died either in the lifetime of Oliver, or soon afterwards, leaving several sons. William, the eldest, died without children ; and in 37 Henry III., 1253, this John succeeded. In 49 Henry III., after the battle of Evesham, his fidelity to his sovereign procured him the sheriffalty of Norfolk and Suffolk, and a grant of certain houses " prope Garther " in London.3 Under Edward I., besides the duties which he performed as a justice itinerant, he was, in the eleventh year of that reign, appointed steward of Aquitaine. 1 Dugdale's Baronage, ii. 110. ; Burke's Peerage and Extinct Baronetage. 2 Dugdale's Chron. Series. ; Rot. Pari. i. 29. 218. ; Madox's Exch. i. 531. 3 Cal. Rot. Pat. 39. 1272—1307. WILLIAM DE VESCY. 167 He died in 16 Edward I., 1288, leaving by Sibilla, bis wife, who survived him, two daughters : Petronilla, who married William de Nerford ; and Maud, who married William de Ross ; between whom his property was divided.1 VESCY, WILLIAM DE. ?Just. Itin. 1286. Tins noble family commenced with Yvo de Vesci, who came over with the Conqueror, and was rewarded for his valiant assistance by receiving in marriage the heiress of the lord- ships of Alnwicke in Northumberland and Malton in York- shire. They left an only daughter, Beatrice, who married Eustace Fitz-John, mentioned under the reign of Henry I., and whose children resumed the name of De Vesci. William de Vesci was second son of William, their great-grandson, and of Agnes, one of the daughters of William de Ferrers, Earl of Derby. His father died in 37 Henry III., 1253, leaving two sons minors, of whom this William was the younger. John, his elder brother, although twice married, dying without children in 17 Edward I., 1289, William succeeded to the barony.2 Having begun his career as a younger son, he had pursued the profession of the law, and was advanced to the office of justice of the forests beyond Trent, receiving his appointment in 13 Edward I., 1285 3; and in the following year he was at the head of the justices itinerant for pleas of the forest in Nottinghamshire and Lancashire.4 He retained this place till 17 Edward I., the year of his brother's death, when he was appointed governor of Scarborough Castle ; and in the following year he was constituted chief justice of Ireland. Three years afterwards, while in the execution of his duties 1 Dugdale's Baronage, i. 526. " Ibid. 90. '■' Abbrer. Rot. Orig. i. 50. 90. ' Dugdale's Cbroo. Si M 4 168 WILLIAM DE VESCY. Edw. I. he was charged by John Fitz-Thomas with confederating against the king. The rolls of parliament contain a curious account of the proceedings taken by him against the accuser, for defamation ; of the duel that was awarded ; of the sum- mons to appear before the king at Westminster, when De Yesci came fully armed, but Fitz-Thomas kept away ; and of the ultimate annulling of the process in 23 Edward I., on account of some irregularity.1 It does not appear that any further proceeding took place : but it is evident that the charge was not believed, as he was in the same year summoned to parliament ; was employed in the wars of Gascony in that and the following year ; and had grants showing the favour of his sovereign. On the death of Margaret, Queen of Scotland, in 1290, he became one of the competitors for that crown, in right of Margaret, daughter of William the Lion, and sister of Alex- ander, King of Scotland, whom his ancestor Eustace de Vesci had married. From the immediate dismissal of this claim, and those of other daughters of William the Lion, a doubt has arisen as to their legitimacy ; the pretensions of Baliol and Bruce being founded on a title which, but on that pre- sumption, would have been posterior.2 He died on July 19, 1297, 25 Edward I., at his manor of Malton. His wife was Isabel, daughter of Adam de Periton, and widow of Robert de Welles. By her he had a son John, who died before him, leaving Clementia his widow ; but he had by Dergaville, daughter of Dunwald, a petty prince in Ireland, an illegitimate son, called William de Vesci of Kildare, who was summoned to parliament, and was killed at the battle of Bannockburn, in 8 Edward II.3 1 Rot. Pari. i. 127. 132. ; Abbrev. Placit. 234. 2 Tyler's Scotland, i. 90. 3 Hasted's Kent, i. 460. 1272—1307. RICHARD DE WARE. 169 WALEDENE, HUMFREY DE. B. E. 1306. See under the Reign of Edward II. WALKINGHAM, ALAN DE. Just. Itix. 1280. The family of Walkingham had considerable possessions in Yorkshire, where there was a John de Walkingham, whose widow, Agnes, paid for an assize in that county in 51 Henry III., 1267. l These were probably the father and mother of Alan de Walkingham. He pursued the legal profession, and was appointed in 8 Edward I., 1280, one of the justices to take assizes in different counties. In the next year he acted as the king's advocate, or local attorney- general, in the pleas before the justices itinerant in York- shire ; and in 10 Edward I. was added to the commission of justices itinerant in Cornwall.2 He died in 12 Edward I.3, leaving two sons ; John, the elder, who had a commission of array directed to him in 16 Edward II. for the wapentake of Brudeford in Yorkshire ; and Adam, the younger.4 WALSINGHAM, RICHARD DE. Just. Itin. T. 1307. See under the Reign of Edward II. WARE, RICHARD DE, Abbot of Westminster. Just. Itin. 1278. Richard de Ware, who was elected Abbot of West- minster, December 15, 1258, was placed at the head of the 1 Excerpt, e Rot. Fin. ii. 454. 2 Dugdale's Chron. Scries. 3 Cal. Iiiquis. p. m., i. 84. 128. ; Madox's Exch. ii. 112. 4 Abbrev. Rut. Orig. i. 47. 55. 59. 170 THOMAS DE WEYLAND. Edw. I. commission of justices itinerant into the three northern counties in 6 Edward I., 1278 l; but probably never joined his companions, as in that year he was sent on an embassy to John, Duke of Brabant, to negotiate a marriage between that prince's eldest son and Margaret, the king's daughter. His name does not appear on any future iter. He presided nearly twenty-five years, during which he procured many immunities for the abbey, and adorned it with the mosaic pavement before the high altar, the rich materials of which he brought from Rome. Besides the employments above mentioned, he was engaged in 1261 in an embassy to France, and in 1281 wras treasurer of the Exchequer, in which office he died two years afterwards, in December, 12 Edward I. ; this epitaph being placed over his tomb2: u Abbas Richardus de Ware, qui requiescat Hie, portat lapides, quos hue portavit ab Urbe." WELLS, Treasurer of. See J. de Langton. WESTMINSTER, Abbot of. See R. de Ware. WEYLAND, THOMAS DE. Just. C. P. 1274. Ch. C. P. 1278. See under the Reign of Henry III. Thomas de Weyland was a younger son of William de Weyland, who possessed large estates in the county of Nor- folk. His mother was Marsilia, who afterwards married John Brandon.3 He was brought up to the study of the law ; and had attained sufficient eminence in 56 Henry III., 1272, to be associated, by a special mandate, with Roger de Seyton as a justice itinerant into the counties of Essex and Hertford. 1 Dugdale's Chron. Series. 2 Dugdale's Monast. Anglic, i. 273. : Madox's Exch. ii. 37. * Spelman's Icena ; Reliq. 140. 1272—1307. THOMAS DE WEYLAND. 171 Dugclale refers to a Liberate to him in 3 Edward I., 1276, as one of the king's Serjeants ; and in the next year to another, as a justice of the Court of Common Pleas ; but it is evident that he filled the latter office as early as Michaelmas, 2 Ed- ward I., as, according to that author's list of fines, some were levied before him at that date. He succeeded Roger de Seyton as chief justice of the Common Pleas in 6 Edward I., 1278 ; and had a salary of sixty marks a year.1 In 11 Edward I. he had a grant of 40/., in discharge of his expenses in going through divers counties, as well for taking assizes and inquisitions, as for taxing amercements in that and the preceding year.2 Fines continued to be levied before him till fifteen days of St. Martin, 17 Edward I., 1289, at the close of which year charges were made against him and the rest of the judges of bribery and corruption in their office. All of them were convicted, except two, and were subjected to large fines. Against Thomas de Weyland, however, a more heinous crime was imputed ; that of instigating his servants to commit murder, and then screening them from punishment. After his apprehension he escaped from custody, and dis- guising himself, obtained admission as a novice among the friars minors at St. Edmondsbury. On the discovery of his retreat, the sanctuary was respected for the forty days allowed by the law ; after which the introduction of provisions into the convent was prohibited. The friars, not inclined to sub- mit to starvation, soon retired, and the fallen judge, finding himself deserted, was compelled to deliver himself up to the ministers of justice, and was conveyed to the Tower. The King's Council gave him the option to stand his trial, to be imprisoned for life, or to abjure the realm. To the latter he was entitled by virtue of his sanctuary, and he chose it. 1 Dugdale's Orig. 44. ; and Chron. Ser. 2 Madox's Exch. ii. 66. 172 WILLIAM DE WETLAND. Edw. I. The ceremony consisted of his walking barefoot and bare- headed, with a crucifix in his hand, from his prison to the sea-side, and being placed in the vessel provided for his trans- portation. All his property, both real and personal, stated to have been of the value of 100,000 marks, was forfeited to the crown.1 On May 2, 1290, 18 Edward I., his wife, Mar- gery de Morse, by the hands of her valet, Thomas de Grey, delivered into the Exchequer a forulum with rolls of extracts of the amercements in Banco of several years in different counties.2 She died in 18 Edward II., being then in posses- sion of lands and tenements in Essex.3 From entries on the parliament rolls, it may be inferred that he transferred to the abbot of St. Edmundsbury two of his manors as a consideration for the asylum he sought there ; and that several others of his manors were saved from the general wreck, by means of his wife and children being co- feoffees of them with him.4 No account of his future career is given, nor is the date of his death mentioned. He left three children, Thomas, Richard, and Alienor ; and the family is now represented by John Weyland, Esq., of Woodrising in Norfolk.5 WEYLAND, WILLIAM DE. Just. C. P. 1272. See under the Reign of Henry III. William de Wetland was the son of Herbert de Wey- land, and Beatrix his wife. From September, 1261, 45 Henry III., he was escheator south of Trent ; in which office he was succeeded in January, 1264, by William de Wendling, although there is one instance of a mandate addressed to him 1 Lingard, iii. 270. ; Law and Lawyers, ii. 133. ; Abb. Rot. Orig. i. 61. 63, 64. 2 Madox's Exch. ii. 256. 3 Cal. Inquis. p. m., i. 317. 4 Rot. Pari. i. 48. 51. 66. Burke's Landed Gentry. 1272—1307. rillLIP DE WILUGHBY. 173 in that character on April 24, 1265. In 56 Henry III., 1272, his name is inserted in the commission directed to the justices itinerant to the county of Leicester ; and inasmuch as the roll of that year contains an entry of a payment made in September for an assize to be held before him for another county (Suffolk), there is very little doubt that he was then appointed a justicier at Westminster; the more especially as he was certainly a judge of the Common Pleas in the first year of Edward I., his name then appearing on the acknowledg- ment of a fine. There is no subsequent mention of him as a judge. By his wife, Marsilia, who afterwards married John Brandon, he left three sons, Richard, Nicholas, and the above-mentioned Thomas. l WILUGHBY, PHILIP DE, Dean of Lincoln. B. E. 1275. This name is variously spelled, as Wileby, Wyleby, Wiluby, Wilughby, &c, but is the same as that now usually denomi- nated Willoughby. It does not distinctly appear whether Philip de Wilughby belonged to the noble family in Lincolnshire, or to the knightly family in Nottinghamshire: but at his death he was possessed of the manor of Byflete in Surrey, and of other lands in Nottinghamshire, Kent, and Middlesex.2 He was appointed a baron of the Exchequer before Michaelmas 3 and 4 Edward L, 1275, when he is mentioned as being present with that title. In the latter of these years he received the custody of one of the four keys of the royal treasury ; his annual fee in the former capacity being forty marks, and in the latter 10/.3 He was raised to the office of 1 Excerpt, e Rot. Fin. 360—485. 580. ; Dugdale's Orig. 44. ; Burke's Landed Gentry. • Cal. faqnit, p. m., i. l!»<;. n Madox'a Exch. ii. 60. 62.320. 174 JOHN WOGAN. Edw. I. chancellor of the Exchequer about 11 Edward I., 1283, and filled it till his death in 1305, 33 Edward I., a period of twenty-two years. During this time he frequently acted as locum tenens of the treasurer ; and seems to have been so indefatigable in his attention to the duties of his office, that in 30 Edward I. the king, taking into consideration the length of his service, gave him a license to attend at the Exchequer when it suited his leisure and convenience.1 Like most of the officers of the court, he was of the clerical profession ; and first obtained as his reward a canonry of St. Paul's, from which he was advanced, in June, 1288, 1 6 Edward I., to the deanery of Lincoln.2 WOGAN, JOHN. Just. Itin. 1292. To John Wogan, in conjunction with Hugo de Cressingham, the dispute between the Queen and William de Valence and his wife was submitted, the result of which was stated to the parliament of 18 Edward I. At the same parliament, Hugo de Cressingham complained against him that he entered the Queen's court at Haverford, and impeded the proceedings ; to which Wogan answered, that he did so only to prevent one of the tenants from doing fealty to the Queen for a tenement he held of William de Valence : and the case was referred for enquiry, but the decision does not appear.3 In 20 Ed- ward I., 1292, he was one of the justices itinerant assigned for the four northern counties.4 He did not long fill this office, as he was appointed chief justice of Ireland on Oc- tober 18, 1295, 23 Edward I.5, and continued to hold that important post for the remainder of that, and for the first 1 Madox's Exch. ii. 54. 96. 107. 188. 219. 320—325. ; Abbrev. Placit. 201. 2 Le Neve, 145. 3 Rot. Pari. i. 31. 33. 4 Dugdale's Chron. Series. 5 Cal. Rot. Pat. 57. 1272—1307. WALTER DE WYMBURN. 175 twelve years of the next reign, when Roger de Mortimer was put in his place. During the whole of this period he is occasionally men- tioned in parliament, but does not appear to have acted judicially in England in the reign of Edward II. ; for though he was named as a justice itinerant into Kent on May 13, 1313, 6 Edward II., he was removed from the commission ten days afterwards, on account of other business requiring his attention, and another was substituted for him.1 WORCESTER, Bishop of. See G. Giffard. WYMBURN, WALTER DE. Just. K. B. 1276. In 46 Henry III., 1261, Walter de Wymburn is called the king's clerk, but whether civil or ecclesiastic is uncertain. He had then a grant of the king's year and a day on some land which had been escheated.2 In 4 Edward I., 1276, he was appointed a judge of the King's Bench, with a salary assigned to him of forty marks a year 3 ; and we find him acting in the same character in Easter, 15 Edward I., 1287 4 ; and summoned to the council as late as October, 1288.5 Spelman states, that during the tenth and thirteenth years of the reign he was chief justice6 ; but no authority is given, and I find no evidence of the fact, or that there was any interruption to Ralph de Hengham's presidency till the eighteenth year. 1 Pari. Writs, i. 910., ii. 1631. 2 Excerpt, e Rot. Fin. ii. 363. 3 Dugdale's Chron. Scries. ' Abbrev. Placit. 212. 5 Pari. Writs, i. 18. c Spelman's Gloss., ed. 1687, 342. 176 WILLIAM WYTHER. Edw. I. WYNTON, ELIAS DE. ? B. E. 1295. The error which Dugdale has committed in introducing Master Elias de Wynton as a baron of the English, instead of the Irish, Exchequer, has been already explained under the name of Richard de Saham, in this reign. WYTHER, WILLIAM. ? Just. Itin. 1287. William Wyther seems to have been merely a justice itinerant for pleas of the forest in Lancashire in 15 Edward L, 1287.1 The only legal or judicial character in which he afterwards appears is as the last named of four commissioners appointed by the parliament, in 35 Edward I., to hear and determine a cause in North Wrales between the Earl of Arundel and others.2 His descendants removed from Lan- cashire, and are now represented by the Rev. Lovelace Bigg- Wither, of Manydown in Hampshire, where the family settled in the reign of Edward III.3 YORK, Archbishop of. See W. de Greenfield. YORK, Archdeacons of. See R. Burnel; J. de Crau- combe ; W. de Hamilton. YORK, Dean of. See W. de Hamilton. 1 Dugdale's Chron. Series. 2 Rot. Pari. i. 206. 3 Burke's Landed Gentry, 1620. 177 EDWARD II. Reigned 19 years, 6 months, and 12 days ; from July 8, 1!307, to January 20, 1327. SUEVEY OF THE REIGN. Westminster Hall is mentioned for the first time in this reign as the place where the chancellor held his sittings : and the particular part of it is described as the u Magnum Ban- cum." The passage occurs in the record of the appointment of Walter Reginald, Bishop of Worcester, as chancellor, in July, 1310 l ; but, as it is followed by the words, "ubi Can- cellarii Regis sedere consueverunt" we are left to imagine when the practice first commenced. Another record, in the nineteenth year of the reign 2, makes the earliest mention of the marble table, " Tabulam Marmoriam," at which he sat in the Hall. That it was the custom to seal the writs there appears from the entry, in 1 1 Edward II., of the delivery of the Great Seal, on the retirement of Chancellor Sandale, to the master of the Rolls and two clerks of the Chancery, who, it is said, " dictum magnum sigillum in magna aula Westm. hora tercia aperuerunt, et inde brevia consignarunt." 3 It may be presumed, therefore, that the matters which were referred to him, or to his temporary substitutes, were heard in this place. The Rolls of Parliament, besides innumerable instances of petitioners being referred to the Chancery for writs to meet 1 Rot. Claus. 4 Edw. II., m. 36. 2 Dugdale's Orig. Jur'ul. 37. 3 Rot. Claus. 11 Edw. II., in. 3. VOL. III. N 178 CHANCERY. Edw. II. their complaints, contain various entries showing that parties were permitted to sue there ; and that it had the power of granting remedies which could not be obtained in the other courts. Writs are frequently directed to be issued to other judges to see that justice be done ; and in some instances the answer to the petition is " sequatur per legem communem."1 But as early as the second year of the reign a distinction appears to be taken ; by the complainant being refused any redress to one point of his petition, because the king's right was clear, but as to another he is told " sequatur in Can- cellaria."2 This form frequently occurs; and sometimes it is followed by the still stronger terms, " et fiat ei justitia secundum consuetudinem Cancellariaa," and " fiat ulterius justitia in Cancellaria,"3 or words to the same effect. On one occasion a party is referred to the Chancery, because she "non potest juvari per communem legem;"4 and on another the direction is " veniat in Cancellaria et ostendat jussuum."5 All these seem to evidence the commencement of that peculiar and separate jurisdiction which now distinguishes the court. The references almost invariably arise upon complaints made to "the king and his council" in parliament; but there is one instance, in 9 Edward II., of a petition to the chancellor himself, who directs a writ of supersedeas, as prayed.6 "The clerks of the Chancery and other judges" were sometimes united with the chancellor in the hearing.7 Many other examples are given in the note at the end of the reign of Edward II. in the " Lives of the Chancellors," by Lord Campbell (vol. i. p. 206.), who is, however, mistaken in supposing that he presents them to the public for the first time, or that they are the result of the recent searches of Mr. Duffus Hardy ; that able and intelligent antiquary 1 Rot. Pari. i. 331. 399. 2 Ibid. 277. 3 Ibid. 317, 322. 331. 425. 4 Ibid. 340. 5 Ibid. 389. 6 Ibid. 339. 7 Ibid. 325. 1307—1327. CHANCELLORS. 179 having, in the passages themselves, carefully noted the pages in the well-known work called " The Kolls of Parliament," from which he has industriously extracted them. The chancellor still continued to be called " Cancellarius Regis," invariably, in the record of his appointment, and in almost every other document in which he is mentioned. But on two occasions the title " Chancellor of England," u Angliae Cancellarius," is used ; one in the first *, and the other in the fourteenth 2, year of the reign. The title of Lord Chancellor seems also to have been introduced about this period ; at least, I have found one instance of its use.3 That he remained the head of the king's chapel appears from a document cited by Madox, in which he is expressly styled " Chef de la Chapele nostre Seignour le Roy."" The precedent under which the chancellor for the time being now claims, as his perquisite, the fragments of the broken Seal, when a new one is substituted for it, occurs in the thirteenth year of this reign. On June 4, 1320, the king, " in the green chamber in his palace of Westminster, " caused two small seals to be brought before him, viz., one of the time of his father, of blessed memory, which was used in England when his father was in Flanders, and the other which was used in England when the present king was in France ; and there caused the small Seal of his father's time to be broken, and delivered the pieces, " pecias argenti, " to the chancellor " tanquam feodum ipsius cancellarii."5 Very few intervals occur during this reign in which the regular succession of chancellors was interrupted. The only one of any length was between December 9, 1311, when Walter Reginald, Bishop of Worcester, surrendered the Seal 1 Rot. Claus. 1 Edw. II., m. 3. '-' Rot. Pari. i. 365. 3 Ibid. 302. ' Madox'a Exoh. i. 61. 5 Rot. Claus. 1:5 Edw. II., ni. 4. 180 CHANCELLORS — KEEPERS. Edw. II. as chancellor, and September 16, 1314, when John de San- dale received the appointment. During the earlier part of that interval, viz., till October 6, 1312, the master of the Rolls and two clerks of the Chancery acted as keepers of the Seal, which afterwards was restored to the Bishop of Wor- cester, not as chancellor, but as keeper ; being the only in- stance of the same individual holding the inferior, after he had enjoyed the higher title. On the death of King Edward I., oil July 7, 1307, Ralph de Baldock, Bishop of London, was chancellor ; but as that event happened at Burgh-on-the- Sands, and the Bishop was1 in London, he remained in ignorance of it till July 25, and still continued to seal writs in the name of the deceased monarch up to that day. By the new king's commands the Seal was sent to him at Carlisle, where he received it on August 2.1 The chancellor then appointed, or soon after, for the precise date does not appear, was John de Langton, Bishop of Chichester, who had held the office for nine years in the previous reign. He retained possession of the Seal till the lords ordainers assumed the government, when he resigned, on May 11, 1310.2 Mr. Hardy introduces William de Melton as keeper during Langton's chancellorship. His reason for this is, that on the occasion of the king's going to France to be married, on January 21, 1308, the Great Seal, which was then delivered up to the king by the chancellor, was placed in the hands of William de Melton, to be carried abroad with him in his wardrobe, of which department Melton was the comp- troller. But the chancellor still remained in the full exercise of his office, for the king at the same time delivered to him, " in a certain red purse, another Seal lately made in London, 1 Rot. Fin. 35 Edw. I., m. 1. - Rot. Claus. 3 Edw. II., m. 6. 1307—1327. CHANCELLORS — KEEPERS. 181 for the government of the kingdom while the king was in foreign parts : " with which, on the next day, the chancellor sealed writs under the teste of Peter de Gavcston, Earl of Cornwall, who had been left custos of the kingdom.1 The king returned on February 7 ; but, because the keeper of the wardrobe, in whose custody the Great Seal is expressly stated to have been, did not arrive till two days afterwards, no writs were sealed in the interim. On his landing the Great Seal was immediately restored to the chancellor, who delivered up the new Seal to the king2, which, on the 15th of March following, sealed up in a purse of white leather, was deposited in the Exchequer by William de Melton, the comptroller of the wardrobe.'3 Two other instances occur of the Seal being temporarily taken out of Langton's hands; when it was sent to the king, by his command, through Adam de Osgodby, the keeper of the Rolls. It was kept on the first occasion, June 9, 1308, only one day, and then returned to him. On the second, it remained with the king from the 15th to the 20th of June, when he received it back by the same messenger. No explanation is given of the first demand ; but the cause of the second is apparent in the fact that, on June 16, the Seal was affixed to the patent constituting Peter de Gavcston lieutenant of Ireland ' ; a document to which the chancellor probably did not deem it expedient that his name should be attached. On the resignation of John de Langton the Great Seal was, on May 11, 1310, delivered to Ingelard de WABLEE to be kept in the wardrobe ; and on the next day was again placed in the hands of William de Melton, together with Hoi de Bardelby and John Fraunceis, to do those things which pertained to the office until the king should otherwise 1 Rot. Clans. 1 Edw. II., m. 11. ■ Rot. Fin. 1 Edw. II., m. 9. 1 Ibid. Com. 1 Edw. II., rot. 40. b. t. Clans. 1 Edw. II., m. 3. M 3 182 CHANCELLORS — KEEPERS. Edw. II. order.1 Mr. Hardy inserts all these four as keepers ; but the two latter were only clerks of the Chancery, and Wil- liam de Melton held his former place of comptroller of the wardrobe, of which department Ingelard de Warlee was the keeper. There is no other entry with regard to the Great Seal till the 6th of the following July ; but it is clear that some change must have occurred in the interim, because the Seal is then stated to be in the custody of Adam de Osgodby, the keeper of the Rolls, under the seals of the above- mentioned Robert de Bardelby and John Fraunceis ; the name of William de Melton being altogether omitted. On that day Walter Reginald or Raynald, Bishop of Worcester, received the Seal from the king; and it is somewhat curious that the Roll does not, as in other cases, state that he was constituted chancellor ; but simply adds, " et sacramentum praistitit de officio Sigilli illius fideliter exequendo," — words which would seem to imply that he was appointed keeper only. The record, however, proceeds to mention that on the next day the bishop opened the Seal at the great bench in Westminster Hall, where the chancellors usually sat 2, and subsequent documents designate him by the superior title. During the remainder of the reign, and particularly in the next four years, the entries as to the possession of the Great Seal are extremely minute, exhibiting great jealousy as to its slightest movement. The whole realm was in a troubled state ; ordainers had been forced upon the king ; their ordi- nances had been promulgated; the king's resistance to them had resulted in the execution of his favourite, Gaveston, and his arms had been disgraced by his defeat at Bannockburn. As the bishop was notoriously one of the king's friends, 1 Rot. Claus. 3 Edw. II., m. 6. 2 Ibid. 4 Edw. II., m. 26. 1307—1327. CHANCELLORS — KEEPERS. 183 the ordainers would naturally be watchful that he did not put the Seal to any use detrimental to their power, or in opposition to their directions ; and the caution of the chancellor himself would point out to him the expediency of recording every removal of the Seal, in order that he might not be made answerable for any act done under its fiat, while out of his possession. These reasons will sufficiently account for the various entries on the llolls, of which an abstract will not be uninteresting. The minutiae of the details in these entries are somewhat ludicrous. The precise hour is often specially noted ; but sometimes only referred to by the expressions " in crepusculo noctis," " hora matutinali," and " post prandium" ; to the latter of which is added, on one occasion, " amota mensa ad quam tunc comedebat." We have also the very room in the palace of Westminster in which the scene is laid : viz. " the little chapel near the painted chamber," " the green chamber," and the " white chamber ; " and the colour of the purse, whether red or white, in which the Seal is deposited, is some- times carefully distinguished. On December 12, 1310, when Bishop Reginald went from Newcastle to the king at Berwick, he committed the Great Seal to Adam de Osgodby, the keeper of the Rolls, to be kept by him under the seals of Robert de Bardclby and Geoffrey de Welleford, to do what appertained to the office till his return ; and he was absent a week.1 In this case the committal of the Seal was by the chan- cellor; but in the next it was by the king. The bishop, being about to proceed to the General Council at Vienne in Dauphiny, delivered the Seal, on August 27, 1311, to the king, who gave it to Adam de Osgodby, to keep under the seals of Robert de Bardclby and William de Ayrem ynne, all three of whom were to do the duties of the Seal till further order; 1 Rot. Clan,. 1 Edir. II., in. 17. N 4 184 CHANCELLORS — KEEPERS. Edw. II. and it is added, that Adam, on the same day, sealed writs with it at his " hospitium" in the " Domus Conversorum" (now the Rolls House) in the presence of the other two. The Seal was delivered back on September 28, to the bishop ; who on the 9th of December following again (and without any reason assigned) gave it up to the king, who placed it in his ward- robe ; and on the next day ordered it to be delivered to the above three individuals, enjoining them to do what pertained to the office, and after the sealing to replace it in the ward- robe.1 By the last injunction it would seem that this was not a mere temporary movement of the chancellor ; but that it was an absolute discharge from the office. Yet it appears that on the 19th of the same month the Seal was a^ain in the bishop's possession, although there is no entry how it came there. He is therein described as delivering it with his own hand to the same parties.2 The entry may be an accidental repetition of the same act with a different date, or more pro- bably, as in the former instances the new custodes received the Seal from the officers of the wardrobe only, it was deemed necessary that it should be delivered with more formality by the chancellor himself. These three custodes kept the Seal till December 30, when they took it to the king at Windsor, who, for anything that appears, retained it till January 20, 1312 ; when, by his com- mand, they attended him at York, and sealed writs there.3 This was the time when he made a new grant to Gaveston of his former estates and honours, and the Seal was no doubt required for that purpose. On this last occasion they pro- bably, although it is not recorded, kept possession of the Seal ; as it appears that on May 4 following, after the sealing of writs in the morning, Edmund de Mauley, the steward of 1 Rot. Claus. 5 Edw. II., m. 21. 26. 27. 2 Ibid. m. 18. 3 Ibid. m. 1 6. 1307—1327. CHANCELLORS — KEEPERS. 185 the household, took away the Great Seal from Newcastle- upon-Tyne, under their seals, just three hours before the Earl of Lancaster entered the town. It was carried to Tynemouth to the king, who sailed from thence (with Ga- veston) to Scarborough; but on the 17th he was again at York, when the Seal was given back by Edmund de Mauley to the three keepers, to execute the duties as before.1 The fate of Gaveston quickly followed, and the king was raising an army to punish Lancaster and his adherents. This may account for a different course being adopted with regard to the Great Seal ; for on October 6 it was delivered to the Bishop of Worcester, the former chancellor, before the barons and justices of the Exchequer, with injunctions from the Earl of Pembroke and Hugh le Despencer, (who were the king's friends,) that, after sealing, it should remain in his custody, under the seals of the same three who had previously acted as keepers. In a subsequent record of the following April he is distinctly designated " Custos Magni Sigilli."2 The Seal continued in the custody of the bishop, (called in the entry of December 13, 1313, elect of Canterbury, and in that of April 1, 1314, Archbishop of Canterbury,) under the seals, generally of all the three, but sometimes of William Ayremynne only, who seems to have been more regularly in attendance, until April 5, 1314. In 1313 very few movements are recorded, and the Seal is expressly stated to have remained in the bishop's possession when the king went into France, both in May3 and December.4 But in January, 1314, there are no less than eleven entries notifying where the Seal was used or deposited on as many days.5 Such extreme caution with regard to the custody of the Seal was soon after deemed necessary that on April 1, 1314, 1 Rot. Clai II., m. S. ■ Ibid. 6 Edw. II., m. .;. 3 Ibid. in. 4. 4 Tbid. 7 Edw. II., no, 13. 5 [bid. 186 CHANCELLORS — KEEPERS. Edw. II. the king being then at St. Alban's, on his expedition to Scot- land, commanded that the archbishop should place the Great Seal in a certain chamber in the Tower of London, under the seals of Adam de Osgodby and Robert de Bardelby, and that William de Ayremynne should reside there until the king should otherwise order. It would appear, however, that these directions were not immediately carried into effect, as after sealing writs both on that day and on April the 4th, the Seal remained in the custody of the archbishop, who on the 5th is stated to have gone to his manor of Otteford.1 As there is no further entry of his retirement from the office, though he is never afterwards mentioned in con- nection with it, and as he was solemnly enthroned as arch- bishop on the 19th, the above arrangement was probably made in contemplation of that event; leaving Adam de Osgodby and his two associates custodes of the Seal; by which title they are distinctly called in the next entry, which does not occur till September 16. On that day John de Sandale, then acting as locum tenens for the treasurer, was appointed chancellor2; and so continued for nearly four years, resigning on June 9, 1318, 11 Edward II.3 During this time he was occasionally absent from the court, either on the king's affairs or his own, when he was elected Bishop of Winchester, and when he made a pilgrimage to St. Thomas at Canterbury. When this happened, the Great Seal was left in the custody of Adam de Osgodby, or William de Ayremynne, successively keepers of the Rolls, or of Henry de Cliff, a clerk in the Chancery, under the seals of two or three of the other clerks ; all of whom appear sometimes to have done the duties pertaining to the Chancery. The clerks of the Chancery, so employed, were Robert de 1 Rot. Claus. 7 Edw. II., m. 7. 2 Ibid. 8 Edw. II., m. 32. Ibid. 11 Edw. IT., m. 3. 1307—1327. CHANCELLORS — KEEPERS. 187 Bardelby, Kobert de Askery, and, on one occasion, Hugh de Burgh.1 John de Hotham, Bishop of Ely, received the Great Seal, with the title of chancellor, on June 11, 1318, 11 Ed- ward II.2, and held it till January 23, 1320. The only occurrence of importance in connection with the office during the nineteen months of his ministry, was that, on October 26, 1319, the king gave him positive commands not to affix the Seal to any mandate from the communication of any other person, of what degree soever he might be, but solely by his own personal directions, or by the authority of his privy seal.3 Whenever he went away from the court on the king's affairs, which he did on several occasions, to negociate with the Earl of Lancaster and the discontented barons, the same course was adopted with regard to the Great Seal, as had been pursued under his predecessor. It was generally entrusted to William de Ayremynne, who was then master of the Bolls, sealed up with the seals of Bardelby, Askeby, Henry de Cliff, and Welleford, as before ; to whom was now added William de Cliff.4 John Salmon, Bishop of Norwich, was the next chan- cellor, the Seal being placed in his hands on January 27, 1320, 13 Edward II.8 Though he continued in office for more than three years and a half, the Seal, from one cause or other, was out of his possession for more than half of the time. On his accompanying the king to the court of France, in June, 1320, to do homage for the duchy of Aquitaine, the Great Seal was deposited in a secure place, and the little Seal, used on occasions of the king's absence abroad, was left 1 Rot. Claus. 8 Edw. II., m. 4. ; 10 Edw. II., m. 8. '20. 27.; 11 Edw. II. m. 8. 11. 18. ; Ibid. 11 Edw. II., ni. :;. Ibid. 13 Edw. II.,m. 1 G. 1 Ibid. m. IS. 5 Ibid, m 9. 188. CHANCELLORS — KEEPERS. Edw. IL in the hands of the keeper of the Rolls, under the seals of the clerks in Chancery, to be used for the government of the kingdom, under Aymer de Valence, Earl of Pembroke, who had been left custos.1 The king and the chancellor returned on July 22.2 During the chancellor's visits to his bishoprick, his long illnesses, and his other occasional absences on the king's affairs, the disposition of the Great Seal is minutely recorded, and the names of the various clerks of the Chancery, under whose seals it was secured from time to time, are regularly entered on the Rolls. Besides those already noticed in former chancellorships, that of William de Herlaston is added in this.3 The keeper of the Rolls was the usual person who had the actual custody, but sometimes it was deposited for security in the wardrobe, and accordingly Roger de JSTorthburgh, the keeper of that department, has been in- troduced into the list of keepers of the Seal. Queen Isabella, also, for some time, had the care of it, and delivered it daily to the master of the Rolls for the purposes of business, receiving it back, sealed up as before, after each day's sealing.'1 The last time that the chancellor delivered the Seal to William de Ayremynne, the keeper of the Rolls, to be kept under the seals of William de Cliff and William de Herlaston, was on June 2, 1323, when he was confined to bed by sickness.5 There is nothing, however, in the record to show that he was then removed from his office, any more than on former similar occasions ; and it is not improbable that he bore the title for ten weeks longer, when Robert de Baldock, Archdeacon of Middlesex, received the Great Seal from the king's hands as chancellor, on August 20, 1323, 17 Edward II.6, and retained it during 1 Rot. Claus. 13 Edw. II., m. 4. 2 Ibid. 14 Edw. II., m. 26. 3 Ibid. 15 Edw. IL, m. 35. 4 Ibid. * Ibid. 16 Edw. II., ra. 6. 8 Ibid. 17 Edw. II., m. 39. 1307—1327. MASTERS OF THE ROLLS. 189 the short and stormy remainder of the reign. The same three persons as before supplied his place in his only two short absences, before the king, on October 26, 1326, retired from the government on the execution of the elder Despencer. The Great Seal was sent to the Queen and Prince Edward, who placed it, on November 30, in the hands of William de Ayremynne, then Bishop of Norwich, to whom, on Decem- ber 17, they added Henry de Cliff, who had become master of the Rolls.1 The king's actual deposition was not com- pleted till January 20, 1327, the day of his resigning the crown. In the various movements of the chancellor in the king's company it was of course necessary to carry some of the Chancery Rolls with him ; and we accordingly find a mandate directing the Abbot of Beaulieu Regis to provide a good and strong horse for that purpose.2 It will have been seen that on almost all occasions when the chancellor was absent from court, the keeper or master of the Rolls had the care of the Great Seal, under the seals of two of the other clerks of the Chancery, and transacted the business connected with it. The succession of those who filled this office under Ed- ward II. can be distinctly traced. Adam de Osgodby held it at the death of Edward I., and remained in possession till his own death in July or August, 1316. William de Ayremynne, a clerk of the Chancery, was appointed on August 19, 1316 3 ; the grant in this case being by the king, with the assent of the chancellor. lie held it nearly eight years, and resigned on May 26, 1324, when his brother, Richard de Ayremynne, also a clerk of the Chancery, 1 Rot. Claus. -20 Edw. II., m. 3. [bid S Edw. II.. m, 8. 8 Ibid. 10 Edw. II., in. 28. 190 MASTERS IN CHANCERY. Edw. II. by a grant from the king, with the like assent of the chan- cellor, received the appointment.1 He was removed in little more than thirteen months ; and Henry de Cliff, another clerk of the Chancery, suc- ceeded him on July 4, 1325, the grant being by the king, and without any notice appearing of the chancellor's consent, as on the two former occasions. He is described as receiving the keys of the chests in which the Rolls were deposited, and as taking the oath of office " ad lapidem marmorium" in the great hall at Westminster.2 Adam de Osgodby and William de Ayremynne were also keepers of the House of Converts, Domus Conversorum, in Chancery Lane ; but as the two offices were not per- manently united till the reign of Edward III., I shall reserve till then the account of that institution. The names of many of the principal clerks, or masters, in Chancery, appear in the preceding account of the various appropriations of the Great Seal. Those of others occur in similar records as being present on different occasions. There is, however, greater difficulty in this reign than in the last, in compiling a correct list ; as in the summonses to parliament, the names of the judicial and legal persons who are required to attend are placed in no order or regularity. Of the clerks who held office under Edward I., the fol- lowing twelve acted in this reign also : — Adam de Osgodby, M. R. - - - - 1 to 10 Edw. IT. Robert de Radeswell - - - - 1, 2 — Peter de Dene - - - - - 1 to 15 — Thomas de Logore - - - - - 1 to 7 — John de Cadomo - - - - -lto3 — Robert de Pykering - - - - 1 to 19 — William de Pykering 1 — Richard de Plumstok - - - - 1 to 11 — Robert de Bardelby - - - - -ltol8 — 1 Rot. Claus. 17 Edw. II., m. 10. * Ibid. 18 Edw. II., m. I. ? 1 to 12 6 to 20 8 8 to 20 9 to 16 10 10 10 to 15 10 to 18 10 to 20 12 to 14 12 to 18 13 to 16 18 1307—1327. MASTERS IN CHANCERY. 191 John Bussh - - - - - - 1 to 16 Edw. II. John Fraunceis - - - - - 1 to 7 — Geoffrey de Welleford - - - - 1 to 14 — The other names I have met with are William de Ayremynne (M. R. 10 Edw. II.) 1 to 17 Robert de Askeby - - - - Adam de Brome - John Bray - William de Herlaston - Edmund de London - Hugh de Burgh - John Terlyng - John de Merton - John de Crosseby - Henry de Cliff (M. R. 17 Edw. II.) Roger de Sutton - William de Leycester - William de Cliff ... - Henry de Edenestowe - - I have already referred to a record showing that these clerks were sometimes joined with the chancellor in hearing petitions. They also accompanied that functionary in his movements about the country while attending on the king. In some places particular residences were assigned to them and the chancellor. Thus, in 1 Edward II., John de Langton is described as sealing after dinner at his " hospi- cium " in the Domus Dei or Maison Dieu at Dover ] ; and in 19 Edward II., when Prince Edward, on sailing to France from that port, was lodged there, he executed a deed under his privy seal, acknowledging that the chancellor and his clerks, of ancient custom, had the right to be received there, and that his being suddenly quartered in the house, which was permitted by the chancellor's curtesy and forbearance, should not prejudice the then chancellor or his successors.2 Several records show that it was clearly the duty of the 1 Hot. Fin. 1 Edw. II., ni. [). ■ Rot. Claus. 1!) Edw. 1 1., m. 29. 192 MASTERS IN CHANCERY. Edw. II. chancellor or the keeper of the seal to provide a table, if not a lodging, for the clerks. In 5 Edward II., when Bishop Reginald resigned the chancellorship, and the Great Seal was placed in the custody of William de Ayremynne, master of the Rolls, the king enjoined him " quod hospicium pro clericis teneret," as he had done before, when the Seal was in his keeping.1 In 10 Edward II. also, the king's letters of safe conduct and intendance for one year were granted to the chancellor's poulterers, whom he had employed to provide poultry €t pro sustentatione " of him and the king's clerks of the Chancery.2 The title (( Magister " was almost invariably prefixed to the names of the clerks of the Chancery as members of the ecclesiastical order. It is no doubt from this circumstance that by degrees the term M masters " was universally assigned to them. We have the first instance of it in the petition of Robert de Haliwell, one of the subordinate clerks, praying for some benefice in reward for his services, in 18 Ed- ward II.3; wherein he enumerates his claims, adding, "sicome Mestres et le compaignouns de la chauncelerie bien le sevent." Another instance will be found in the next reign, where they are called " Mistres de la Chauncellerie." The Court of King's Bench sat at various places besides Westminster during this reign. In the third year the king, by a mandate directed to Roger le Brabazon and his fellows, stating that he was desirous they should follow him, com- manded them to be at York on the octave of St. Hilary, 1310 to hold his pleas there.4 And in the fifth year they weir enjoined by another mandate to be at York in three weeks oi 1 Rot. Claus. 5 Edw. II., m. 21. 8 Madox's Exch. i. 76. Lord Campbell draws attention to this patent by a prominent marginal note, " Epicurism of lord chancellor John de Sandale. * This is scarcely fair ; would his lordship deem himself or any of the masters in Chancery liable to this accusation for eating a pullet ? 3 Rot. Pari. i. 418. 4 Rot. Claus. 3 Edw. II., m. 19. 1307—1327. KING'S BENCH. 193 Easter, with the rolls, writs, and other things touching the proceedings.1 But, according to the Abbreviatio Placitorum, no term was held at York till Michaelmas, 1318, 12 VA- ward II. ; after which it would appear that the court sat there till Easter term, 1320, when another writ directs it to be transferred to Westminster.2 We find it again seated there in part of the fifteenth and sixteenth years; and occasionally ulso, at different intervals, the judges kept a term at each of the following places, viz., Newcastle- on-Tyne, Lincoln, Shrewsbury, Worcester, Warwick, Guildford, and Norwich. The appearance of the chief justice before the council in 6 Edward II., when he stated that on September 30, 1-312, he had accidentally lost the Seal of his court, and prayed that no faith should be given to writs sealed with it after that date, is formally noted on the Close Roll.3 Chief Justices of the King's Bench. Roger le Brabazon, who was chief justice of the King's Bench on the death of Edward I., retained the office till February 23, 1316, 9 Edward IL, when, in consequence of age and infirmity, he resigned.4 William Inge was his successor. The date of Inge's patent does not appear ; but that by which Gilbert de Roubury was put in his place as a judge of the Common Pleas is March 10, 1316.5 He held the office for about fifteen months, when it was given to Henry le Scrope, then a judge of the Common Pleas, who was appointed on June 15, 131 7.G He retired about September, 1323, in the seventeenth year, when Hervey de Staunton, chancellor of the Exchequer, 1 Rot Claus. 5 Edw. II., m. 7. - Ibid. 13 Edw. IT., in. 9. :t I hid. r> Edw. II., m. 26. 1 Rot. Pat, <> Edw. II., p. •_>. m. 31. '' Ibid. in. 22. ■ Rot. Clans. 10 Edw. II., in. 2, vol. nr. o 194 king's BENCH. Edw. II. succeeded him in the presidency1; but on the 21st of the following March, he resumed his place as chancellor of the Exchequer, and Geoffrey le Scrope was promoted from a judgeship in the Common Pleas to the chief place in this court2, where he remained till the end of the reign. Judges of the King's Bench. I. 1307-8. Of the three judges of this court at the death of Edward I., r were the only two who were Gilbert de Roubury, J called upon by writ to take Henry Spigurnell, 1 the oath : but it is not ira- v. probable that the third ? William de Orraesby, though not named in the writ, may have been continued in the office, as he acted as a justice itinerant for several sub- sequent years. X. 1316. Aug. 6. Lambert de Trikingham, removed from the Common Pleas to this court, loco G. de Roubury, made just. C. P. XIV. 1320 Aug. Robert de Malberthorp, loco ? L. de Trikingham, made B. E.3 The judges of the King's Bench at the end of the reign were, Geoffrey le Scrope, chief justice, Henry Spigurnell, Robert de Malberthorpe. The number of judges of the Court of Common Picas throughout this reign was in general six ; but for about three years, from 6 to 9 Edward II., a seventh was added. In the third year the business had so much increased, that a 1 Rot. Pat. 17 Edw. II., p. 1. m. 9. 2 Rot. Claus. 17 Edw. II., m. 20. 3 Under date 1322, Dugdale introduces Geoffrey de Say and William de Dyve as judges of the King's Bench ; but I have felt bound to omit them, because the only authority he quotes, or which is to be found, is a passage from Leland's Collectanea, where they are merely called Justiciarii Regis, on account of their having been sent into Kent to try the adherents of Thomas de Badlesmere. 1307—1327. COMMON PLEAS. 195 mandate was issued directing the judges to divide and sit in two places.1 How long they continued this practice does not appear. Chief Justices of the Common Pleas. Ralph de HENGHAM, the chief justice of this court at the end of the last reign, was re-sworn at the commencement of this, and kept his seat till his death in March, 1309 : when William de Bereford, then one of the judges of the Common Pleas, succeeded him ; his patent being dated March 15, 1309, 2 Edward II.2 He died in July, 1326, and was succeeded by Hervey de Staunton, who had been chief justice of the King's Bench, and was then chancellor of the Exchequer, on July 18, 1326, 20 Edward II.3 He sat for the short re- mainder of the rciffn. Judges of the Common Pleas. I. 1307-8. William de Bereford, Hervey de Staunton, William Howard, Lambert de Trikingham, Peter Mallore, all judges of this court at the end of the last reign, were re-appointed. II. 1308-9. Nov. 27. Henry le Scrope, ? loco W. Howard, deceased. III. 1309. Sept. 29. A new commission was issued by the king and ih.' council assigning as justi* William de Bereford, " who is chief by the king's command," Lambert de Trikingham, Hervey de Staunton, Henry le Scrope ; and two new ones, viz., John de Benstede, William de Bourne ; with a command that they should sit in two places on account of " the multitude of pleas."4 VI. 1313. Feb. 19. John Bacon. 1 Rot Claus. ?, E-. "8 8 S E o u . . "3 1 1 1 £ .2 £ an cv. H - U gp a b E 3 £ CO 5 s 1 1 \ \ 1 1 M a: H s fe 8 o CO W o CO 1 fr £ Xi. o 1-5 H 3 3 o Q E CJ ■ *6 to •S H o B o .O s 1 c 13 a "3 1 1 I c a o 8 B o Jl« u H a> c o c3 a. 3 s •-s | E 0» to a 1 o 1 £ cO s c o 3 £ 0) HI a 00 J9 CO >o •o Q j>» 5 E fcfi a> CO +1 « rt p c 3 3* I I I I ft 1 1 I I 1 1 I I 1 1 I I I 1 1 ' I n I PS I » I I I I I 0 ■ I I 1*2 l« I l-S I I III I I i I I l a a g2 Ir be J; ■ v^ «— i *^ [>l V*-F Cvl SM ~* - a, 3 3 3«- J O (b. -5 l-S < E /. m ~< s nj — . < 8 gs£ 22* 22:52!i 2*8 co rococo ro co co co ro co coco a 3 vi 204 JUSTICES ITINERANT. Edw. II. Justices itinerant and justices of assize were still ap- pointed to perambulate the country, in addition to the regular judges of the courts at Westminster. Besides these, separate commissions of gaol delivery or oyer and terminer to different towns and counties were frequently issued ; the judges in which appear to have been selected from those having local authority and influence. The latter, as they evidently stood more in the relation of justices of the peace, it of course has not been thought necessary to introduce, confining the account, as far as possible, to those who appear to have been regularly acting, and who were summoned in that character as assistants to the parliament. Although the word Trailbaston does not occur in any record of the reign that I have seen, similar commissions were still granted; and one particularly, in 14 Edward II.1, contains many of the expressions used in those issued in the preceding reign. Justices Itinerant. Hugh de Louther, Adam dc Middlcton, William de Mortimer, John de Mutford, John Randolph, Robert de Retford, John le Thorpe, Richard de Walsimrham. I. 1307-8. John de Batesford, John de Berewyk, Edmund D'Eyncourt, John de Doncaster, Thomas de Fisheburn, Henry de Guldeford, Geoffrey de Hertelpole, William Inge, John de Insula, All these having acted in this character during the last reign are placed in the first year of this, although some of them do not occur till a later date. IV. 1310-1. Richard de Bereford, William de Goldington, Nicholas de Bolinbroke, Walter de Gloucester, Robert de Clyderhon, Milo de Rodborough, William de Colneye, John de Westcote.2 1 Rot. Pari. i. 371. 2 Dugdale introduces William de Concsby at the head of one of the commis- 1307—1327. DELAYS. — VENALITY OF OFFICERS. 205 VII. 1313-4. Richard de Berningham. VIIL 1314-5. Robert de Maddingley. XI. 1317-8. Gilbert de Toutlieby. The delay of justice seems to have been as common in those days as in ours; and the murmurs were so loud in this reign, that the king felt it necessary in November, 1315, to issue a mandate to all the judges of the courts of West- minster to attend more regularly to the dispatch of business, and not to be absent without his special command.1 Although the judges were to swear " not to take any gift from any one for a plea or other matter before them, unless it were meat and drink for the day,"2 it is to be feared that some of them, especially those who had jurisdiction in the provinces, were not wholly free from discreditable conduct. I do not, however, find that any of them were called to a strict account; but several commissions of enquiry into the conduct of taxors and collectors, sheriffs and their clerks, bailiffs, constables, keepers of prisons, and sub-escheators, evidence continued complaints of the oppressions they imposed upon the people, under colour of their offices, by " false im- prisonments, indictments, heavy redemptions, intolerable distresses for unjust causes, and other extortions in money and goods."3 The impressions of the people are often best exhibited in the songs of the day. Mr. Wright, in his " Political Songs," has printed one of this reign, that so fully illustrates the popular feeling against the magistrates and the ministers sions to justices of assize in this year ; but I find no trace of such a name. It is no doubt a blunder of the copyist for WiUuxm de Ormetby, a regular justice, one of whom was at the head of all the other commissions; the leading counties also being Norfolk and Suffolk, in which he usually acted. 1 Rot. Claus. 9 Edw. II., m. 22. » Ibid. 1 Edw. II., m. 19- a Rot. Pat. 12 Edw. II , p. 1. in. 12. ; H Edw. II., p. I. in. 3. ; Hot. Fin. 1 1 Edw. 1 1., m. [>. 206 VENALITY OF OFFICEKS. Edw. II. of the law, that a free translation of it may not be un- welcome.1 How happy they, though lacking much, who are to all men just, In whom iniquity excites abhorrence and disgust ; Whom gold or jewels cannot tempt their purity to stain, Nor grant for favour to the rich what poor men ask in vain. But many now pursue a path 'twere better they should shun, Drawn on by love of worldly things, and hope of honours won ; Money's the great inducement now, and scarcely in the land Is any court it does not bind as with a nuptial band. Judges there are whom gifts seduce and favorites control, Content to serve the devil alone and take from him a toll ; If nature's law forbids the judge from selling his decree, How dread to those who finger bribes the punishment shall be ! Such judges have accomplices, whom frequently they send To get at those who claim some land, and whisper as a friend, "'Tis I can help you with the judge, if you should wish to plead, Give me but half, I'll undertake before him you'll succeed." The clerks who sit beneath the judge are open-mouth'd as he, As if they were half famish'd and gaping for a fee ; Of those who give no money they soon pronounce the state ; However early they attend, they shall have long to wait. If comes some noble lady, in beauty and in pride, With golden horns upon her head, her suit he'll soon decide : But she who has no charms, nor friends, and is for gifts too poor, Her business all neglected, she's weeping shewn the door. But worse than all, within the court we some relators meet, Who take from either side at once, and both their clients cheat : The ushers, too, to poor men say, " you labour here in vain, Unless you tip us all around, you may go back again." The sheriffs hard upon the poor who cannot pay for rest, Drag them about to ev'ry town, on all assizes press'd, Compell'd to take the oath prescrib'd without objection made, For if they murmur and can't pay, upon their back they're laid. 1 Wright's Political Songs, Camden Soc. p. 224. He inserts it under the reign of Edward I. ; but in his note (p. 382.) he says that another MS. places it in the next reign. 1307—1327. THE KING'S ATTORNEYS. 207 They enter any private house or abbey that they choose, Where meat and drink and all things else are given as their dues ; And after dinner jewels too, or this were all in vain, Bedels and garcons must receive and all that form the train. And next must gallant robes be sent as presents to their wives, Or from the manor of the host some one his cattle drives ; While he, poor man, is sent to gaol upon some false pretence, And pays at last at double cost, ere he gets freed from thence. I can't but laugh to see their clerks, whom once I knew in need, When to obtain a bailiwick they may at last succeed ; With pride in gait and countenance and with their necks erect, They lands and houses quickly buy and pleasant rents collect. Grown rich, they soon the poor despise, and new-made laws display, Oppress their neighbours and become the wise men of their day ; Unsparing of the least offence, when they can have their will, The hapless country all around with discontent they fill. Attornati Regis. I. 1307-8. John de Chester, who held the office at the end of the reign of Edward I., we find acting in the third and fifth of this. In 10 Edward II. he was made marshal of the court. * III. 1309-10. Mathew de Scaccario.2 VI. 1312-3. John de Norton.2 By the patent he is appointed " At- tornatum nostrum" in the Court of King's Bench, to hold as our other attorneys in times past.3 IX. 1315-6. William de Langley.2 Gilbert de Toutheby, William de Ilerle, and Geoffrey le Scrope.4 These three " sequuntur pro rege," and in the same year are mentioned as king's Serjeants. Toutheby became justice itinerant in 11 Edward II.; Herle justice of the Common Pleas in 14 Edward IT., and chief justice of that court in the next reign ; and Scrope justice of the Common Pleas in 17 Edward II., and chief justice of the King's Bench in the same year. 1 Abbrev. Placit. 311. 314. 325. " Dugdale'a Chron. Ser. 1 Rot. Pat. 6 Edtr, II., ]>. 1. m. 20. * Rot. Pari. i. 352, 353. : 208 SERJEANTS. — COUNSEL. Edw. II. XL 1318-9. Adam w. II. Newcastle-upon-Tyne on the king's business, the Seal was put into the custody of Robert de Bardelby, to be kept under the seals of three other clerks till his return. This, however, is the only instance in which he is first named. Under John Salmon, Bishop of Norwich, the succeeding chancellor, the Seal was frequently deposited in the manner before mentioned, under the seal of Robert de Bardelby, until November 5, 1321, 15 Edward II. The Great Seal was at that time in the custody of the king, under the seals of William de Ayremynne, Robert de Bardelby, and Henry de Cliff; but on the 14th of that month Robert had leave to depart from court on account of his illness.1 He never after acted as a keeper of the Seal, but he is mentioned as a clerk of the Chancery as late as July 5, 1325, 18 Edward II., when he was present at Westminster, on Henry de Cliff taking his oaths as keeper of the Rolls. To the last he is called a clerk of the Chancery, but is often styled one of the " Gardiens du Seal." He was se- lected as an assessor of the fifteenth in the city of London in 9 Edward II., and was nominated a trier of petitions at the parliament of Lincoln in the same year, and that of West- minster in the fourteenth year. In 8 Edward II. he was appointed keeper of the Hospital of St. Thomas the Martyr of Aeon in London, until his brother, Richard of Southamp- ton, returned to England ; and he held the ecclesiastical rank of canon of Chichester.2 1 The several Rolls from which these dates are taken are referred to in the introductory chapters to the reigns of Edward I. and Edward II. 2 Rot. Pari. i. 287. 350. 365. ; Ahbrev. Rot. Orig. i. 227. ; Pari. Writs, ii., P. ii. 478. 1307—1327. ROGER BELER. 229 BATESFORD, JOHN DE. Just. I tin. 1307. See under the Reign of Edward I. John de Batesford was one of the eight justices ap- pointed by Edward I., in the twenty-first year of his reign, 1293, to take assizes, jurats, and certificates, throughout the kingdom in aid of the judges of each bench and the itinerant judges, who were often prevented from attending at the regular times and places. A certain number of counties were appropriated to each two, and they were to perform that duty throughout the year, in such manner as would most conduce to the service of the people. To John de Batesford and William Howard the counties of York, Northumberland, Westmoreland, Cumberland, Lancaster, Nottingham, and Derby, were assigned.1 In the last year of that king's reign, on February 18, 1307, he was the fourth of the justices of Trailbaston then nominated for ten of the midland counties2; and as in 4 Edward II., 1310, he was sent as a justice of assize into Hampshire, Wiltshire, Somersetshire, Dorsetshire, Cornwall, and Devonshire3, he may be presumed to have continued to act in the interim ; the more especially as he was regularly summoned among the judges to parliament from the beginning to the eleventh year of that reign. He died soon after, his executors being commanded, in 13 Edward II., to bring all proceedings before him into the Exchequer.4 BELER, ROGER. B. E. 1322. The family of Roger Beler was fixed at Kirkby on the Wrethek in Leicestershire, in which, and in the neigh- 1 Rot. Pari. i. 99. ■ Ibid. i. 218. 3 Dugdale'i Chron. Series. ' Pari, Writs, n. 499. Q 3 230 ROGER BELER. Edw. II. bouring counties, they held large possessions. He was the son of William Beler and Avicia his wife, and the grandson of another Roger Beler1, who was sheriff of Lincolnshire in 40 Henry III.2 In 9 Edward II. he obtained a licence to found a chantry in the chapel of St. Peter at Kirkby3, which he subsequently extended to a house with a warden and twelve priests. The king in the twelfth year of his reign granted him the hundred of Framelond, and certain farms in Leicestershire for his laudable services.4 It is not stated in what capacity they were rendered ; but in the same year he received a general pardon as an adherent of Thomas, Earl of Lancaster, and was confirmed in his office of bailiff and steward of Stapel- ford in Leicestershire.5 He was afterwards occasionally employed in judicial com- missions, till July 20, 1322, 16 Edward II., when he was raised to the Exchequer bench in the place of John de Foxle. For the rest of his life he was actively engaged not only as a baron, but as a justice in various counties. He came to a violent end, being murdered on January 29, 1326, on his journey from Kirkby to Leicester. We have no other particulars, except that on the 28th of the following February, a commission was issued to try the offenders ; and that the goods of Roger la Zousch, Lord of Lubesthorp, and Robert de Helewell, charged as accessories and flying from justice, were thereupon ordered to be seized into the king's hands. Eudo la Zousch (unless there is a mistake in one of the christian names) was also implicated, and fled; as his son William petitioned the parliament of 1 Edward III. against an outlawry which had been unlaw- fully adjudicated after Eudo's death in Paris. The appeal 1 Monasticon (1846), vi. 511. s Madox's Exch. ii. 142. 3 Abbrev. Rot. Orig. i. 230. 4 Ibid. i. 246. 8 Cal. Rot. Pat. 86. 1307—1327. JOHN DE BENSTEDE. 231 of murder was prosecuted by Alicia, the widow of Roger Beler, who was alive in 18 Edward III. They had a son, Roger, quite an infant at the father's death.1 BENSTEDE, JOHN DE. Just. C. P. 1309. See under the Reign of Edward I. John de Benstede was in frequent employment under Edward I. and Edward II. He was clerk, or secretary, to the former, whom he accompanied to Flanders on August 22, 1297, 25 Edward I., on which occasion the Great Seal, which the king took with him, was placed in his hands ; and another Seal left in England with the chancellor.2 On the king's return in the following March, John de Benstede was the messenger employed by him to carry this latter Seal to the Exchequer ; the Great Seal being then given back to the chancellor.3 It would seem that, he held soon afterwards a place in the king's wardrobe ; for on February 14, 1299, 27 Edward L, the chancellor delivered the Seal to him there, and six days later it was conveyed to William de Hamilton, who imme- diately sealed writs with it.4 Again, on December 29, 1304, 33 Edward I., when William de Hamilton was appointed chancellor, the Seal was placed with John de Benstede in the wardrobe, under the seals of the master of the Rolls and others, to be kept there till the new chancellor's arrival.5 In 30 Edward I. he received a grant of twenty acres of the waste of the forest of Wolmere, near la Wonsand, with 1 Madox, ii. 60. ; Pari. Writs, ii. 522. ; Rot. Pari. ii. 432. ; Abbrev. Rot. Orig. ii. 6—171. " Claus. 25 Edw. I., m. 7. 3 Madox'a Excb. i. 72. 4 Claus. 27 Edw. I., m. 18. 5 Claus. 33 Edw. I., m. 22. Q 4 232 JOHN DE BENSTEDE. Emv. II. permission to cultivate them1, and in the following year he was in the expedition to Scotland. His closeness to the king's person in 33 Edward I. is shown by a letter addressed to him by Edward, Prince of Wales, requesting him to present to the king a petition which he enclosed from the Earl of Ulster and others, and to pray, on his part, that such justices should be assigned as would redress the grievances they complained of.2 He was advanced to the post of chancellor of the Exchequer in the same year3 ; but he resigned it to John de Drokenesford in 1 Ed- ward II., when he became keeper of the wardrobe.4 In 2 Edward II. he was again in the Scottish wars ; and about that time was sent with Roger Savage to the King of France to arrange a meeting between him and the King of England.5 On October 6, 1309, in the third year, he was constituted one of the justices of the Common Pleas, and appears to have been present at the Exchequer in that character, acting with the barons there, in Hilary and Trinity, 1312, 5 Ed- ward II. Fines were levied before him from the next year till the fourteenth, 1320 ; in which, on October 16, William de Herle was appointed a judge in his place.6 He probably resigned then, as, according to the Inquisition, his death did not occur till 1323 or 1324.7 His name is not found in the Year Book as taking any part in the proceedings there reported, which may be accounted for from the other employ- ments in which he was engaged. In 8 Edward II. he was sent on the king's service to Scotland, and in the tenth year had been selected as an envoy to Rome on the Scottish affairs ; but the mission being 1 Cal. Rot. Pat. 62. 2 Ninth Report Pub. Rec, App. a. 2-i7. 3 Cal. Rot. Pat. 65. 4 Madox's Exch. ii. 29. s Dugdale's Baron, ii. 91. 6 Dugdale's Orig. 44. ; and Chron. Ser. ; Madox's Exch. ii. 7. 31. Cal. Inquis. p. m., i. 319. 1307—1327. JOHN I)E BENSTEDE. 233 stopped, lie had a payment of 1Z. per diem for the eleven days he was employed, together with an allowance of 12s. 5d. for a loss he had in the purchase and sale of 159 florins provided for his journey.1 In the following year he was one of the commissioners to treat for peace with Robert de Brus : and in 12 Edward II. he was sent with the Bishop of Hereford and others to Rome to solicit the pope for the canonisation of Thomas de Cantilupe, Chancellor and Bishop of Hereford in the reign of Henry III. He had large possessions in various counties: Ermington in Devonshire, and Benington in Hertfordshire, for both of which he obtained fairs and markets ; Benstede in Hunton in Kent ; Kertlyng in Cambridgeshire ; Cowling in Suffolk ; Charlewoode in Surrey ; Little Parndon and Higham Bensted in Essex ; over several of which he had grants of free warren and other privileges. He had a manor-house also called Rosemont, at Eye, near Westminster, which he had licence to fortify with walls of lime and stone. Dugdale includes him in his Baronage on account of his having been summoned to parliament in 8 Edward II., as he says, "among the barons of the realm:" but he adds that "he was never farther summoned." The fact, on the con- trary, is that from the date of his elevation to the bench till his retirement, and therefore both before and after the year in question, he was regularly summoned among the justices to parliament ; and that on the occasion referred to he was probably only summoned in that character, although his name and those of several other judges are carelessly inter- mingled with the barons. In 15 Edward II. he was returned by the sheriff of Hertford as a knight banneret.2 He was married twice ; his first wife was named Isabella, who died before 7 Edward II.3; and his second, Petronilla, 1 Archaeol. xxvi. 322. - Pari. Writs, ii„ P. ii. 524. 3 Year Book, Edw. II., 212. 234 WILLIAM DE BEREFORD. Edw. II. who survived him and died in 1342. His son Edward suc- ceeded him, whose descendants were living in the county of Essex till the reign of Henry VII.1 BEREFORD, RICHARD DE. Just. Itin. 1310. I know not whether Richard de Bereford was a relative of the under-mentioned chief justice, William de Bereford ; but from his flourishing at the same period it is not improbable that he was his brother. The only trace I find of the place of his residence while in England is in his being appointed assessor and collector in the county of Worcester for the thirtieth granted in 10 Edward L, 1283,. He was treasurer of the Exchequer of Dublin from the twenty-eighth to the last year of that reign, and probably at the beginning of that of Edward II. But in the fourth year of the latter he was evidently in England, being then, 1310, the last named of the three justices of assize assigned for the counties of Essex, Hertford, Buckingham, Bedford, Oxford, and Berks. In 7 Edward II., 1314, he was raised to the chancellor- ship of Ireland ; and retained that office till August, 1317 ; after which date I have not met with any mention of his name.2 BEREFORD, WILLIAM DE. Just. C. P. 1307. Ch. C. P. 1309. See under the Reign of Edward I. Mr. Nicholls in his History of Leicestershire commences the pedigree of William de Bereford, or Bar ford, with his 1 Morant's Essex, i. 34., ii. 495. ; Chauney's Herts, 335.; Hasted's Kent, v. 149. 2 Pari. Writs, i. 464., ii., P. ii. 526. ; Abbrev. Rot. Orig. i. 112. ; Abbrev. Placit. 255.; Dugdale's Chron. Series; Cal. Rot. Pat. 61. 77. 1307—1327. WILLIAM DE BEREFORD. 235 father, Osbert de Barford, whom, on the authority of a descent taken from Air. II. Ferren's MSS. of Antiquities, lie calls chief gentleman of Ralph de Hengham, the chief justice.1 It seems, however, more probable, from two entries on the Plea Rolls, that this Osbert was his brother, and that both were the sons of Walter de Bereford. - Although Dugdale does not introduce "William de Bereford into his Chronica Series till Michaelmas Term, 22 Edward I., 1294, when he calls him a justice of the Common Pleas, it clearly appears that he had been previously employed as a justice itinerant, if not as a regular justicier; for Prynne gives two commissions to him, in conjunction with Robert de Hertford and Robert Malet, to enquire as to a murder in 20 Edward I.3 ; and in the parliament that met after Easter in the following year Eustace de Paries and John his brother were convicted of insulting " William de Bereford, a justice of our lord the king," in the Aula Regis, by imputing to him corrupt and improper conduct during his iter into Stafford- shire. His companions in that iter proving the charge to be false, and the parties having their action against him if he had done them wrong, they were imprisoned in the Tower for their contempt.4 The designation of " Justiciarius Domini Regis," by which he is described in the record, would seem to imply that he was then one of the regular judges at Westminster ; especially as the offence is stated to have been committed in the " Aula Regis ; " and although the fines that were levied before him do not commence till November, 1294, 23 Edward L, it is evident that he had sat in the Common Pleas for a short time between February, 1291, 19 Edward I., when Robert de Thorpe either died or ceased to act, and some part of the 1 Nieholls's Leicester. 31 3. ■ Abbrev. Flacit. 215. 280. 8 Prynne on Fonrtb Inst. 20. ' Hot. Pari, i. 95. 236 WILLIAM DE BEREFORD. Edw. II. following year. A writ of the latter date, by which Peter Mallore was appointed in the place of William de Bereford, " who had been lately associated with John de Metingham and his companion, justices of the bench," 1 clearly shows that there was a temporary removal ; and the proof of his having previously acted is found not only in the writs quoted by Prynne, and the proceeding against Eustace de Paries, but also in the fact that he and two other known judges were assigned to enquire into the truth of certain articles in Trinity Term, 19 Edward L, 1291 ; and again in Michaelmas of the next year.2 What wras the cause of this removal there is nothing to explain ; but it must have occurred between Michaelmas day and November 20, 1292, because the writ to Peter Mallore is dated in 20 Edward I. I conceive that William de Bereford's re-appointment took place after the death of William de Giselham in January, 1293, 21 Edward I. Both he and Peter Mallore were summoned among the justices to the parliament of August, 1295, 23 Edward I., the prece- dence being given to the former.3 He continued to act during the remainder of the reign, and was one of those selected to treat with the Scots in 33 Edward I., and was placed in the commission of Trailbaston for the northern counties in the last year of the reign.4 On the accession of Edward II. his patent in the Common Pleas was renewed, he holding the second place. He was raised to the office of chief justice of that court, as the successor of Ralph de Hengham, on March 15, 1309, 2 Edward II. 5 ; and the last fine that was acknowledged before him in that character is dated in the first week of the 1 Manning's Serviens ad legem, 282. He is called here W. de i/ereford ; and the same mistake occurs in one of the writs before cited of this date, while the other properly spells the name Bereford. 2 Rot. Pari. i. 29. 100. 3 Pari. Writs, i. 29. 4 Hot. Pari. i. 218. 267. 5 Rot. Pat. 2 Edw. II., p. 1. m. 9. 1307—1327. JOHN DE BEREWYK. 237 twentieth year of that reign, July, 1326.1 In the same month he died, leaving large possessions in eight counties, the principal of which were in Warwickshire and Oxford- shire.2 He was succeeded in his office, on July 23, by Hervey de Staunton. By his wife Margaret he left a son named Simon, who, according to Mr. Ferren's pedigree, was seated in Warwick- shire. There was another son, named William, to whom the king granted four acres of wraste in Bereford, Northampton- shire.3 BEREWYK, JOHN DE. Just. Itin. 1307. See under the Reign of Edward I. That John de Berewyk was an officer of the court appears from the nature of his various employments. In 7 Edward I. he was appointed custos of the vacant Abbey of St. Edmund, and in the next year had a similar grant over the bishoprick of Lincoln.4 In 11 Edward I. he was assessor in Dorset- shire of the thirtieth granted by the counties south of Trent.5 In the thirteenth year he was keeper of the queen's gold 6 ; and in the eighteenth he delivered into the ward- robe the Roll of Peace and Concord between the Chan- cellor and Scholars of the University of Oxford and the Mayor and Burgesses of that city.7 His high character is evidenced by his being one of the executors of Queen Eleanor.8 Although it does not appear that he was a judge at West- minster, it is manifest that he held a high place among the justices itinerant; inasmuch as, in all the circuits in which 1 Dugdale's Orig. 44. - Cal. Inqnis. p. m., i. ! Abbrev. Rot. Orig. i. 50. 4 Ibid. i. S3. P;.rl. Writs, i. IS. - Madox's Exch. i. 861. 7 Rot. Pari, i. 38. 8 Abbrev. Rot. Orig. i. 80. 238 RICHARD DE BERNINGHAM. Edw. II. he was named over various counties, extending from 20 Edward I„ 1292, to nearly the end of the reign, he was invariably at their head.1 He was summoned also among the judges to parliament during the same interval, and on one occasion was appointed to receive and answer all petitions from Ireland and Guernsey which could be answered without reference to the king.2 I have not found any positive proof that he acted as a justice itinerant under Edward II. ; but that he did so there can be little doubt, as he is summoned among them to the parliaments of the first two years of that reign.3 He died in 6 Edward II., 1312, and was possessed of several manors and other lands in the counties of Essex, Hants, Wilts, Norfolk, and Suffolk.4 His heir in one entry is called " Roger, his son," and in another, " Roger Huse, » 5 BERKS, Archdeacon of. See R. de Ayleston. BERNINGHAM, RICHARD DE. Just. Itin. 1313 There were two families of this surname, and two indivi- duals of both names flourishing in this reign ; one connected with the county of York, and the other with that of Norfolk. The former was son of John de Berningham, or Barningham ; and the latter not improbably was the son of Walter, who, in 1316, was lord of the manor of Hauteyn's, in Barnham, Norfolk. Sir Francis Palgrave considers that the presumption is somewhat in favour of Richard de Berningham of Yorkshire being the person who was so often summoned to council 1 Dugdale's Chron. Series. - Pari. Writs, i. 468. 3 Ibid. ii. 536. * Cal. Inquis. p. m., i. 250. 5 Abbrev. Rot. Orig. i. 194, 195. 1307—1327. WILLIAM DE BOURNE. 239 among the justices and others ; and the first entry among the Parliamentary Writs in which his name appears seems amply to justify this opinion. He is therein required to lay aside the caption of certain assizes in the northern counties, which had been fixed during the meeting of parliament, and to repair to Westminster instead. This was on September 6, 1313, 7 Edward II., and his summonses continue till the fourteenth year ; during which period he is included in several commissions in the county of York, to which, perhaps, his judicial functions were confined. He is mentioned as a knight in that county in 17 Edward II. ; and his death is re- corded in 3 Edward III., possessing property therein.1 BOLIXGBROKE, NICHOLAS DE. Just. Itin. 1310. Nicholas de Bolingbroke, judging from his name, be- longed to the county of Lincoln. In 4 Edward II. he was the last of three judges of assize sent into that county and five others ; and in the tentli year was named in a special commission to try some rioters in Lincoln. In 12 & 13 Edward II. he was commanded to cause all proceedings before him as a judge of assize to be estreated into the Ex- chequer. He certified as one of the lords of the township of Gar- grave in Yorkshire.2 BOURNE, or BURNE, WILLIAM DE. Just. C. P. 1309. William de Bourne, or Burne, for it is written both ways, was appointed to superintend the collection of the 1 Blomefield's Norfolk, i. 636.; Pari. Writs, ii., P. ii. 5:54.; Cal. Inquis. p. m., ii. 19. Dugdale's Chr n. Series; Pari. Writs, ii., P. ii. 561 240 WILLIAM DE BOURNE. Edw. II. fifteenth granted in 29 Edward L, in the county of Wilts.1 In the new commission assigning justices of the Common Pleas, issued on September 29, 1309, 3 Edward II., he was one of the twTo who were added to that bench. No fines are recorded as having been acknowledged before him, which may perhaps be accounted for by the judges having been ordered in that commission to sit in two places, to one of which, probably, the taking of fines was restricted. He seems to have been frequently engaged in assizes in the country, principally in the western counties. One of these occasions, in 10 Edward II., was for the trial of persons accused of con- spiring to bring a false appeal of robbery against John de Treiagu ; with whom it is somewhat curious to find that he was in the same year united in a commission to enquire into the transgressions alleged against the taxors in Devonshire.2 He continued to be summoned among the judges to parlia- ment till 11 Edward II. ; and in the next year was appointed to perambulate the forests of Devon, and was commanded to cause all proceedings before him, as a justice of assize or otherwise, to be brought into the Exchequer to be estreated.3 The last notice of his name occurs in 14 Edward II., when a commission into Guernsey, Jersey, &c., for the trial of certain offences, which had been directed to him and another, but which had been superseded, was, on the petition of the in- habitants, renewed.4 BOUSSER, JOHN DE. Just. C. P. 1321. See under the Reign of Edward III. 1 Pari. Writs, i. 110. 2 Abbrev. Rot. Orig. i. 239. Pari. Writs, ii., P. ii. 578. 4 Rot. Pari. i. 378. 1307—1327. ROGER LE BRABAZON. 241 BRABAZON, ROGER LE. Ch. K. B. 1307. See under the Reign of Edward I. Jaques le Brabazon, the first of this family who was esta- blished in England, was so called from the castle of Brabazon in Normandy. He came over with the Conqueror, and his name is inserted on the Roll of Battle Abbey. His great- grandson Thomas became possessed of Moseley in Leicester- shire, by his marriage with Amicia, the heiress of John de Moseley. Their son, Sir Roger, also described of Eastwell in the same county, married Beatrix, eldest of the three sisters and co-heirs of Mansel de Bisset ; and by her had two sons, the elder of whom was Roger le Brabazon, the judge. He is first mentioned in that character in 15 Edward I., 1287, when he acted as a justice itinerant for pleas of the forest in Lancashire ; and two years afterwards, on the re- moval of the judges convicted of extortion and other corrupt practices, he was constituted a justice of the King's Bench in the place of one of them. The salary then assigned to him was 33/. 65. 8c/., being higher than that of his fellows by 6/. 135. 4c/., and lower than that of the chief justice by the same sum only.1 That he held a high rank in the estimation of the king, appears from his being employed to attend the meeting of the Scottish nobility and clergy at Norham on May 10, 1291, when Edward I. took upon himself the arbi- tration between the competitors for their crown. There, in a studied address in the French language, he required from the assembly an absolute recognition of King Edward's title as Lord Paramount of the kingdom of Scotland ; which they were not in a condition to refuse.2 The prominent part 1 Ddgdale'l ChrOD. .Series. ■ Tytler's Scotland, i. 80. VOL. III. K 242 ROGER LE BRABAZON, Edw. II. which Brabazon took in this transaction has led writers to speak of him as if he were then the chief justiciary. That office, however, no longer existed, and it was not till four years afterwards that he became chief justice of the King's Bench ; to which he was advanced on the death or retirement of Gilbert de Thornton, about 24 Edward L, 1295. He presided in the court till the end of the reign, when he was immediately re-appointed by the new king, and continued to perform the functions of this honourable post till February 23, 1316, 9 Edward II., when, pressed by age and infirmities, he applied for and obtained his discharge. The patent of that date is expressed in the most eulogistic terms, and records the king's commands that he should be retained " de secreto consilio " during his life, and should be admitted to all the king's courts, councils, and parliaments as often as he might choose to be present.1 William Inge was then named as his successor. He did not survive his resignation longer than the fol- lowing year. Leaving no issue by his wife, Beatrix, the daughter of Sir John de Sproxton, his property devolved on his brother Matthew, whose descendant was created Lord Brabazon of Ardee in Ireland in 1616, to which, in 1627, was added the earldom of Meath, a title which is still borne by his lineal representative, whose father received an English peerage in 1831 with the title of Baron Chaworth of Eaton Hall, Herefordshire. A branch of the family descending from the brother of the first lord, seated at Brabazon Park, in the county of Mayo, obtained the dignity of baronet in 1797, which lately became extinct by the death of Sir William John Brabazon.2 1 Rot. Pat. 9 Edw. II., p. 2. m. SI. 2 Thoroton's Notts, i. 294. ; Abbrev. Rot. Orig. i. 238. ; Biog. Peerage, iv. 30.; Geneal. Hist, of the Family of Brabazon, Paris, 1825. 1307—1327. THOMAS DE CANTEBRIG. 243 BURGH, HUGH DE. ? Keeper, 1316. When John de Sandale, the chancellor, went from York to London on August 26, 1316, 10 Edward II., upon the busi- ness of his election to the bishoprick of Winchester, which had just previously taken place, he, by the king's directions, left the Great Seal in the custody of William de Ayremynne, the keeper of the Rolls, under the seals of Robert de Bardelby and Hugh de Burgh, clerks of the Chancery. It may be inferred, however, that the latter was a junior clerk, because the Roll further directs that the Seal shall be so kept only till the arrival of Thomas de Asheby, another clerk of the Chan- cery (which occurred on September 17), when it was to be placed under the seals of him and of Robert de Bardelby.1 Hugh de Burgh, Clericus, was paymaster of the forces raised in the counties of Cumberland and Westmoreland in 27 and 31 Edward I. ; and was one of the procurators of the Bishop of Carlisle in the parliament of 16 Edward II., and for the Abbot of St. Mary's, York, in that of the following year.2 lie held the living of Patrick Brompton in Yorkshire ; and died in 2 Edward III.3 CANTEBRIG, THOMAS DE. B. E. 1307. Thomas de Cantebkig (Cambridge) was an officer in the Exchequer in the reign of Edward I. ? in the twenty-ninth year of which, we find him and John de Sandale attest ing the debts due from the crown in the duchy of Aquitaine. His appointment as a baron of the Exchequer took place on September 16, 1307, two months after the accession of Edward II., when he was added to two other barons, who 1 Hot. Clans. 10 Edw. II., m. 27. ■ Pari. Writs, i. 006., ii. P, & J (;il. Iiujuis. ]>. in. , ii. 21. B 2 244 WILLIAM DE CARLETON. Edw. II. had acted in the previous reign. In the following year, on October 24, he had a patent authorising him to take the place of William de Carleton, the senior baron, when he was absent, and to sit next to him when he was present, — a clear proof of the royal favour, as there were then two barons in the court senior to him in standing. He remained in this place till July 17, 1310, when Roger de Scotre was substituted for him. His removal doubtless arose from his services being more valuable in another character ; as, during the time he held the office, and for several years afterwards, he was em- ployed in foreign negotiations. In November, 1307, the constable of Dover is directed to provide him a safe passage ; in 1312, 1315, and 1316, he was engaged in composing the dissensions between the steward of Gascony and Ama- nenus de Lebreto ; and in 1317 he was sent to Bordeaux to procure a grant of wine from that city in aid of the Scottish war. After the latter date his name does not again occur. Masters, in his History of Corpus Christi College, Cam- bridge (p. 8.), says that Sir John Cantebrig, a judge in the next reign, was probably his son : but this seems to be con- tradicted by the fact that Thomas is almost invariably described as of the clerical profession. ■ CANTERBURY, Archbishop of. See W. Reginald. CANTERBURY, Archdeacon of. See J. de Langton. CARLETON, WILLIAM DE. B. E. 1307. See under the Reign of Edward I. William de Carleton was associated with Henry de Bray in the custody of the vacant abbey of Ramsay in 1 N. Fcedera, i. 934., ii. 15. 175. 273. 333.; Madox's Excli. ii. 58. ; Pari. Writs, ii. P. ii. 4. 630. 1 408. 1307—1327. WILLIAM DE CABLET ON". 245 14 Edward I.1 Although he is inserted by Dugdale in his list of barons of the Exchequer in the same year, on the authority of a liberate granting him '201. a year, it is evident that he was only at that time one of the justices of the Jews. He is introduced in that character in Madox's list of barons in the next and three following years; and in June, 1291, 19 Edward I., there is an order, in which he is called late justice of the Jews, for the payment of twenty marks for his fee from the preceding Michaelmas; till which time the Jews, it says, were in the kingdom.2 The justices of the Jews seem always to have sat with the barons of the Exchequer ; but their duties, of course, terminated after the expulsion of that people. William de Carleton and Peter de Leicester, who then held the office, were thereupon appointed regular barons ; and the former continued to act from that time till the end of the reign. In 25 Edward I. he was employed by the king with two others to collect a sum of ten thousand pounds from the merchants at Antwerp.3 Dugdale says that he was constituted chief baron on July 26, 1303, 31 Edward I. ; but the liberate, on the authority of which this statement is made, contains no such designation4 ; being a grant to " Philip de Wylgheby, chan- cellor of the Exchequer, William de Carleton and Peter de Leicester, barons of the said Exchequer," of 180 marks, their salary of the last three half-years in those offices. The title of chief baron indeed was not adopted till some years after- wards ; but William de Carleton was at that time the senior baron, and was at the head of those re-appointed on the accession of Edward II., 1307.5 On October 24, 1308, 2 Edward II., he had special licence from the king, on account of his long service, to retire to his own house aa 1 Abbrev. Rot. Orig. i. 51. - Madox's Excb. i. 236. I. :( Rot. Rail. i. 169, 104. ' Madox's Bleb, it Pari. Writs, ii. R. ii. I 246 ROBERT DE CLIDERIIOU. Edw. II. often and as long as his health or private affairs should require, and to attend at the Exchequer in his place when he should think fit.1 He does not appear among the justices who were summoned to parliament beyond the following March. H. Philipps says that Sir William Carleton, of Carleton in Cumberland, knight, was his descendant in 1684.2 CHAYNEL, JOHN. Just. Itin. 1314. In 5 Edward II., 1312, John de Chaynel was summoned among the legal assistants to parliament, in what precise cha- racter is not stated ; and his attendance continued to be required in most of the parliaments till 17 Edward II., 1324. The first time I find him mentioned as a justice of assize is on September 12, 1314, in the eighth year, when he and Lam- bert de Trikingham were acting in the county of Lincoln ; and the last commission in which his name occurs, is in that directing an investigation into the conduct of sheriffs, &c. in the counties of Warwick and Leicester, in 17 Edward II.3 CHICHESTER, Bishop of. See J. de Langton. CLIDERHOU, ROBERT DE. Just. Itin. 1310,. Robert de Cliderhou (Clitherow) held the manor of Bailey, a township in the neighbourhood of Clitherow in Lancashire. In 35 Edward I. he recovered 200/. from three brothers who attacked him at that place, and beat him till they left him for dead. He was a clerk in the Chancery under Edward I. and Ed- ward II., and in the fourth year of the reign of the latter was 1 Madox's Excb. ii. 57. 2 Grandeur of the Law (1684). 3 Pari. Writs, ii. P. ii. 654. ; Rot. Pari. i. 450. 1307—1327. WILLIAM DE CLIFF. 247 appointed one of the three justices of assize for Kent, Sussex, and Surrey, standing last on the list. During the eight and ninth years of that reign he was the king's escheator beyond Trent, and afterwards became parson of the church of Wigan. He took so strong a part in behalf of the Earl of Lancaster, that he not only sent his son Adam, and another man-at-arms, with four foot soldiers, to his assistance, but preached at Wigan in his favour, and promised absolution to those who aided him. The punishment he suffered for these offences was a fine of 200Z. He lived some years after this, and in 4 Edward III. ob- tained the royal permission to assign his manor of Bailey to the monks of Cokersand. In the seventh year of that reign, he recovered possession of some land in Cliderhou and Dyn- kedeleye, in Lancashire. As he is called " clericus," and wras clearly a priest, it must be presumed that his son Adam was born before he took orders.1 CLIFF, HENRY DE. ? Keeper, 1317. M. It. 1325. See under the Reign of Edward III. CLIFF, WILLIAM DE. ? Keeper, 1319. The first mention of William de Cliff, or Clyff, is in 3 Ed- ward II., when he was commissioned to prepare certain ships in Yorkshire against the Scots.2 Two years afterwards he was appointed the king's steward in the forest of Galtres, in the neighbourhood of York.3 He subsequently became one of the clerks of the Chancery ; but what relation he was 1 Abbrev. Placit. 300. ; Abbrev. Rot. Orig. i. 217— 22G., ii. 47. 82. ; Tail. Writs, ii. P. ii. 686". ; Dugdale. 2 New Fcedera, ii. 109. ■ Abbrev. Hot. Orig. i. 189. it I 248 WILLIAM DE CLIFF. Edw. II. to Henry de Cliff, who also held the latter office, and was then keeper of the Rolls, is not stated. In 12 Edward II., the king presented him with the pre- bend of Kylbryde, in the church of Glasgow.1 When the chancellor, John de Hotham, Bishop of Ely, went from York to Newcastle on December 2, 1319, 13 Edward II., the Great Seal wTas placed in the custody of Robert de Bar- delby, to be kept under the seals of Henry de Cliff, Geoffrey de Welleford, and William de Cliff until his return ; and they accordingly sealed the writs, &c. at York.2 Under the next chancellor, John Salmon, Bishop of Norwich, his name also appears frequently under the same circumstances at the following dates: — from June 9 to July 22, 1320, during the absence of the chancellor, who accompanied the king abroad ; from August 8 to September 27, on the chancel- lor's visit to his bishoprick ; on December 15, 1321; from January 24 to March 3, 1322; from September 12 till November 17, 1322; from January 10 to May 2, 1323; and on June 53: after which date he is no more mentioned in connection with the Great Seal. It seems not improbable that he shared in the disgrace of the Despencers, inasmuch as a complaint was made, in the first parliament of the follow- ing reign, by Elizabeth de Burgh, that she had been arrested, in 16 Edward II., by the conspiracy and crafty plotting of Hugh le Despencer the younger, Robert de Baldock (after- wards chancellor), and William de Cliff: and in the parliament of the second year another complaint was made that Hugh le Despencer and he had disseized John de Larcheley of his manor.4 If this were so, however, his offence appears to have been overlooked, as he was one of the commissioners appointed 1 New Foedera, ii. 401. - Rot. Claus. 13 Edw. II., m. IS. 3 Rot. Claus. 13 Edw. II , m. 4. ; 14 Edw. II., m. 24. ; 15 Edw. II., m. 35.; 16 Edw. II., m. 6. 19. 27. 4 Rot. Pari. ii. 23. 4 40. 1307—1327. EDMUND D'EYNCOURT, 249 in 3 Edward III. to inquire into the chattels belonging to Hugh le Deepencer in certain of his manors in the county of Lincoln.1 COLNEYE, WILLIAM DE. Jl-st. Itin. 1310. William de Colneye's connection with the law is first shown in 18 Edward L, when he represented Robert de Tateshal in a suit then the subject of a petition to the parliament. On the accession of Edward II. he was sum- moned to the coronation, and to the next two parliaments, his place in the lists being low among those of the legal profession. In the first parliament, which was directed to meet at Northampton on October 13, 1307, he was returned as knight of the shire for Norfolk ; and when the justices of assize were appointed for that and the four neighbouring counties in the fourth year of the reign, 1310-1 1, he was the last of the three who were then nominated. His name does not appear after the next year; but that of his son Ralph is mentioned in 8 Edward II. in reference to property in the county, in which he certified that he was one of the lords of Scottow and Lammas with Little Hautboys.2 D'EYNCOURT, EDMUND. Just. Itin. 1307. See under the Reign of Edward I. Edmund D'Eyncouht was the son and heir of John, who was lineally descended from Walter D'Eyncourt, who came over with the Conqueror, and was royally rewarded with many lordships in the counties of York, Northampton, Not- tingham, Derby, and Lincoln ; in the latter of which Blankney 1 Abbrev. Rot. Orig. ii. 24. 2 Rot. Pari. i. 37.; Pari. Writs, ii. P. ii. 708.; Abbrev. Rot. Orig. i. SIS, 240. ; Dugdale. 250 EDMUND D'EYNCOURT. Edw. II. was his principal seat. On his father's death, in 1257, Edmund was a minor, and his lands were placed under the custody of Queen Eleanor.1 After he attained his majority he served the king in his wars in Wales, in Gascony, and in Scotland ; and was summoned to parliament in 27 Edward I.2 He subscribed the letter to the Pope by the title of " Dominus de Thurgerton." In 33 Edward L, 1305, he was appointed one of the justices of Trailbaston for Lincoln and nine other counties, and being re-appointed in 1307, was excused from his attendance at the parliament of Carlisle, probably on that account. Throughout the following reign he still continued to act as a judge ; there are not only several references to him in parliament evidently in that character, but he is occasionally commanded to cause the proceedings before him to be estreated into the Exchequer.3 He died in 1327, 1 Edward III. On the death of his only son, Edmund, in his lifetime, leaving a daughter named Isabel, he obtained a license in 7 Edward II. to alter the entail of his lands ; in pursuance of which, for the purpose of perpe- tuating his name and arms, he settled them on his nephew William, the son of his brother John ; in whose descendants the title continued till the death of William, the thirteenth baron, in 1422, without issue, but leaving two sisters. One of these died childless ; and Francis, Baron and Viscount Lovel, the grandson of the other, having been attainted in 1487, this barony became forfeited.4 The Right Honourable Charles Tennyson D'Eyncourt, the present member for Lambeth, traces his descent through females from this family.5 1 Excerpt, e Rot. Fin. ii. 2G4. 8 Dugilale's Baron, i. 388. 3 N. Fcedera, i. 970.; Rot. Pari. i. 188. 218. 314. 325. 333.; Pari. Writs, ii. 759. 4 Nicolas's Synopsis; Cal. Rot. Pat. 77. See also Coke's 4th Inst. 126., corrected by Prynne on that work, 65, 5 Burke's Landed Gentry. 1307—1327. JOHN DE DONCASTER. 251 DONCASTER, JOHN DE. Just. Itin. 1310. Just. C. P. 1319. The name of John de Doncaster occurs in 28 Edward I. as a commissioner of array in Yorkshire ' ; and in the thirty- second year the castle and honor of Tickhill, with the manors of Gryngele and Whetele, were committed to his charge.2 He was summoned to attend the ceremony of the coronation of Edward II., and also was included in the list of judges and others called upon to assist at the parliaments from the first year of that reign. I do not, however, find that he held any judicial position, otherwise than entirely local, till 4 Ed- ward II., 1310, when he was appointed a judge of assize for the northern counties. In the sixth year he was assessor of the tallage on Newcastle-upon-Tyne, &c. ; and in the following year, on the North Riding of Yorkshire. He is named also in various other judicial commissions during the next five years. On June 5, 1319, 12 Edward II., he was raised to the bench of the Common Pleas ; but the fines levied before him in that court do not extend beyond the next year ; and he was not summoned to parliament after the early part of the fourteenth year. He was probably at that time removed from the court, although he was named in a special commis- sion for trying some forest offences in his own county two years afterwards.3 He was alive in 5 Edward III., when the king confirmed certain grants which had been made to him and his wife Alicia, and their heirs, by the Earl of Surrey.4 1 Tarl. Writs, i. 345. ■ Abbrev. Rot. Orig. i. 135. ■ Pari. Writs, ii. P. ii. 781. * Abbrev. Rot. Orig. ii. 52. 55. 252 JOHN DE EVERDOX. Edw. II. DYVE, WILLIAM DE. ? Just. K. B. 1322. Although there is no question that William de Dyve, or, as it is sometimes called, Dyne, was not a justice of the King's Bench, we do not think it right to omit noticing any name which is inserted in Dugdale's list. The authority on which this is introduced, is a passage from L eland's Col- lectanea, on referring to which we find that Geoffrey de Say and William de Dyne, " Justiciarii Regis," are stated by Gervas of Canterbury to have been sent into Kent to inquire " de fautoribus Badelesmer." * Now the term Justiciarius Regis was at that time applied, not only to the judges of the two benches and the justices of assize, but also to any others who were appointed on a special judicial commission; and it is not improbable that such a commission, although no record of it has yet appeared, may Lave been issued to those two gen- tlemen to try the adherents of Bartholomew de Badlesmere, who was executed for treason in that year. But there is no- thing whatever to show that William de Dyve, or Dyne, was connected with the courts at Westminster; nor indeed, in any document that we have yet discovered of the period, does his name occur. There were two families of that name : one settled in Northampton ; and the other lords of the manors of Dock- lin^ton and Dadington, in Oxfordshire.2 ELY, Bishop of. See John de Hotiiam. EVERDON, JOHN DE, Chancellor of Exeter and Dean of London. B. E. 1307. John he Everdon was an officer of the Exchequer, and, like his fellows, was of the clerical profession. He was appointed in 30 Edward I. to superintend the levying of Leland's Coll. i. P. ii. 275. Cal. Inquis. p. m., i. 69. 241. 1307—1327. THOMAS DE FISHEBUEN. 253 the fifteenth in the counties of Oxford and Berks. Soon after the accession of Edward II., he was constituted a baron of the Exchequer, his patent bearing date November 28, 1307. While he held a seat on that bench, he frequently acted as an assessor of the taxes charged on the city of London, and as a justice of oyer and terminer in various counties, for the trial of offences connected with the revenue and its collection. He certainly continued in his place till nearly the end of the fifteenth year of the reign ; having been summoned among the justices to parliament as late as March 14, 1322.1 In 4 Edward II. he was dean of the free chapel of St. Peter, in Wolverhampton 2, and was certified as lord of that township in the ninth year. He held the chancellorship of Exeter from May, 1308, till August, 1309 ; and was afterwards a prebendary of Sarum, which he ex- changed for the deanery of St. Paul's, London, to which he was admitted on September 15, 1323; this not impro- bably being the period when he resigned his seat on the bench. He died on January 15, 1336, and was buried in the church of St. Faith, under St. Paul's.3 EVERDON, WILLIAM DE. B. E. 1324. See under the Reign of Edward III. EXETER, Chancellor of. See R. de Henghamj J. db Everdon. FISIIEBURN, THOMAS DE. Just. Itin. 1307. See under the Reign of Edward I. THOMAS de Fisiiebuen was probably the son of Ralph de Fisseborn, who, in 42 Henry III., paid a fine of one hundred 1 Purl. Writs, i. 110., ii. V. ii. 823, 824. ■ Abbrev. Rot. Orfg. i. 181. Lfl Neve, 8 'J. 183. 254 JOHN DE FOXLE. Edw. II. shillings in Northumberland, for marrying Beatrice, the widow of William the Coroner.1 He and Walter de Camb- hou were appointed justices itinerant in Tindale, in that county, in 21 Edward I.2; and assizes taken before him and Geoffrey de Hertelpool in Cumberland, in the same reign, are referred to in 2 Edward II.3 He is again men- tioned in 35 Edw. I. as the last of eight persons commissioned by the king at the parliament then held at Carlisle, to convey to William Testa, the pope's clerk, the royal permission to act in the kingdom as his predecessors had done.4 There is little doubt that he continued to act as a justice of assize under Edward II., being named in several coin- missions till the seventh year of that reign, and being com- manded, as was usual at intervals, to return the proceedings before him into the Exchequer to be estreated. His name occurs as late as 10 Edward II., as empowered to raise men in Durham and Stockton.5 FOXLE, JOHN DE. B. E. 1309. The custody of the temporalities of the vacant abbey of Westminster was committed to John de Foxle in the first year of the reign of Edward II. On February 28, 1309, in the second year, he was constituted a baron of the Exchequer in the room of Roger de Hegham, deceased. Besides per- forming the duties of that court, he was frequently named in commissions, and appointed to take inquests by the parlia- ment, and called upon to act as a justice of assize and of oyer and terminer in the provinces ; and also in the perambula- tions of the forests. Although it would appear that he re- signed at the beginning of 16 Edward II., as Roger Beler 1 Excerpt, e Rot. Fin. ii. 278. 2 Dugdale's Chron. Series. 3 Abbrev. Placit. 307. 309. 4 Rot. Pari. i. 210. 5 Pari. Writs, ii. P. ii. 849. 1307—1327. JOHN FRAUNCEYS. 255 was put in his place on July 20, 1322, yet in the following year he was employed in a judicial character in the counties of Oxford and Berks. He died in 18 Edward II., possessed of considerable pro- perty in the counties of Hants, Berks, and Buckingham, part of which was granted to him by the king. Among other proofs of the royal favour, the manor of Ryndecombe, in Gloucestershire, and lands and tenements in Estbruggeford, Notts, and in Saxeby, Leicestershire, were committed to his charge ; but on one occasion he was fined one mark, because he and his wife Constancia had taken possession of certain land in Berkshire without the king's license.1 FRAUNCEYS, JOHN. ? Keeper, 1310. John le Fraunceys, the baron of the Exchequer and justice in the reign of Henry III., was probably the uncle of Master John Fraunceys, the subject of our present inquiry, (the intervening article in the name being then not unfrequently omitted,) if he wTere the same party who is called John, the son of William le Fraunceys, who, in 22 Edward L, was engnged in a suit relative to land in Meburn2, a manor which had belonged to the baron of the Exchequer. The various and discordant circumstances, however, mentioned in the entries connected with the name in the reism of Edward I. o will give some idea of the difficulty in tracing any individual to whom it belonged. In the parliament of 18 Edward I., when Thomas de Weyland, the chief justice, was disgraced, there is a petition from one John Fraunceys, who had been imprisoned for a 1 Madox's Exch. i. 314., ii. GO. ; Pari. Writs, ii. 891 . ; Dugdale j Rot. Pari. i. 298. 300—345. ; Cal. Inquis. p. m., i. 318. ; Abbrev. Rot. Orig. i. 199 232. 239. 283. 1 Abbrev. Rot. Orig. i. 85. 256 JOHN FRAUNCEYS. Edw. II. year and a half in the Fleet by that judge, for a debt which Agnes de Valence claimed from him ; and he was ordered to be bailed. In the same parliament there is a petition which charges John Frauncies with a murder, for which he had been acquitted, and a new trial is prayed for by reason of his kindred and his confederates having tried the appeal.1 In the last year of the same king, 35 Edward I., 1306, a John Fraunceys represents that he was taken in the battle of Rosslyn, had lost his horses, arms, and everything he had, and was detained in a Scotch prison for fifty-seven weeks, and only released on payment of a fine of forty marks; and he therefore prays for the grant of certain land in Staffordshire; the particulars of which are ordered to be reported to the king. And in the same parliament held at Carlisle, Master John Fraunceys, Rector of Queldryk, is one of the proctors sent by the clergy of the diocese of York.2 The last of these was probably the subject of the present notice ; as the duty to which he was appointed was commonly performed by some officer in the court. Master John Fraun- ceys was a clerk in the Chancery, and, on May 12, 1310, 3 Edward II., on the Great Seal being surrendered by the chancellor, John de Langton, Bishop of Chichester, was one of the three persons under whose seals it was placed in the wardrobe3 ; a proceeding which scarcely warrants his being included in the list of keepers. He wras among the " dilecti clerici," to whom, with others, the correction of the ordinances was submitted by the king in 5 Edward II.4; and he was summoned among the legal men to parliament in the two following years, after which his name does not appear. 1 Rot. Pari. i. 47. 49. 2 Ibid. i. 191. 193. 3 Rot. Claus. 3 Edw. II., m. 6. 4 Rot. Pari. i. 447. 5 Pail. Writs, ii. P. ii. 893. 1307— 1327. WALTER DE GLOUCESTER. 2,57 FRISKENEY, WALTER DE. a E. 1320. Just. C. P. 1323. ? Just. K. B. 1324. See under the Reign of Edward III. FULBURN, WILLIAM DE. B. E. 1323. See under the Reign of Edward III. GLOUCESTER, WALTER DE. Just. Itin. 1310. B. E. 1311. Master Walter de Gloucester, in a grant of lands in Lysenden in Gloucestershire, made to him in 16 Edward I., is called the son of Simon Lymereth.1 He was evidently an officer of the Exchequer; and in 22 Edward I. was entrusted with the sheriffalty of Dorset and Somerset, which he held for five years.'2 He then was appointed by the treasurer and barons to visit the sea-ports to inquire into the conceal- ment of the king's customs on wool, &c.3 At this period he was one of the canons of Beverley.4 He was next named, 28 Edward I., among the perambulators of the forests in Hants and Wilts; and about the same time was selected as one of the king's escheators, acting in the north till the end of that reign, and in the south forthe first four years of the following. In 33 Edward I., he assisted in tallaging Kent ; and two years afterwards he was a commissioner of array in Glamorgan, and paymaster of the levies there.5 During the early years of the reign of Edward II., he was summoned to parliament among the judges, and was engaged no doubt as escheator in various judicial commissions, lie was, however, regularly constituted one of the three justices <>i' 1 Abbrev. Placit. 214. ■ Fuller's Worthies. 3 Madox's Exch. i. 784., ii. 169. ' Rot. Pari. i. 462. 5 Pari. Writs, i. 636.; Abbrev. Rot. Orig. i. 103—178. ; Madox, i. 7-10. VOL. III. S 2.53 WILLIAM DE GOLDINGTON. Edw. II. assize for Gloucestershire and four other counties, in Decem- ber, 1310, 4 Edward II.1 Dugdale does not notice him as a baron of the Exchequer, although there is no doubt that he was so, being designated by that title in two writs, directing him to confer with Nicholas de Segrave ; and in the letters patent constituting Walter de Norwich a baron in his place. The patent of his own appointment has not been discovered, but it must have been between June 16 and July 5, 1311, the former being the date of his last summons to parliament, where he is evidently placed among the justices of assize, and the latter being that of the writ to Nicholas de Segrave. He held his rank for little more than six weeks ; for his death is recorded in Walter de Norwich's patent, which is dated on August 29. 2 He died in possession of considerable property at Chertsey and South wark in Surrey, and also in the counties of Lincoln, Worcester, and Gloucester. By his wife Hawise he had a son Walter, who died in 16 Edward II.3 GOLDINGTON, WILLIAM DE. Just. Itin. 1310. There were at this time several families of this name. That of Sir William Goldington was established in Essex, where he held the manors of Raurethe, Badewe Parva, and Ringgers in Tirling, besides many broad lands ; and acted in several judicial commissions for that county. He is mentioned in the Year Book as an advocate in the early part of the reign of Edward II., in the fourth year of which he was appointed one of the three justices of assize for Kent, Sussex, and Surrey. He continued to serve for several years in those and other counties, and was regularly summoned to parliament in Dugdale's Chron. Series. Cal. IiHjuis. p. in... i. 247. 305. Pari. Writs, ii. 929. 1307—1327. HENRY DE GULDEFORD. 259 virtue of his office till the eleventh year. He died in 12 Edward II., and his executors were called upon to return his proceedings as a justice of assize into the Exchequer. He left a son named John, who was also a knight, and who was an adherent of the Earl of Lancaster and the other barons in rebellion. l GULDEFORD, HENRY DE. Jist. Itin. 1307. See under the Reign of Edward I. The family of Guldeford was settled at Hempsted in Kent ; and Henry de Guldeford obtained a license from the king to let for his life one hundred acres of land which he held in enpite.2 In 26 Edward I. he was appointed to perambulate the forests of the northern counties, receiving six shillings a day for his expenses ; and two years afterwards was as- signed to perform the same duties in the counties of Salop, Stafford, and Derby. He next appears at the head of the justices itinerant sent to visit the Isle of Jersey, a writ dated in 32 Edward I. being addressed to him to make a certain return as to a manor there seized into the king's hands.3 During the whole of this time he was summoned among the justices to parliament.4 In November, 1305, 33 Edward I., he was constituted one of the judges of the Court of Common Pleas ; and the fines levied before him began in 15 days of St. Martin in the same year; but for some cause or other were not extended beyond that period.5 It seems probable, as he is only mentioned subsequently as a justice itinerant, and in commissions for taking assizes, and as he was certainly not re-appointed under Edward II., that 1 Pari. Writs, ii. P. ii. 934. J Cal. Inquis. p. in., i. 292. J Dllgdftle. - Rot. Pari, i. 130. 3 Ibid. 180. 491. * Pari. Writs, i. 650. ■ Dugdale's Orig, II. 8 2 260 ROGER DE HEGHAM. Edw. II. he was soon removed from the Common Pleas, and that Hervey de Staunton was placed there in his stead. In the fourth year of Edward II., he was employed to take assizes for Kent, Surrey, and Sussex, and as a justice itinerant into Durham.1 He died in the early part of 6 Edward II., his last summons to parliament being dated on July 8, 1312, the first day of that regnal year. He was possessed of considerable estates in Sussex, Surrey, and Kent2; and several of his descendants were sheriffs of the latter county, one of whom entertained Queen Elizabeth at his manor-house. Robert, the last of the name, was made a baronet in 1685 by King James II. ; but leaving no issue, the title became extinct at his death.3 HEGHAM, ROGER DE. B. E. 1307. See under the Reign of Edward I. Roger de Hegiiam was of a Kentish family : and probably the son of Robert de Hegham, whose widow, Matilda, paid for an assize in that county in 56 Henry III., 1272.4 Brought up to the law, we find him in 21 Edward I. acting on the part of the king on a quo warranto at York.5 In 25 and 26 Edward I. he assessed the tallage of London 6 ; and in the latter year he was appointed to perambulate the forests of five counties, for which he was paid at the rate of six shillings a-day.7 At the end of the same year he is men- tioned on the records as a baron of the Exchequer8, although Dugdale does not introduce him into his list till two years afterwards. In 33 Edward I. he was one of those assigned 1 Dugdale's Chron. Series. 2 Cal. Inquis. p. no., i. 252. ; Pari. Writs, ii. 960. 3 Burke's Extinct Baronetage. 5 Arch. Inst. York, Holy Trin. 154. 7 Pari. Writs, i. 397. 4 Excerpt, e Rot. Fin. ii. 571. 6 Madox's Exch. ii. 2:15. 8 Madox's Exch. i. 467. 1307—1327. RALPH DE IIENGHAM. 261 to treat with the Scottish representatives concerning the government of the land ; and it was in the same year that lie received in full Exchequer the gross insult from William de Brewes, which has been already described.1 Besides perform- ing his duties as a baron, he acted in the last year of that reign as a justice of assize in Durham, and was one of the justices of Trailbaston for the home counties.2 On the accession of Edward II., he was re-appointed to his seat in the Exchequer, which, however, he did not long retain, as he died about the middle of the second year, viz. between January 8, 1309, the date of the last writ sum- moning him to a council, and February 28 following, when his death is mentioned in the patent of John de Foxle, his successor. His son, of the same name, was elected knight of the shire for Kent in the parliaments of 16 and 17 Edward II.3 HENGHAM, RALPH DE, Chancellor of Exeter. Ch. Just. C. P. 1307. See under the Reigns of Henry III. and Edward I. Ralph de Hen g ham was the son of Sir Andrew de Ilengham, of a knightly family, seated at St. Andrew's manor at Henghani in Norfolk.4 He was brought up to the then commonly united professions of the church and the law ; in the former of which he held a canonry in St. Paul's and the chancellorship of Exeter. He was collated to the latter on October 19, 1275; but resigned it within three years and a half. 5 Of his history as a lawyer, I find no mention till January, 1270, 54 Henry III., when the payment for assizes to be 1 See ante, p. 43. ; Abbrev. Placit. 256. Rot Pail. i. 198. 218. 267. ■ Pari. Writs, ii. P. ii. 991, 1 Blotnefield'a Norfolk, i. 679. 5 Le Nere, 89. s 8 262 RALPH DE HENGHAM. Edw. II. held before him commence. This was probably the date of his appointment as a justice of the King's Bench, for which an annual salary of 40/. was assigned to him in the following year. These entries of assizes before him are very numerous ; and the rapidity with which he established his reputation in the court is evinced by his standing at the head of the circuits in which he was employed during the next two years till the end of the reign.1 That, on the accession of Edward I., he was immediately removed to the Common Pleas, appears from a fine having been levied before him in November, 1272 ; and that his con- tinuance in that court did not extend much beyond a year, is sufficiently evident from the absence of any fine on which his name is inserted after the following November in the second year.2 Although no record exists of his appointment as chief justice of the King's Bench, and Dugdale does not name him in that character till 6 Edward I., an entry of Pleas "coram Domino liege et R. de Ilengham et sociis suis, justiciis de Banco Domini Regis in Octabis S. Michaelis anno regno &c. secundo, incipiente tercio, apud Westm.,"3 is positive evidence that he was then at the head of the King's Bench ; so that the date of his elevation must have been between November, 1273, and September, 1274. His salary was sixty marks per annum. No circumstance worthy of note in his career occurs till 18 Edward I., when he was certainly removed from his office and fined. What was the precise charge against him is nowhere recorded, and the amount of the fine is variously stated. It has been generally fixed at 7000 marks : but the complaints against him in the next parliament were palpably too slight to warrant such a punishment, and probably were merely made by those mean spirits who are too ready to press 1 Excerpt, e Rot. Fin. ii. 504 — 584. ; Dugdale's Chron. Series. 2 Dugdale's Orig. 44. 3 Abbrev. Placit. 263. 1307—1327. RALPH DE IIKNGI1AM. 263 a falling man. One was, that the chief justice had confirmed a false judgment pronounced by Solomon de Rochester, the justice itinerant; and another, that a man had been arbitrarily imprisoned by him.1 There is much more probability that the fine did not exceed 800 marks, according to the tradition in the reign of Richard III., which attributed its imposition to Hengham's pity for a poor man having induced him to erase from the Roll a fine of 13s. 4cL, and substitute 6s. 8d. for it. The story went on to assert that with this fine the clock- house at Westminster was erected, and a clock placed in it which could be heard in the Hall.2 This tradition was re- ferred to by Justice Southcote, in the time of Queen Eliza- beth ; and by Chief Justice Holt in that of William III., when those judges were urged to alter a record.3 That Hengham's offence could not have been a very grievous one, is sufficiently proved by his restoration to the Bench at a later date. His retirement, however, was of ten years' continuance, and his return seems to have been gradual. His name is in- troduced nearly at the bottom of the list of judges and other officers who were summoned to the parliament of March, 1300, 28 Edward I., as if among the justices itinerant. In the following April he was the first named of those appointed to perambulate the forests of Essex, Buckingham, and Oxford4 ; and it was not till eighteen months afterwards, viz. on September 14, 1301, 29 Edward I., that he was restored to the Bench. He was not then replaced in his old court ; but a vacancy having arisen by the death of John de Meting- ham, he was constituted chief justice of the Common Pleas. ' In this office he continued till the end of the reign, and was re-appointed by Edward II. He served that king for a very 1 Rot. Pail. i. 48. 52. ■ 4 Inst. 255. 3 Westminster Hall, i. ' Pari. Writs, i. 664. 5 Dugdale'a Chron. Series. 264 GEOFFREY DE HERTELPOLE. Edw. II. short time; his last summons to parliament being dated March 4, 1309, 2 Edward II.1; and his death occurring a few days after, as his successor, William de Bereford, was appointed on March 15. He was buried in St. Paul's Cathedral, and Weever (p. 367.) gives his epitaph, in which he is called " Flos Anglorum " and " vir benedictus." His manor of St. Andrew's in Hengham he granted to his two brothers, Robert and William, in succession. Some of his decisions may be seen in the Year Book of Edward II. Besides the " Registrant Brevium," which Coke calls " the most ancient book of the law," he left two works of note, called Hengham Magna and Hengham Parva, which have been published with notes by Mr. Selden, and are printed at the end of his edition of Fortescue de Lau- dibus Anglias, 1741. HERLASTON, WILLIAM DE. ? Keeper, 1321. See under the Reign of Edward III. HERLE, WILLIAM DE. Just. C. P. 1320. See under the Reign of Edward III. HERTELPOLE, GEOFFREY DE. Just. Itin. 1307. See under the Reign of Edward T. Geoffrey de Hertelpole was an advocate in the courts of Westminster, and his name appears in that character in the Year Book of Edward II. There are two entries among the pleas showing that he acted with Thomas de Fisheburne as a justice of assize at Newcastle in the reign of Edward I., 1 Pari. Writs, ii. 995. 1307—1327. WILLIAM HOWARD. 265 iii the thirty-fifth year of which he was also joined with John de Insula and Hugh de Louther, in a commission to punish the soldiers raised in Westmoreland and Cumberland who had absented themselves from the army. In the same year also two petitions presented to the parliament, were referred to him and others to inquire into. In 34 Edward I. the king granted to him the manor of Kenweston in Durham for his services. He was summoned to the coronation of Edward II., and continued during that reign to act as a justice of assize ; attending the parliament among his brethren as late as the nineteenth year. He had a lawsuit relative to his manor of Brereton in Northumberland, which seems to have lasted several years.1 HOTIIAM, JOHN DE, Bishop of Ely. Chanc. 1318. See under the Reign of Edward HI. HOWARD, WILLIAM. Just. C. P. 1307. See under the Reign of Edward I. The parentage of William Howard, or, as his name was more frequently spelled, Haward, the ancestor of the Dukes of Norfolk, is involved in some obscurity. Neither Dugdale nor Sir Egerton Brydges states it, both making him the stirps of the family.2 Henry Howard of Corby Castle, however, in his Memorials, makes him the grandson of Robert Howard of Terrington and Wiggenhall, near Lynn in Norfolk, living in 12 Henry III., and son of John Howard, living in 1 Abbrev. Placit. 306—309.; Pari. Writs, i. 379., ii. P. ii. 1003.; Rot. Pari. i. 194. 201. 295. 449. ; Cal. Rot. Pat. 65. 2 Dugdale's Baronage, ii. 265. ; Brydges' Collins' Peerage, i. 52. 266 WILLIAM HOWARD. Edw. II. 45 Henry III., and Lucy Germund, his wife.1 The pedi- gree contained in the Arundel MS. in the British Museum, No. 512. fol. 456., and in the handwriting of Camden, states the grandfather to have been William de Wiggenhall, the son of Alanus, with whom it commences.2 They were, Henry Howard adds, " what we should call private gentle- men of small estate, probably of Saxon origin, living at home, intermarrying with their neighbours, and witnessing each other's deeds of conveyance and contracts." That William Howard's property was of some considerable extent in Norfolk has been presumed from his being nomi- nated one of the commissioners of sewers for the repair of the banks and drains in that part of the county where his estate was situate3; but as this occurred in 22 Edward I., the appointment more probably arose from his having already attained sufficient eminence in his profession to be selected as one of the eight special justices who were assigned in 21 Ed- ward I., 1293, to take assizes throughout the realm, in aid of the judges of both benches, and of the justices itinerant. The district to which he was assigned comprehended the northern counties.4 Whatever was the extent, however, of his patri- monial possessions, he gradually augmented them by pur- chases in Wiggenhall, East Winch, and other neighbouring townships.5 In his character of justice of assize he was summoned to the parliament of August, 1295. On October 11, 1297, 25 Edward I., he was constituted one of the judges of the Common Pleas, and took the oath to be faithful in the office in the Exchequer, before the chancellor and the barons of that court.6 Both in 33 and 35 Edward L, he was one of 1 Henry Howard's Memorials of the Howard Family (1834), App. xl. 2 Ellis's Letters of Eminent Men (Camden Soc), p. 115. 3 Dugdale, and Brydges. 4 Dugdale's Chron. Series. 5 Memorials, ut supra. G Madox's Excli. ii. 91. 1307—1327. WILLIAM HOWARD. 267 the judges named in commissions of Trailbaston ; the latter being the last year of King Edward's reign.1 On the accession of Edward II. he was re-appointed, and sat in the court during the whole of the first and part of the second year of that reign. Dugdale states that the last fine levied before him was on the morrow of St. John the Baptist, 2 Edward I., which I take to be the decollation of that saint, August 29, 1308, and not his nativity, June 25, 1309, because the patent of Howard's successor, Henry le Scrope, was dated November 20, 1308. Howard is described as chief justice of England on a window in the church of Long Mel ford in Suffolk, where he is portrayed in his judge's robes ; but as this was not erected till about the reign of Edward IV. or of Henry VII.2, and therefore nearly two hundred years after his death, it cannot be accepted as autho- rity for a fact of which no other evidence appears. He had two wives, both of whom were named Alice. The first was a daughter of Sir Robert Ufford, the ancestor of the family which acquired the earldom of Suffolk. The second was the daughter of Sir Edmund de Fitton of Fitton in Wiffffenhall, St. Germain's, which she afterwards inherited. She and her husband resided at East Winch, near Lynn, where he built a chapel, adjoining the church, in which he wras probably buried. The first marriage produced no issue ; but by the second he left two sons, Sir John and Sir William. Sir Robert, the lineal descendant of this Sir John in the fifth generation, married Margaret, the daughter of Thomas Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk, who ultimately became coheir of John Mowbray, the fourth duke. Their son John Howard was summoned to parliament as Baron Howard by Edward IV. in 1470, and was created Earl Marshal and Duke of Norfolk by 1 Rot. Pari. i. 178. 218. ■ Dugdnle's Orig. 44. 99. 268 WILLIAM INGE. Edw. II. Richard TIL in 1485; and is Shakspeare's "Jockey of Norfolk." Not only does this, the premier dukedom, remain in the family ; but in the present house of peers, the earldoms of Suffolk and Berkshire, of Carlisle and of Effingham, and the barony of Howard of Walden, are represented by descendants from the same parentage. Besides these, several other peer- ages which have now become extinct flourished during various periods : the viscounty of Bindon from 1559 to 1619; the earl- dom of Nottingham from 1597 to 1681 ; the earldom of Nor- thampton from 1604 to 1614; the barony of Howard of Escrick from 1628 to 1714; the earldom of Norwich from 1672 to 1777 ; the earldom of Stafford from 1688 to 1762; the earldom of Bindon from 1706 to 1722. l INGE, WILLIAM. Just. Itin. 1307. Just. C. P. 1314. Ch. K. B. 1316. See under the Reign of Edward I. William Inge was an advocate of great eminence in his profession, and is mentioned by Dugdale as the king's attorney as early as 15 Edward L, 1287, being then retained to prosecute and defend for the king at a salary of 20Z. a year.- He appears in that character on several occasions in the parliaments of 18 and 20 Edward I. 3 ; and in the latter year is noticed as the king's Serjeant at law. During that period, however, he was not summoned to assist in parlia- ment. In 21 Edward I., 1293, he was one of the eight who were assigned as justices to take assizes, &c. throughout the kingdom in aid of the regular judges, his companion being Adam de Crokedayk, and his division Lincolnshire and nine 1 Memorials, ut supra ; Nicolas's Synopsis. a Issue Roll, iii. 101. 3 Rot. Pari. i. 24. 28. 38. 83. 85. 1307—1327. WILLIAM INGE. 269 other counties. He continued in that office till the end of the reign ; numerous instances occurring in the Rolls of parliament, and in other places, proving that he was so employed.1 In 28 Edward I. he was appointed to peram- bulate the forests of Gloucestershire and the neighbouring counties; and on April 6, 1305, 33 Edward I., he was the second of five justices of Trailbaston named for Norfolk and Suffolk ; being also placed at the head of the same number in a similar commission in February, 1307.2 From the time of his entering on the duties of a justice of assize, he was regularly summoned among the judges to parliament.3 The accession of Edward II. made no alteration in his position, except that he seems to have been more closely in connection with the king as one of his council4, and em- ployed in various negotiations. Until his elevation to the bench, his name appears among the advocates recorded in the Year Book, showing that notwithstanding his employ- ment as a justice of assize, he did not desert his practice at Westminster. The patent of his appointment as a judge of the Court of Common Pleas was dated September 28, 1314, 8 Edward II. ; but it is somewhat curious that the first fine mentioned by Dugdale as levied before him, is in Hilary, 1313, 6 Edward II.5; the date, however, has probably been misread or miscopied : the last fine was in July, 1315. In the previous January, while merely a justice of the Common Pleas, he opened, by the king's directions, the parliament then held at Lincoln.6 On the resignation of Roger le Brabazon as chief justice of the King's Bench, which took place on February 23, 1316, 9 Edward II., AYilliam Inge succeeded. The date of his 1 Rot. Pat. i 150. 159. 161. 1G8. 189. 206. ; Abbrev. Rot. Orig. i. 92. 96. 139. 2 Rot. Pari. i. 218. ; N. Feeders, i. 970. 3 Pari. Writs, i 1 Madox'l Exch. ii. :SO. 57. 6 Dugdalo's Orig. 44. e Rot. Pari. i. 350. 270 JOHN DE INSULA. Edw. II. patent is not given, but that appointing his successor in the Common Pleas is dated March 10 ; and in the following August he is mentioned as chief justice of the King's Bench. He presided over this court for little more than a year, for on June 15, 1317, 10 Edward II., he was displaced by Henry le Scrope. I am not aware of the cause of his re- moval ; but the terms of the instrument directing him to deliver up the proceedings to his successor, indicate no displeasure. By his return in 9 Edward II., and by the inquisition taken after his death, it appears that he had large possessions in the counties of Bedford, Dorset, Kent, Oxford, Hants, Surrey, Sussex, Essex, Herts, and Suffolk. A complaint was made against him to the parliament of 8 Edward II., for purchasing the manor of Woodmerston in Surrey, pending a writ. Part of his Kentish property, the manor of Stanstead, subordinate to Wrotham (near which he had also the manor of Ightham), he obtained by his marriage with Margery, one of the daughters of Henry Grapinell. He died in 15 Edward II., 1321-2, leaving a daughter named Joane, who became the wife of Eudo or Ivo la Zouche.1 INSULA, JOHN DE. Just. Itin. 1307. B. E. 1313. See under the Reign of Edward I. Some doubt has arisen whether this John de Insula, or De L'Isle, was the individual who is recorded by Dugdale as holding considerable possessions in the Isle of Wight, and engaged with the king in the Scottish wars2, or whether there was not another of the same name wholly employed in legal occupations. The fact, that two of this name are 1 Pari. Writs, ii. 1039. ; Cal. Inquis. p. m., i. 299. ; Hasted's Kent, v. 3. 55. 2 Dugdale's Baronage, i. 739. 1307—1327. JOHN DE INSULA. 271 entered in the list of those summoned to the parliament at Carlisle in the octaves of Hilary, 35 Edward L, 1307 l, one as a baron, and the other apparently as one of the judges or learned persons in the law, seems to decide the question. It is certain that this John de Insula was an advocate in the courts; and as early as 18 Edward I., 1290, was heard before the parliament on the part of the king in two suits there discussed. Two years afterwards he was amerced in 100 shillings for some contempt before the justices of assize2; but in 21 Edward I. was himself appointed to act in that character in nine counties.3 On Oct. 21, 1295, 23 Edw. I., he was admitted as one of the barons of the Exchequer; and is so mentioned in Madox's list, in the thirty-first year.4 In 33 and 35 Edward I. he was one of the justices of Trail- baston5; but whether he preserved his seat in the Exchequer at the same time does not appear. He was not, however, numbered among those barons who received patents on the accession of Edward II., though he was still regularly sum- moned with the judges to parliament, and in the fourth year of that reign was placed at the head of the justices of assize in the northern counties. He resumed his seat in the Exchequer, by a patent dated January 30, 1313, 6 Ed- ward II., and is frequently noticed in that character, and also as acting on different circuits till the twelfth year. Soon after this he died, for his executors were commanded by writ, dated June 5, 1320, 13 Edward II., to cause all pro- ceedings before him as a justice of assize or otherwise to be estreated into the Exchequer/5 1 Rot Pari. i. 188, 189. 2 Ibid. 18. 28. 33. 83. 8 Dugdale's Cliron. Series. 4 Year Book, Part I. 36. ; Madox's Exch. i. 323., ii. 44. 56. 292. 304. 324. 3 Rot. Pari. i. 178. 218. fi Pari. Writs, ii. 1104. ; Rot. Pari. i. 301—350. ; Abbrev. Rot. Orig. 223. 272 JOHN DE LANGTON. Edw. II. LANGTON, JOHN DE, Treasurer of Wells, Arch- deacon of Canterbury, Bishop of Chichester. Chanc. 1307. See under the Reign of Edward I. Of the parentage of John de Langton, or of the place of his nativity, nothing is known; nor whether he was connected with the family of Stephen Langton, Archbishop of Canter- bury in 1193, or with that of his own contemporary, Walter de Langton, Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry. It may, however, be presumed, that his relationship to the latter was not very close, as his second elevation to the chancellorship, at the commencement of the reign of Edward II., took place at the very time when Bishop Walter was most violently per- secuted ; the proceedings against the one, and the advance of the other, being apparently instigated by the influence of the same individual, Peter de Gaveston. John de Langton was a clerk in the Chancery, and is the first person to whom the title of master or keeper of the Rolls can be distinctly traced. In a patent of 14 Edward I., 1286, quoted by Mr. Hardy, he is called " Custos Rotulorum Cancellarias domini Regis," a duty which then, probably, de- volved on the senior clerk of the Chancery ; as even in the present day that officer is still considered as the head of the masters of that court. A confirmation of his occupying the post appears in a memorandum in the parliament of 18 Ed- ward I., 1290, that the transcript of letters sent to the court of Rome was delivered to him in the Chancery to be en- rolled.1 Like his brethren in that department, he was an ecclesiastic, and held, among other preferments, canonries in the churches of Chichester, Lincoln, and York, and the treasurership of Wells.2 1 Rot. Pari. i. 25. 2 Chapter Book, Chichester Cath. MS. 1307—1327. JOnN DE LANGTON. 273 Within two months after the death of Robert Burnel, Bishop of Bath and Wells, John de Langton was appointed to succeed him as chancellor ; and the Great Seal was de- livered to him at Tuggehale, on December 17, 1292, 21 Ed- ward I.1 From a memorandum of words spoken in full chapter at Bath, it would seem that "William de Hamilton, who had been performing the duties of the Chancery in the interim, had been expected to be raised to the place, and that John de Langton was not desirous of the elevation, as it was said that he was "chauncelir wolleye nulleye." This, however, may have been only the tattle of the day : but there are still extant several letters of congratulation, from abbots, priors, and others, addressed to him on the occasion ; some of them accompanied, as was too common at the time, with ap- plications for patronage and favour.2 Langton continued the prudent and sagacious course pursued by Burnel, his prede- cessor ; and witnessed, during his ministry, the triumph of his sovereign's arms in Scotland, and the resignation of that kingdom by Baliol. An event much more important in its consequences, also occurred while he held the Seal; viz., the enactment of the statute called " Articuli super Cartas," 28 Edward I., 1300, by which the great Charter was fully confirmed, and regulations made to prevent any future en- croachments on its provisions. On the death of William de Luda, Bishop of Ely, in 1298, a contest arose between the monks of that abbey, one party electing their prior, and the other John de Langton, to fill the vacancy. The king gave his assent to the latter choice; but the pope, t<» whom the two candidates hastened to submit their pretensions, superseded both, and placed another in the seat.3 To conciliate all parties, however, the cunning pontiff 1 the prior to the bishoprick of Norwich, and gave the 1 Chins. 21 V.dw. I., m. 10. * Seventh Uep., Pub. Kec, App,i ii. 243. * Godwin de l'r.isnl VOL. III. T 274 JOHN DE LANGTON. Edw. II. archdeaconry of Canterbury, then a very valuable prefer- ment, to John de Langton. This appointment took place in 1299. During his absence at Rome, his official duties were per- formed by William de Hamilton, that is to say, from Fe- bruary 20 to June 16, 1299, when he returned.2 He re- signed the chancellorship on August 12, 1302, 30 Edward I., for what cause has not been stated ; and after a lapse of seven weeks he was succeeded by William de Greenfield, Dean of Chichester.3 In May, 1305, 33 Edward I., Langton was raised to the bishoprick of Chichester, and was consecrated on September 19 in the same year. Soon after the accession of Edward IT., he was again ap- pointed chancellor. Although the precise date is not given, his nomination probably took place immediately after Ralph de Baldock, Bishop of London, the late chancellor, had deposited the Great Seal in the king's hands, on August 2, 1307. It is certain he was in full possession of the office in the following January, for on the 21st of that month he delivered up the Great Seal to the king, who was then proceeding to Boulogne to celebrate his nuptials with the French princess, Isabel; and received another to be used during the king's absence, which lasted only till February 7.4 He continued chancellor till May 11, 1310, 3 Edward II., when he resigned the Seal.3 Though this was shortly after the appointment of the lords ordainers, of whom indeed he himself was one, there is nothing to show that his retire- ment was occasioned by their proceedings. He presided over his diocese during the remainder of the troubled reign of Edward II., and for the first ten years of that of his successor; dying June 17, or July 19, 1337. He 1 Le Neve, 12. 2 Claus. 27 Edw. I., m. 11. 13. 3 Ibid. 30 Edw. I., m. 8. * Ibid. 1 Edw. II., m. 11. 5 Ibid. 3 Edw. II., m. 6. 1307—1327. HUGH DE LOUTHER. 275 was resolute in the performance of his ecclesiastical functions. Having excommunicated Earl Warren for adultery, that nobleman came with his retainers to lay violent hands on him ; but the bishop, aided by his servants, succeeded in resisting their attempt, and threw the earl and all his party into prison. He was very bountiful to his see ; and in the university of Oxford he founded a chest, still called by his name, out of which any poor graduate might, on proper security, borrow a small sum for his immediate necessities.1 LICHFIELD AND COVENTRY, Bishop of. See R. DE NORTHBURGH. , LICHFIELD, Treasurer of. See J. de Sandale. LONDON, Bishop of. See Ralph de Baldock. LONDON, Deans of. See Ralph de Baldock, ? J. de Sandale, J. de Everdon. . LOUTHER, HUGH DE. Just. Itin. 1307. See under the Reign of Edward I. Hugh de Lotjtiier was descended from a long line of ancestors, settled at Louther in Westmoreland* His father was of the same name, and his mother was a daughter of Moriceby, of Moriceby in Cumberland. He practised as an advocate, and had acquired sufficient celebrity in 19 Ed- ward I., 1291, to be employed by the king; receiving for his fee 10/. for his services in Easter, and a similar sum in Michaelmas term in that year.2 In the next year also, he was employed in the king's business in Shropshire. Dugdale on tills account represents him as the king's attorney-general'1 ; 1 Godwin de Prcesul. 506. ; Chapter Hooks, Chichester. ■ Devon's Issue Roll, 102. 3 Dugdale's Chron. Sn\ T 2 276 HUGH DE LOUTIIER. Edw. II. but it is to be remarked that Richard de Breteville and William Inge in those years acted in the same manner in other counties ; and there is no proof that the office then existed as a separate appointment. In the second commission of justices of Trailbaston, issued on Feb. 18, 1307, 35 Edward L, Louther was named among five to act in Norfolk and Suffolk ; and in the same year he was assigned with John de Insula to inquire into a case which was brought by petition before the parliament, ac- cording to the course then usually adopted, of referring these investigations to judges and learned men in the law. Some other instances occur in the second and eighth years of Ed- ward II., in the latter of which he acted as a justice itinerant in Yorkshire.1 He was returned a knight for the county of Westmoreland in 33 Edward I., and was one of the supervisors of the array for that county in 4 Edward II.2 He died in the tenth year of the latter reign ; and by his wife, who was a daughter of Sir Peter de Filiol, of Scaleby Castle in Cumberland, he left two sons, Hugh and Thomas. The latter will be mentioned as a judge of the King's Bench in the reign of Edward III. From the eldest son Hugh, the succession continued in lineal descent for more than three hundred years; when William III., in 1696, raised Sir John Lowther, the then representative of the family, to the peerage as Viscount Lonsdale and Baron Lowther ; titles, however, which be- came extinct in 1750, after the death of his two sons, Richard and Henry, without issue. During the life of the latter, there were no less than four baronets of the family alive at the same time. In 1784, James, the grandson of the first lord's uncle, was ennobled by George III. with the titles of Baron Lowther, J Rot. Pari. i. 209. 218, 219. 280. 341. 2 Pari. Writs, i. 714., ii. 1118. 1307—1327. ROBERT DE MADDINGLEY. 277 of Lowther, Kendal, and Burgh, Viscount of Lonsdale and of Lowther, and Earl of Lonsdale, but having no children, he obtained a new creation in 1797, of Baron and Viscount Lowther of Whitehaven, with a collateral remainder to the heirs male of his cousin, the late Rev. Sir William Lowther of Swillington, Baronet, who was a descendant of the third son of the great-grandfather of the first Viscount Lonsdale. On the earl's death in 1802, the latter titles only devolved on Sir William's son, who in 1807 received the additional dignity of Earl of Lonsdale, now borne by his successor.1 MADDINGLEY, ROBERT DE, Just. Itin. 1314. Maddingley is a parish in Cambridgeshire ; and Thomas de Maddingley, whom I conceive to have been the father of Robert de Maddingley, was returned as burgess for Cam- bridge to the parliaments of 26, 29, 30, and 33 Edward I. Robert was one of the assessors of the tallage of that and three neighbouring counties in 6 Edward IL, and was in several judicial commissions in that locality about the same period. In 8 Edward IL, September 12, 1314, he was one of the justices of assize in Norfolk and Suffolk, William de Ormesby being the other ; and he continued to perform the same functions in these and other counties till April, 1321, 14 Edward IL, when, on account of his infirmity, John de Bousser was appointed in his place in a commission for Bedford and Bucks. His death is recorded in the patent confirming Bousser's appointment, dated May 8 following. 2 MALBERTIIORP, ROBERT DE. Just. K. B. 1320. See under the Reign of Edward III. Brydges' Collins's Peerage, 695 — 716. ; Nicolas's Synopsis. Pari. Writs, i. 720., i. P. ii. 1129. ; Rot. Pari. i. 374. 448. 450. T 3 278 PETER MALLOBE. Edw. II. MALLORE, PETER. Just. C. P. 1307. See under the Reign of Edward I. Peter Mallore was probably a descendant of Glslebert Mallore, one of the Conqueror's followers, and of Anchetil Mallore, who was employed in the reign of Henry II. as custos of the bishoprick of Sarum, and as dapifer of the Earl of Leicester. Peter married Matilda, the widow of Elyas de Rabayne, and one of the two daughters and coheirs of Stephen de Bayeux (the brother of John de Bayeux, men- tioned as a justice itinerant under Henry III.), and in 18 Edward I. petitioned parliament in relation to her part of her father's property, the process concerning which was not completed in 9 Edward II.1 He held the town of Mel- combe, and certain lands at Dodemerton in Dorsetshire, in ferm under the king at a rent of 61 10s. per annum2; and was summoned to perform military service against the Scots in 28 Edward I., as holding lands in that county of the yearly value of 40/. This property was no doubt granted to him in compensation for his services as a judge. Nothing is told of his legal life before he was raised to the bench of the Common Pleas, where he sat for above seventeen years. The patent appointing him was dated 20 Edward I., probably the end of that year ; for the first fine levied before him was in November, 1292, 21 Edward I., and the last was in June, 1309.3 During this period, he seems to have been very actively employed. Sir William Wallace was tried before him in 1304 4, and he was excused from his ittendance in parliament for the purpose ; and in 1307 he 1 Rot. Pari. i. 44. 337. 8 Madox's Exch. i. 335. 3 Serviens ad legem, 282. ; Dugdale's Orig. Jurid. 44. 4 Turner's England, ii. 90. note. 1307—1327. ADAM DE MIDDLETON. 279 was selected as one of the justices of Trailbaston for the home counties. He was evidently removed soon after the above fine of 1309 was acknowledged before him; because, although he was summoned as one of the assistants of the council to the parliament of February 8, 1310, he was not included among the six judges of the Common Pleas appointed on Septem- ber 29, 1309.1 He died about the commencement of the next regnal year, July, 1310, 4 Edward II.a MELTON, WILLIAM DE, Archbishop of York. ? Keeper, 1308. See under the Reign of Edward III. MIDDLESEX, Archdeacons of. See Ralph de Baldock, Robert de Baldock. MIDDLETON, ADAM DE. Just. Itin. 1307. See under the Reign of Edward I. Adam de Middleton wa3 the possessor of the manor of that name in the county of York. In 33 Edward I., April 6, 1305, he was the last named of five justices of Trailbaston appointed for the ten northern counties.3 He held the same place in the new commissions issued in 1307 ; and in the parliament held that year at Carlisle, a reference was made to him as to the excessive payment required for the passage of the Humber.4 In 5 Edward II., the custody of the castle of Kingston-upon-IIull and of the manor of Mitton was committed to him 5 ; and by a mandate to attend the parliament in 7 Edward II., 1313, it appears that 1 Pari. Writs, i. 722., ii. 1136., also p. 40. 2 Cal. Inquis. p. in., i. 939, s N. Fccdera, i. 970. 4 Pot. Pari. i. 202. 218. 5 Abbrev. Rot. Orig. i. 187. T 4 280 WILLIAM DE MORTIMER. Edw. II. he was then employed as a justice of assize. He is last named in the ninth year of that reign, when he was certified as holding several lordships in the counties of Notts and York.1 In 35 Edward I. he had a grant of a cow pasture in Heselspring in Cumberland, to which his son Peter, a justice itinerant under Edward III., succeeded.2 MORTIMER, WILLIAM DE. Just. Itik. 1307. See under the Reign of Edward I. It does not appear how this William de Mortimer (Mortuo- mari) was connected with the noble families of that name ; and Blomefield, in speaking of one of them in Norfolk, ac- knowledges the difficulty, in consequence of the many colla- teral branches, of distinguishing the individual.3 All that is recorded of this William is, that he was one of the justices itinerant appointed in 20 Edward I., 1292, for the northern counties, and that in the thirty-second year he acted as a justice of assize in ten of the inland counties.4 In the following year, he was named a receiver of the petitions of Ireland and Guernsey, in the parliament held at Westminster in Sep- tember.5 During the reign of Edward II. he continued to act as a justice itinerant, and to be summoned as such to parliament till the ninth year.6 MUTFORD, JOHN DE. Just. Itin. 1307. Just. C. P. 1316. See under the Reigns of Edward I. and Edward ILL 1 Pari. Writs, ii. 1 172. 2 Rot. Pari. i. 201.; Abbrev. Rot. Orig. ii. 106. 8 Blomefield's Norwich, i. 345. 4 Dugdale's Chron. Series. * Rot. Pari. i. 159. 6 Pari. Writs, ii. 1205. 1307—1327. ROGER DE NORTHBURGIT. 281 NORTIIBURGH, ROGER DE, Archdeacon of Richmond, Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry. ? Keeper, 1321. Roger de Nortiiburgii is stated by Godwin to have been captured in battle by the Scots in 1313. Two years after- wards we find him in the king's service attesting a royal writ; and in April, 1316, he was certainly keeper of the wardrobe. On September 18, 1320, he was employed on a mission to Carlisle, to treat for a truce with the Scots ; and returned on October 13, receiving, for the expenses of himself and his suite, the sum of 25V We next find the king, in con- sequence of the chancellor's illness, delivering the Great Seal into Northburgh's custody, as keeper of the wardrobe. This occurred on April 16, 1321, 14 Edward II., and it would appear that writs were then sealed in his presence and that of two of the clerks in Chancery ; after which the Seal was replaced in the wardrobe, where it remained at that and a subsequent period.2 As, however, this was a place commonly used for its secure deposit, there is scarcely sufficient reason for inserting the head of that department in the list of keepers of the Seal. On May 29, 1317, the king presented Roger de North- burgh with the archdeaconry of Richmond ; and subsequently procured his election to the bishoprick of Lichfield and Coventry, which took place on April 12, 1322. Over that see he presided for nearly thirty-eight years, with nothing to distinguish the remainder of his life, except that he held the office of treasurer for two short periods in the second and fourteenth years of the reign of Edward III. He died in November or December, 1359 ; and is commemorated among the chancellors and benefactors of Cambridge.3 1 Archffiologia, xxvi. 334. 2 Tarl. Writs, ii. P. ii. 731. 1231. 3 Le Neve, 1 24, 324. ; Godwin de Prasul. 320. ; Dugdale's Chron. Scries. 282 JOHN DE OEHAM. Edw. IJ. NORWICH, Bishops of. See J. Salmon, W. de Ayre- MYNNE. NORWICH, Chancellors of. See R. de Ayremynne. NORWICH, WALTER DE. B. E. 1311. Ch. B. E. ? 1312, 1317. See under the Reign of Edward III. OKHAM, JOHN DE. B. E. 1317. John de Okham was joined in the commission with the escheator ultra Trentam to take into the king's hands the property of Anthony, patriarch of Jerusalem and bishop of Durham, on his death in 4 Edward II.1 During the four following years, he was clerk to Ingelard de Warlee, keeper of the wardrobe 2, and held the office of cofferer of that depart- ment.3 On June 18, 1317, 10 Edward II., he was consti- tuted one of the barons of the Exchequer in the place of Richard de Abyndon. As he was not summoned to parliament beyond March 14, 1322, 15 Edward II., it is probable that he, about that time, was removed from the bench ; but of this no entry affords any certainty. There is no doubt, however, that he was not included among the barons sworn in at the commencement of the next reign.4 He is called " clericus," and being a canon of the free chapel of St. Martin's, London, the custody of its deanery was committed to him in 19 Edward II.5 1 Abbrev. Rot. Orig. i. 175. 2 Rot. Pari. ii. 437. 8 Cal. Rot. Pat. 74. * Pari. Writs, ii. 1244. 5 Abbrev. Rot. Orig. L 290. 1307—1327. WILLIAM DE ORMESBY. 283 ORMESBY, WILLIAM DE. ? Just. K. B. 1307. Just. Itin. 1307. Ste under the Reign of Edward I. William de Ormesby was appointed a judge of the King's Bench at the same time that Roger le Brabazon was raised to the chief justiceship of that court, in 24 Edward I., 1296. He had, however, acted previously as a justice itinerant into Northumberland and the other northern counties, in 20 Ed- ward I., and into Yorkshire in the following year.1 On the reduction of Scotland in 1296, he was constituted justiciary of that country ; and by the rigour with which he extorted the penalties imposed by King Edward on those who refused to take the oath of fealty to him, he naturally excited the deep and general odium of that people. Wallace, in the following year, surprised him while holding his court at Scone ; and his followers being dispersed, he himself barely escaped.2 On his return to England, he resumed his duties in the King's Bench, in which he is mentioned till the end of the reign; as well as frequently on iters, and as chief of the jus- tices of Trailbaston assigned for the counties of Norfolk and Suffolk, in 1305, 33 Edward I.3 Some doubt may arise as to his having been re-appointed to his seat in the King's Bench on the accession of Edward II., as no such writ was directed to him to take the oaths as was addressed to his fellows, on September 6, 1307; and his name does not judicially appear in the Abbreviatio Placitorum after the death of Edward I. It is true that he was sum- moned to attend the first parliament, and stands in his proper place in the list ; but this was by a previous writ, dated August 26 : and though he is summoned to all the subsequent parliaments up to 1 1 Edward II., he is generally placed in 1 Dugdale's Chron. Series. ■ Tiivcti Annates, V5G. ; Ty tier's Scotland, i. 123. 128. ;i Abbrev. Placit. 242. 259. 294.; Rot. Pari. i. 1G6. 198. 407, 408. Pari, Writs i. 284 ADAM DE OSGODBY. Edw. II. that part of the list appropriated to the justices itinerant. That he acted in the latter capacity, during the remainder of his life, there can be no question; and it is not unlikely that be Avas allowed, at the commencement of the new reign, to retire from the heavier duties of the King's Bench to his estates in Norfolk and Suffolk, in which counties he was principally employed as a justice of assize during the whole period.1 He died about 1317, and was buried at the abbey of St. Benet's, at Hulme in Norfolk, to which he was a benefactor.2 In the pleas of 2 Edward II. he is spoken of as the husband of Sibilla, late the wife of Roger Loveday, the justice itinerant mentioned in the last reign 3 : and among the escheats or in- quisitions post mortem of 7 Edward II., occurs the name of Elena, the wife of William de Ormesby.4 This may perhaps be explained by supposing that there might be two Williams de Ormesby, both of Norfolk ; a suspicion which receives some probability from the fact, that while the judge was summoned with his fellows to the parliament at Carlisle, in 35 Edward I., a burgess of the same name was returned to the same parliament for Yarmouth, in Norfolk. They might, however, be still the same person, for there is no proof that judges, or at all events justices itinerant, were then precluded from sitting among the Commons. William de Ormesby is sometimes erroneously called chief justice of England ; a mistake manifestly arising from his having held that position in Scotland. OSGODBY, ADAM DE. M. R. 1307. Keeper, 1311. See under the Reign of Edward I. No mention is made of Adam de Osgodby till his appoint- ment of keeper of the Bolls of Chancery, on October 1, 1295, 1 Pari. Writs, i. 766., ii. 1246. ; Rot. Pari. 275. 341. 450. 2 Taylor's Index Monast. 2. 3 Abbrev. Placit. 307. 4 Cal. Inquis. p. m., i. 254. 1307—1327. ADAM DE OSGODBY. 285 23 Edward I.1 He no doubt had been previously one of the clerks of the Chancery ; and, from several entries relating to the deposit of the Seal during the temporary absence of the chancellor, it is plain that he was still considered as the chief of them. He remained uninterruptedly in the office till 10 Edward II., 1316, a period of nearly twenty-one years. In both reigns he frequently performed the functions of the chancellor, when absent, sometimes alone, and sometimes in connection with two or three of the other clerks. In that of Edward I. he held it, under the seals of three clerks, during the vacancy in the chancellorship occasioned by the resigna- tion of John de Langton, from August 23 to September 30, 1302, the date of the elevation of William de Greenfield2; under whom, during an absence, he again held it from October 30 to December 11, 1302 3; and a third time, from December 29, 1304, till January 16, 1305, between the nomination and arrival of William de Hamilton.4 At the parliament held at Carlisle in January, 1307, 35 Edward I., he acted as proctor for the dean and chapter of York, being then a canon of that cathedral.5 From the third to the end of the eighth year of Ed- ward II., the Seal was frequently deposited with Osgodby in the same manner. At first it was merely in the absence of the chancellor; but between the resignation of Walter Re- ginald, Bishop of Worcester, as chancellor, and his appoint- ment as keeper of the seal, viz. between December 9, 1311, and October 6, 1312, Adam de Osgodby, Robert de Bardelby, and William de Ayremynne are distinctly described as keepers of the Seal6, and transacted all the business connected with it. While Reginald continued keeper, the Great Seal was always secured by the seals of these three.7 1 Rot. Claus. 23 Ed>. I., no. G. - Ibid. 30 Edw. I., m. 6. 8. a Ibid. m. 2.; and 31 Edw. I., m. 18. ' [bid. S3 Edw. I., m. 22. 6 Rot. Pail. i. 1 90. 6 Ibid. i. 357. 7 Pari. Writs, ii. P. ii. 1219. 286 EDMUND DE PASSELE. Edw. II. Adam de Osgodby, like all his brethren In the Chancery, was an ecclesiastic, and held the living of Gargrave, in Yorkshire. On November 7, 1307, 1 Edward II., the king granted to him the office of custos of the House of Converts, in Chan- cery Lane, during pleasure ; but, by a patent in the seventh year, secured it to him for life.1 It was not, however, till the year 1377 that this office was permanently annexed to that of keeper of the Rolls. His death occurred in August, 1316, on the 19 th of which month his successor, William de Ayremynne, was appointed. He left property in Yorkshire, to which Walter de Osgodby, probably his brother, succeeded.2 PASSELE, EDMUND DE. B. E. 1323. Several members of this family, whose name is sometimes spelled Passelewe and Passelegh, held offices in the Exchequer for many years. In the reign of Henry III. there were William, Robert, and Simon ; the last of whom has been al- ready noticed as a baron of that court.3 Under Edward I., another Robert was employed as an assessor of the subsidies in Sussex, for which county he was returned as knight of the shire in the twenty-fourth and twenty-eighth years of that reign.4 It is very probable that Edmund de Passele was the son of the latter, as he had considerable estates in that county. In 16 Edward I. he was appointed one of the commissioners to inquire as to the damage done by the overflowing of the sea in the Isle of Thanet 5 ; and in the thirty-second year he as- 1 Rot. Pat. 1 Edw. II., p. 1. m. 13.; 7 Edw. II., p. 1. m. 17. 8 Cal. Inquis. p. m., i. 194. 279. ; Abbrev. Rot. Orig. i. 235. 3 See vol. ii. p. 436. ; Abbrev. Rot. Orig. i. 7, 8, 9, 10. " 4 Pari. Writs, i. 771. 5 Lewis's Isle of Thanet, 77. 1307—1327. JOHN DE RADESWELL. 287 signed some lands in Sussex for the support of a chaplain to do daily service in the chapel of Kethenourelegh, performing afterwards a similar pious act by devoting certain tenements inLudenham, Kent, to his chapel de la Legh.1 His name appears in the Year Book of Edward II. as an advocate ; and in the third year of that reign he was specially employed by the king and the council to attend to the king's pleas, and is thereupon designated by Dugdale, from the marginal title, a Serjeant. From that till the sixteenth year he was frequently engaged as a justice of assize, or otherwise ; and as such was commanded to bring his proceedings into the Exchequer to be estreated, and received the customary summons to attend the parliaments. On September 20, 1323, 17 Edward II., he was constituted a baron of the Exchequer, the duties of which he continued to perform till the end of the reign. His death occurred in the first year of Edward III., leaving Isabella his widow. Two sons of his are mentioned ; one William, in 9 Edward II., in the grant of the manor of Parrok, in Hertfield, Sussex ; and the other, John, who seems to have withheld the third part of this manor from Isabella the widow.2 11ADESWELL, or REDESWELL, JOHN DE. B. E. 1326. Master Joiin de Kadeswell was probably the John de lladeswell who was the complainant in a suit in 18 Edw. I., wherein he recovered a considerable estate in Bedfordshire from Henry, the son of Beatrice, the widow of Robert de Ivadeswell, by proving that Henry was born eleven days after the forty weeks which is the legitimate time of bearing by women, the more especially as it was further shown that 1 Abbrev. Rot. Orig. i. 132. 207. 2 Tarl. Writs, ii. 1261. ; Abbrev. Rot. Orig. ii. 6. 62. ; Abbrev. Placit. 325. 288 WALTER DE REGINALD. Edw. II. Beatrice had no access to her husband for one month before his death.1 In 18 Edward II., John de Radeswell is mentioned as" " Senescallum Regis," and principal custos of the lands and tenements of Queen Isabella in England and Wales, with an annual fee of 407. Two years afterwards, on September 1, 1326, he was advanced to the office of a baron of the Ex- chequer, which he held only for the few remaining months of that reign. Though not re-appointed by Edward III., he was still employed in Exchequer business ; being assigned towards the end of the first year to supervise and appraise the goods and chattels of Walter Reginald, Archbishop of Canterbury, then lately deceased ; and in the record he is called " CleiTOUs Regis."2 RANDOLF, JOHN. Just. Itin. 1307. See under the Reigns of Edward I. and Edward III. REGINALD, or RAYNALD, WALTER, Bishop op Worcester, Archbishop of Canterbury. Chancellor, 1310. The Career of Walter Raynald, or Reginald, affords an early instance in English history of the advance of an individual from the lower ranks of life to the highest ecclesiastical honours. He was the son of a baker at Windsor, and being bred up to the church, was brought under the notice of Edward I., a monarch whose powers of discrimination were seldom at fault. The king soon discovered merit in the youthful aspirant, whose appointment as tutor to the young prince is no small evidence in favour of his character and 1 Abbrev. Placit. 221. ; also p. 234., where Robert is called Bartholomew. 2 Abbrev. Rot. Orig. i. 282, ii. 11. : Pari. Writs, ii. 1319. 1307—1327. WALTER REGINALD. |g9 abilities. To what particular brfl&gkaj mS instructions were devoted does not appear ; but, judging both from the earlier ana nie more matured career of his pupil, he failed (as might be expected from the events of his own life) to check the weak- ness of the prince's judgment, or to instil into him steadiness of purpose. He, however, satisfied the father, from whom he received the living of Wimbledon in 1298 ; and ingratiated himself with the son, whose continued employment of him, while Prince of Wales, is evidenced by a letter dated in October, 1305, directing him to go to the barons of the Exchequer to obtain a release, for a widow in Wales, from a distress which they had illegally issued against her. } On the accession of his pupil he was rapidly advanced. He immediately obtained a canonry in St. Paul's, and was constituted treasurer of the Exchequer on August 22, 1307. To this was added the bishoprick of Worcester in April, 1308 ; and on July 6, 1310, 3 Edward II., resigning the treasurer- ship 2, the Great Seal was placed in his hands. The terms used on the roll recording this event make it doubtful whether he was invested with the office of chancellor or with that of keeper. The oath he is described as taking, is "de officio Sigilli illius fideliter exequendo ; " 3 which wrould seem to apply more directly to the latter. In subsequent records, however, he is certainly called chancellor4; and there is little doubt that he held the Great Seal in that character till December 19, 1311, 5 Edward II.5 Soon after his ap- pointment he lent 1000/. to the king, to the advance «>i" which has been attributed, without sufficient evidence, his attainment of the Seal ; but as the loan was made after his elevation, it may more charitably be ascribed to his desire to assist the king in the necessities which then pressed upon 1 Ninth Hep., Pul). Rcc, A pp., ii. 249. 8 Madox'a Exoh. ii. 88. 1. m. 3 Rot. Clans. -1 Edw. II., in. 1 Madox's Exch. ii. 48. a. » Rot. Clans. 5 Eilu\ II., in. 1,8. vol. in. u 29ji WALTER REGINALD. Edw. II. him, the ordainers teSgJft^! at that tIme in Possessi°n of the government and the royal purse ,' - ~ 011 order, indeed, for the repayment of nearly one half of it was made so early as May 1, 1311. l Between December 19, 1311, and October 6, 1312, the Seal never appears to have been under his control ; but on the latter day it was again placed in his hands, only, however, as custos or keeper, remaining sealed up under the seals of the master of the Rolls and two other clerks in Chancery, in whose presence it would seem that all writs were sealed.2 In this manner the office was executed till April 5, 1314, 7 Edward II.3, which is the last date on which the bishop is mentioned in connection with the Seal.4 His removal from this high office, which no doubt took place about that time, was not occasioned by any dimi- nution of his sovereign's favour, but rather by his having attained a higher elevation. On the decease of Archbishop Winchelsey in May, 1313, although the monks had elected Dr. Cobham, the sub-Dean of Salisbury — a most learned and excellent man, — in his place, the king contrived to get the election annulled by the pope, and his favourite, Walter, to be substituted for him. The bull by which this was effected is dated October 1, 1313; and he was with great pomp enthroned on April 19, 1314, in the presence of the king and queen and a large attendance of the nobility. His rule over of the archbishoprick was illustrated by the acquisition of many important privileges from the papal see. He obtained no less than eight bulls conferring extensive powers of visitation and dispensation. During the earlier troubles with the barons he remained faithful to the king ; but, on the queen's invasion of the king- dom, he basely deserted his patron and master, adding strength J Rot. Claus. 4 Edw. II., p. 2. m. 2 2 Ibid, 6 Edw. II., m. 5. 26. 3 Ibid. 7 Edw. II., m. 7. * Ibid. 8 Edw. II., m. 32. 1307—1327. ROBERT DE RETFORD. 291 to her party by the weight of his position, and, on the king's deposition completing his infamy by crowning the son of his benefactor. This event, which took place on February I, 1327, was quickly followed by his own death. The adulterous queen is said to have so pressed the consecration of James de Berkley, elected Bishop of Exeter, that the pusillanimous archbishop, more fearful of the prevailing and present power than that of the pope at a distance, did not dare to resist. The Roman pontiff, enraged that his confirmation had not been first obtained, by his threats and reproaches against the offending prelate created such terror or such remorse in his mind, that, within a few days after the announcement of the pope's anger, a mortal sickness fell upon him. His death occurred at Mortlake on November 16, 1327, and his re- mains were interred in Canterbury Cathedral. To the convent of Christchurch, the hospital of Maidstone, and Langdon Abbey, he made considerable benefactions : but any credit which he may have deserved for his liberality, or for his mildness, prudence, and capacity for business, must be overshadowed by the time-serving and abject weakness of his character. To this cowardly spirit must be attributed his ungrateful treachery to his king, his subserviency in the matter of the Bishop of Exeter, and the dread of the papal power which terminated his life.1 RETFORD, ROBERT DE. Just. Itin. 1307. See under the Reign of Edward I. By two pleas in 18 Edward I., relative to certain land in Ordesale, Nottinghamshire, it appears that Kobert de Retford was the son of Richard, who was the son of Thomas de Ret- 1 Godwin de Prasul. 103. 462. ; Ilasted's Kent, xii. 370. ; Augl. Sac. i. IS. 59. 532. U 2 292 ROBERT DE RETFORD. Ei>w. II. ford l, so called from a town in that county. He was first summoned to parliament among the judges in August, 1295, 23 Edward I., and there are records of his pleas as a justice itinerant at Norwich and at Dunstable in the next year.2 His attendance in parliament in that character is rioted till the end of the reign3, in the thirty- fifth year of which, February, 1307, he was placed among the justices of Trail- baston for the home counties.4 Dugdale does not introduce him into his Chronica Series till 4 Edward II. ; but there is not only the above proof of his acting in the previous reign, but also, from the com- mencement of this, there are regular writs summoning him to parliament in the same manner. They are continued till June, 1318, 11 Edward II., and there is evidence of his exercising his functions not only in the home district, but in Durham and in Leicestershire, up to the ninth year of that reign.5 Among the records of the treasury of the Exchequer is an indenture dated April 29, 9 Edward II., whereby the executors of Robert de Retford delivered up a very large number of the rolls and writs of the justices in Eyre which had been in his possession.6 The only way to account for his being summoned to parliament apparently after his death, is by supposing either that there is a mistake in the date of this indenture, or, what is more probable, that the par- liamentary writs were made out from a list, in the correction of which the clerks did not exercise sufficient care. RICHMOND, Archdeacons of. See R. de Northburgh, R. DE WODEHOUSE. 1 Abbrev. Placit. 284. 8 Abbrev. Rot. Orig. i. 96, 97. 3 Pari. Writs, i. 801. 4 Rot. Pari. i. 218. * Ibid. i. 346.; Dugdale's Chron. Series; Pari. Writs, ii 1331. 6 Cal. Exch. iii. 114. 1307—1327. GILBERT DE ROUBURY. 293 KODBOROUGH, MILO DE. Just. Itin. 1310. Milo de Rodborough took his name from tli.it town in Gloucestershire; but was apparently resident in Worcester- shire in the early part of the reign of Edward II., as in the third year he was one of the assessors and collectors in that county of the twenty-fifth which was granted by parliament, and was also in a local judicial commission therein. In the next year, 1310, he wras the last named of the three justices of assize appointed for both these counties and three neighbouring ones. It seems that he acted by himself in Gloucestershire ; for before the end of that year, viz., on May 26, 1311, a commission wras issued to four justices to hear the complaints made against him in a peti- tion from the men of that county, charging him with many acts of oppression, corruption, and malversation in the execu- tion of his office. The result of this inquiry does not appear ; but it may be presumed to have been favourable to him, inasmuch as in the two following years he was responsibly employed, and, in the latter, was one of three assigned to talliate the cities, &c. in the same five counties over which his commission as a justice of assize extended. He died in 7 Edward II.1 ROUBURY, GILBERT DE. Just. K. B. 1307. Just. C. P. 13 1 6. See under the Reign of Edward I. Before Gilbert de Roubury became a judge, he evidently held some place of consideration in the courts; several in- stances occurring of his name being added to those of the justices commissioned to take inquisitions2, and of his car- ■ Tail. Writs, ii. P, ii. 1.U1.; Dugdale j Ahhiw. Rot Orig. i. '205. a Rot. Tarl. i. 29. 100. U 3 294 JOHN SALMON. Edw. II. rying records into court.1 His appointment as a justice of the Court of King's Bench occurred in 23 Edward I., 1295 2, during the remainder of which reign he seems to have taken a prominent part in the administration of justice. Summoned among his brethren to parliament, he was frequently se- lected as one of the receivers of petitions3 ; and in the Statute of Champerty, 33 Edward I., he is specially mentioned as clerk of the king's council, and as recommending the writ of conspiracy.4 On the accession of Edward II. he was re-appointed to his seat in the King's Bench; and in the ninth year of that reign, March 10, 1316, he was removed into the Common Pleas, taking the place vacated by William Inge.5 Fines were levied before him there from that year till the beginning of 14 Edward II.6; and the last summons to council addressed to him is dated November 29, 1320. He retired from the court, or died, before May 31, 1321, and was succeeded by John de Bousser ; for though the patent to the latter does not, from being illegible in parts, distinctly state the fact, it is made apparent by the subsequent direction to the judges to admit the said John de Bousser in the place u prasdicti Gilberti ; " and there was no other G ilbert then in the Com- mon Pleas.7 SALISBURY, Chancellor of. See R. de Ayremynne. SALMON, JOHN, Bishop of Norwich. Chancellor, 1320. We learn that the names of the father and mother of John Salmon were Salomon and Amicia, from his appointing four 1 Rot. Pari. i. 81, 82. 113. 126. 3 Rot. Pari. i. 159. 182. 189. 5 Rot. Pat. 9 Edw. II., p. 2. m. 22. 7 Rot. Pat. 14 Edw. II., p. 2. m. 6. 8 Dugdale's Chron. Series. * Stat, at large, i. 150. 6 Dugdale's Orig. 44. 1307—1327. JOHN SALMON. 295 priests to pray for their souls in a chapel he founded in the chancel of Norwich Cathedral ; and it may be presumed that the family was not of any eminence, from the bishop's as- suming for his arms a rebus of his name ; three silver salmons hauriant on a sable field. He is sometimes called John of Ely, having been prior of the convent there. Holding this dignity when William de Luda, bishop of that see, died in 1298, he was elected his successor ; but the pope interfering in favour of Ralph Walpole, Bishop of Norwich, translated that prelate to Ely, and conferred the bishoprick of Norwich on Salmon by a bull dated July 15, 1299. Salmon was not employed by Edward L, but he visited Home in 1306. On the accession of Edward II. he was sent to France as one of the ambassadors to demand Isabella, the daughter of King Philip, as the wife of his sovereign. In the third year of the reign he was chosen one of the lords ordainers ; and in the ninth he WftB among the commissioners to open the parliament then held. On this occasion he made a speech on the king's behalf, and took the part of his sove- reign throughout his troublesome reign. On January 26, 1320, 13 Edward II., he was appointed chancellor in full parliament, in the place of John de Hot ham, Bishop of Ely ; but, though he retained the office for three years and a half, he seems to have been so severe a sufferer from ill health, that the business of the Chancery was fre- quently performed by deputies. His delivery of the Seal to the custodes directed to act for him, on June 5, 1323, when he was confined to his bed, may be considered as the date of his ultimate retirement, although the entry is precisely similar to those made on previous occasions, and although the new chancellor was not named till the 20th of August following. He recovered from that sickness; for in the following year he wrent as ambassador to the court of France, and succeeded u 4 296 JOHN DE SAND ALE. Ei>w. II. in negotiating a peace between the two kings. His health, however, again failing, he died at the priory of Folkestone on July 2, 1325, having presided over his diocese for nearly six- and- twenty years. Under his name of John of Ely he is enumerated among the benefactors to the university of Cambridge. At Norwich he built not only the chapel already alluded to, but a great hall in the palace, the porch of which is the only remnant of its former magnificence.1 SAN DALE, JOHN DE, Treasurer of Lichfield, ? Dean of London, Bishop of Winchester. Chancellor, 1314. John de Sandale held an office connected with the Treasury or Exchequer in 30 Edward I., 1302, when he is mentioned as receiving a crown for Queen Margaret2 : in the following year he and John de Drokenesford are called treasurers3; and he was likewise one of those appointed to assess the tallage in London and Middlesex, Kent, Surrey, and Sussex. In 33 Edward I., he was present at the par- liament then held at Westminster, and was named one of the receivers of the petitions of Gascony ; and in that year also he became chamberlain of Scotland, an office which he held till the end of the rei^n ; being at the same time commissioned to treat with the Scots on the affairs of that country.4 Called from Scotland at the accession of Edward II., lie was constituted chancellor of the Exchequer on August 7, 13075, and at the end of the year was one of those directed to instruct the sheriffs of London and Middlesex in arresting 1 Godwin de Praesul. 433; Angl. Sac. i. 412. 802. ; Le Neve, 210.; Rot. Pari. i. 250. 443. ; Pari. Writs, ii. P. ii. 1234. ; Blomefield's Norwich, i. 497. 2 Rot. Pari. i. 474. 3 Devon's Issue Roll, 116 4 Rot. Pari. i. 159. 204. 211. 266. 465. 473. ; Abbrev. Rot. Orig. i. 154, 5 Rot. Pat. 1 Edw. II., p. 1. m. 19. 1307—1327. JOHN DE SANPALE. 297 the Knights Templars.1 On May 14, 1308, Ave find him acting as locum tenens for Walter Eeginald, Bishop of Wor- cester, the treasurer ; and continuing to do so till that prelate became chancellor, on July 6, 1310, 3 Edward I., when the office of treasurer was placed in Sandale's hands. There it remained until March 14, 1312, when he was succeeded by Walter de Langton, Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry, whose locum tenens he was named in the following October. He occupied this station till he was appointed chancellor, on September 26, 1314, 8 Edward II., as on that day he was commanded to give up all things appertaining to the treasurer- ship to Walter de Norwich, then raised to that office.2 The Great Seal was on the same day delivered to him at York, after the resignation of Walter Reginald3, who had been translated from the bishoprick of Worcester to the archbishoprick of Canterbury ; and he held it till June 9, 1318, 11 Edward II.4 Sandale, as most of the other clerks of the Exchequer, was an ecclesiastic, and one of the king's chaplains. On January 10, 1310, he had been made treasurer of Lichfield, was a canon of York, and is inserted in Le Neve's catalogue of the Deans of London. It seems, however, doubtful whether he ever held the latter dignity. During his chancellorship the bishop- rick of Winchester became vacant, and he was elected to that see in August, 1316 ; but presided over it for little more than three years.5 Soon after his resignation of the Great Seal, to the custody of which John de Ilotham, Bishop of Ely, succeeded, he was restored to his office of treasurer, which was committed to him on November 16, 1318, 12 Edward II.6 He held it 1 Rot. Claus. 1 Edw. II., m. 13. * Madox'a Exch. i. 75. 314. 380 , ii. 8. 30. 38, 39. 50. 279. 290. 325. " Rot. Claus. S Edw. II., m. 32. « Ibid. 11 Edw. II.. " Le Neve, 130. 183. 2 6 Madox'i Exch. ii 298 GEOFFREY DE SAY. Edw. II. during the remainder of his life, which terminated in less than a year afterwards. He died on November 2, 1319, at South- wark, and wTas buried in St. Margaret's Church there.1 His life seems to have been employed in a routine of official duties, of which no further interruption is noticed than a pilgrimage he made to the shrine of St. Thomas of Canter- bury, a few months before he resigned the Seal.2 Previous to his elevation to the bishoprick, his London residence, as chancellor, was in Aldgate.3 He was one of the executors of Henry de Lacy, Earl of Lincoln, of whose property the king in his necessities borrowed 4100 marks, and granted the issues of the customs on wool in Kingston-upon-Hull towards the repayment. From Edward I. Sandale received the manor of Berghby in Lincolnshire, and from Edward II. a house in the suburbs of Lincoln belonging to a religious society then dissolved.4 It is probable, therefore, that his family was settled in that county, although from its name it no doubt had its origin in Yorkshire, in which, at his death, he had property in the manor of Whetlay, near Doncaster.5 SAY, GEOFFREY DE. ? Just. K. B. 1322. The reasons previously given for omitting the name of Wil- liam de Dyve from the list of justices of the King's Bench, although introduced into Dugdale's Chronica Series, apply equally to that of Geoffrey de Say ; with the addition that, the latter being a distinguished member of an ancient and noble family, the absence of any proof that he was seated in that court increases the presumption that he was not so. Geoffrey de Say was descended from Picot de Say, a Shrop- shire baron in the reign of the Conqueror. His father, 1 Godwin de Praesul. 223.; Angl. Sac. i. 316. 8 Rot. Claus. 11 Edw. II., m. 11. 3 Ibid. 8 Edw. II., m. 4. * Abbrev. Rot. Orig. i. 165. 195. 197. 5 Cal. Inquis. p. m., i. 292. 1307—1327. GEOFFREY 1)E SxVY. 299 William, who had large possessions in Kent, besides some in other counties, died in 23 Edward L, 1295, leaving him an infant of fourteen years of age. He and his wife Idonea, the daughter of William de Leybourne, attended the coronation of Edward II., in 1308, as from the county of Kent ; and he was first summoned to parliament as a baron in the seventh year of that reign, July 26, 1313. He was frequently called upon to perform military services, but was never, as far as appears from the records, employed judicially . It is extremely probable, however, that among the numerous commissions issued for the trial of the adherents of Thomas de Badlesmere, there should have been one for his county of Kent, and that he, as a baron of that county, should have been named in it, and thus be entitled to the description of justiciarius regis, which Gervas of Canterbury gives to him, and by which every person so employed would be then designated during the continuance of the commission. He died in 15 Edward II., 1321-2, the very year named by Dugdale as that of his judicial appointment ; leaving a son, also Geoffrey, only seventeen years old, who succeeded him ; but his male descendants failed in 1382, and the barony is said to be in abeyance among the representatives of Idonea and Joane, the two aunts of the last baron. In 1447, how- ever, the grandson of Sir William Fiennes, who had married the said Joane, was summoned to parliament with the title of Lord Say and Sele, to which was added that of viscount in 1G24. The viscounty became extinct for want of male heirs in 1781 ; but the barony still survived, and was carried through females into the family of Twistleton.1 1 Inland's Collect, i. P. ii. 275.; Dugdale's Baron, i. 511. ; Pari. Writs, ii. P. ii. 1402. ; Nicolas's Synopsis. 300 ROGER DE SCOTRE. Edw. II. SCOTRE, ROGER DE. B. E. IS 10. Roger de Scotre was possessed of Coringham and several other manors in Lincolnshire. In 1309, 3 Edward II., he and Edmund Passelegh were appointed to transact the king's business of pleas ; and were directed to appear at the Ex- chequer on Michaelmas-day, to do as the king and his council should order. The body of the writ does not mention the word " Serjeant ; " but the marginal title is " D §iantz assignez as pletz le Roy ; " and he is accordingly inserted in Dugdale's and Wynne's lists of Serjeants. On July 17, 1310, 4 Edward II., he was constituted a baron of the Exchequer in the room of Thomas de Cantebrig; and in the same year was the first named of three justices of assize for six counties, of which Lincoln was one. His tenure of office was very short; for he died between September 12, 1311, the date of his last parliamentary summons, and March 3, 1312, when his successor, Walter de Norwich, received his patent. He left a wife, called both Agnes and Elizabeth, who died in 10 Edward II. ; and an only daughter, named Elizabeth, who died a minor in 7 Edward II.1 SCROPE, GEOFFREY LE. Just. C. P. 1323. Ch. K. B. 1324. See under the Reign of Edward III. SCROPE, HENRY LE. Just. C. P. 1308. Ch. K. B. 1317. See under the Reign of Edward III. 1 Pari. Writs, ii. 1408.; Dugdale ; Abbrev. Pot. Orig. i. 187. 202. 205. ; Cal. Inquis. p. in., i. 247. 259. 280. 1307—1327. HENRY SPIGURNEL. 301 SPIGURNEL, HENRY. Just. K. B. 1307. See under the Reign of Edward I. Spigurnel was the name given to the officer who sealed the writs in Chancery ; and was by degrees adopted as the sur- name of the family, by which the duty continued, probably during many successions, to be executed. The first who is mentioned is Godfrey Spigurnel, who, in a grant in 9 John cf five bovates of land and a mill, in Skeggeby in Nottingham- shire, is styled " serviens noster de capella nostra."1 He had a grant of three " oboli " a day out of the ferm of the town of Hertford, and is last mentioned in 1 1 Henry III.2 Nicholas Spigurnel was probably his son, and seems to have per- formed the same duties, and to have been sheriff of Essex and Hertfordshire in 49 Henry III., the year before his death. He was succeeded by Edmund 3, who died in 24 Edward I., leaving a son John, who, and whose son Edmund, died in possession of Skeggeby, and of Stanton, in Essex, the former in 2 Edward II., and the latter in 8 Edward II.4 I am inclined to believe that Henry Spigurnel was a younger brother of John. He possessed lands in Northamp- tonshire above 20/. a year; and was summoned in respect thereof to perform military service in 25 Edward I., 1297. In the same year his name is among the justices and members of the council summoned to parliament 5 ; and he appears to have acted in a judicial character in the previous year.6 Dugdale, in the reign of Edward I., notices him only as a justice itinerant, commencing with the thirtieth year; but there is no doubt that he was at that time a judge of the 1 Rot. Chart. 169. 2 Rot. Claus. i. 356., ii. 182. 3 Fuller's Worthies; Excerpt, e Rot. Fin. ii. 4 1:'.. 4 Cal. Inquis. p. m., i. 127. 231. 256. 5 Pari. Writs, i. 52. 289. 0 Abbrev. Rot Orig. i. 97. 302 HENRY SPIGUIiNEL. Edw. II. King's Bench. In Hilary, 29 Edward L, 1301, he and William de Ormesby are recorded as holding " locum Regis " at Lincoln, " in absencla R. de Brabanzon ; " and in Easter of the same year on the Roll of Pleas " coram domino rege " at Worcester, these two and Gilbert de Roubury are men- tioned as holding the court in the absence of the chief justice1 : and further, in the writ directing him to take the oaths on the accession of Edward II., his previous seat in the court is referred to.2 From his first appointment, till 19 Edward II., he seems to have been most active in the performance of his duties, and to have been employed as one entrusted with affairs of confidence. In 4 Edward II. he was one of the king's nuncios to the council, and was sent to Rome on a special mission ; and in the seventh year he was summoned to undertake, with the Bishop of Worcester and three others, an embassy beyond the seas. Although returned by the sheriff of Bedford, in 17 Edward II., as a knight beyond sixty years of age, and unfit for service, we find him acting in the fol- lowing year as a justice itinerant in the islands of Jersey and Guernsey. His last recorded appearance as a judge is in the parliament of November, 1325, 19 Edward II.; but his death did not occur till three years afterwards. The only account of his character is in the political song before referred to, in which, when spoken of as a justice of Trailbaston in 33 Edward L, he is described as " gent de cruelte ; " but too much reliance must not be placed on so suspicious an authority. He lived at Kenilworth ; and, according to his own return in 1316, was lord or joint-lord of various townships in the counties of Bedford, Buckingham, Oxford, and Northampton. He had also property in Essex and Leicestershire. By his Abbrev. Placit. 242. 295. Pari. Writs, ii. Part II. 1307—1327. HEEVEY DE STAUNTON. 303 wife Surah he had issue. John, who was knight of the shire for Bedford in 1 Edward II., was probably his eldest son, and died before his father. Thomas, who represented the same county in 1-4 Edward II., was certainly the son of the judge, and was living in 1366. In 1335 King Edward III. granted one third of the manor of Tottenham in Middlesex to Richard Spigurnel, for his faithful services to his father and grandfather in Chancery ; and Lord Coleraine, in his history of that town, asserts that this Richard was Henry the judge, and that Dugdale had mistaken the Christian name. It is scarcely necessary to say that his lordship is wrong and Dugdale right. There was a Richard in the family, who, in 18 John, left a son who was placed under the wardship of Godfrey Spigurnel. The Richard in question, who no doubt executed the original office in Chancery from which the family was named, was perhaps a descendant from him.1 STAUNTON, HERVEY DE. Just. C. P. 1307. B. E. 1314. Ch. K. B. 1323. Ch. C. P. 1326. See under the Reign of Edward I. Hebvbt de Staunton, who by an easy mistake is some- times called Henry de Staunton, was of a Nottinghamshire family of large possessions and ancient lineage, which is still flourishing at Staunton Hall in that county. The line began with Malgerus in the time of the Conquest, and proceeded through Geoffrey de Staunton his son, whose grandson, Sir William, was the father of two sons, Sir Geoffrey de Staunton, and the subject of this notice. Their mother 1 Pari. Writs, i. 8G4., ii. 1448. 1459. J Rot. Pari. i. 157—449.; Wright 'a Political Sol : Nicholls's Leicester* 336. ; History of Tottenham, by Oldfield and Dyson (IT'.K)), pp. 39. 41. j Rot. Clans, i. 286. J Abbrov. Placit. 319. 329.; N. Feeders, ii. 128. 304 HERVEY DE STAUNTON. Edw. II. was Athelina, daughter and co-heir of John de Musters, Lord of Bosingham, in Lincolnshire.1 No memorials remain of his studies ; but it is evident that he was an ecclesiastic as well as a lawyer. On one occasion he is called " Clericus," and on another is described as pre- bendary of Hustwhait, in the cathedral of York.2 As a lawyer he is first mentioned in 30 Edward I., 1302, among the justices itinerant into Cornwall ; and in the next year as holding the same character in Durham ; on both occasions taking a low position on the list.3 In the parliament held at Westminster in September, 1305, 33 Edward L, he was one of those appointed to receive and answer the petitions from Ireland and the isle of Guernsey 4, and on April 20, 1306, he was called to the bench as a judge of the Common Pleas. While performing the duties of that office, the proofs of which appear by the fines levied before him 5, he acted in the following year (being the last of the reign of that king) as one of the justices assigned to take assizes in ten different counties. On the accession of Edward II. he was re-appointed in the same court, and though his name does not occur in the Year Book after the sixth year of the reign, he continued to perform the duties of the office till September 28, 1314, 8 Edward II., when he exchanged his seat in the Common Pleas for that of a baron of the Exchequer. On June 22, 1316, he became chancellor of the Exchequer; but seems, however, to have been still employed in a judicial character on various commissions, and to have been regularly sum- moned to parliament with the other judges.6 In 1323, 17 Edward II., Hervey de Staunton was raised 1 Thoroton's Notts, i. 305. ; Burke's Landed Gentry. 8 Abbrev. Placit. 259. 335. 3 Dugdale's Chron. Series. 4 Rot. Pari. i. 159. s Dugdale's Orig. 44. 6 Pari. Writs, ii. 1457. 1307—1327. IIERVEY DE STAUNTON. 305 to the office of chief justice of the King's Bench. Dugdale quotes a close roll commanding him not to quit the office of chancellor of the Exchequer, but cause it to be executed by some other fit person at such times as he should be necessitated to attend the hearing of causes; and Madox gives a writ, dated September 17 or 27 in that year, by which the seal of the Exchequer was temporarily committed to the custody of the treasurer.1 Staunton retained the chief justiceship of the King's Bench for a very few months, being superseded, on the 21st of March following, by Geoffrey le Scrope : but he was five days afterwards reappointed chancellor of the Exchequer. On July 18, 1326, 20 Ed- ward II., he was constituted chief justice of the Common Pleas, and gave up the seals of the Exchequer to Robert de Ayleston, his successor.2 Dugdale cites the same patent as appointing him not only chief justice of the Common Pleas, but chief baron of the Exchequer also. This is a manifest blunder, as the patent is wholly silent on the subject. Half a year after this the king was deposed, and Hervey de Staunton died about the same time ; William de Herle being immediately made chief justice in his place.3 He was buried in St. Michael's Church, Cambridge, where he founded the House of that name, and endowed it with the manor of Barenton and the advowson of the church there.4 A miserable rhyming pedigree of the family by one Robert Cade may be seen in Thoroton's Nottinghamshire, vol. i. p. 305. : but as the account it gives of the judge has neither authority nor beauty to recommend it, it is un- necessary to insert it here. 1 Dugdale's Orig. 38. ; Madox's Exch. ii. 53. e. ■ Rot. Pat. 20 Edw. II., m. 27. 29. ; Pail. Writs, ii. P. ii. 1458. A Abbrev. Rot. Orig. ii. 10. ' Uolinsbed, ii. 574. ; Cal. Rot. Pat. 98. VOL. III. X 306 JOHN DE THORPE. Enw. II. STONORE, JOHN DE. Just. C. P. 1320. ? Just. K. B. 1323. Just. C. P. 1324. See under the Reign of Edward III. THORPE, JOHN DE. Just. Itin. 1307. See under the Reign of Edward I. John de Thorpe was the son of Robert de Thorpe and Maud his wife, of a considerable family, possessing Rolands, Combes, Uphall, and other manors in Norfolk and Suffolk. He was returned as knight of the shire for Norfolk in 33 Edward I., and acted in the same year as assessor and collector of the aid to the king in that county.1 In 35 Ed- ward I., 1307, he held the second place among the justices of Trailbaston, then appointed for those two counties.2 In the character of a justice he attended the first parliament of Edward II. ; and though in the following years he was sum- moned as a baron, it is evident that he continued to act as a judge during the remainder of his life. He " and his com- panions" are mentioned as justices in Norfolk in 8 Ed- ward II. ; and various judicial duties were assigned to him up to the seventeenth year.3 In 13 Edward II. he was made sheriff of the county.4 He married Alice Mortimer; and at his death, on May 16, 1324, 17 Eclw. II., his son Robert succeeded him, but does not appear to have been summoned as a baron. Some of his manors remained till 1522 in the hands of his descendants. He affords another instance of irregularity in the writs ; having been summoned to parliament for nearly two years after his death.5 1 Pari. Writs, i. 863. a Rot. Pari. i. 218. SOI. 3 Pari. Writs, ii. 1503-5. * Abbrev. Rot. Orig. i. 252. 5 Ibid. i. 278.; Cal. Inquis. p. m., i. 310. ; Rot. Pari. i. 169. 419,420.; Blomefield's Norfolk, i. 137. 611., &c. ; Pari. Writs, ii. 1504. 130 7—1327. WILLIAM TRUSSEL. 307 TOUTIIEBY, GILBERT DE. J i st. Itin. 1318. See under the Reign of Edward III. TRIKIXGHAM, LAMBERT DE. Just. C. P. 1307, Just. K. B. 1316. B. E. 1320. See under the Reigns of Edward I. and Edward III. TRUSSEL, WILLIAM. ? Just. 1326. Historians usually describe William Trussel as a justiciary ; but he certainly was not a judge of either of the courts of Westminster, nor a regular justice of assize. His judicial functions seem to have been confined to the special trials with which his name is connected. He was apparently descended from the William Trussel who has been already mentioned as a justiciar in the reign of Henry III. ; and was second son of William Trussel, of Gublesdone (Kibblesdone), in Stafford- shire (a manor which came to the family by marriage, from Roesia, the daughter and heir of William Pantolf), and of other manors in Northamptonshire, by Maud, daughter and heir of Warin dc Manwarin. His father, who was knight of the shire for Leicester, where he also had property, in the parliament of 8 Edward II., died in the eleventh year of that reign. His elder brother, John, was called Trussel of Thorpe Malsor, one of his father's manors in Northamptonshire, and he himself was generally styled of Cublesdone. His mother afterwards married Oliver de Burdeux.1 After his father's death he was returned member for the county of Northampton in 12 Edward II., and is named among the knights of that county, and the county of Stafford, in the seventeenth year, 1224. In the interim he had been in 1 Cal. Rot Pat \ 'J 308 WILLIAM TRUSSEL. Edw. II, arms against the government, and was with the Earl of Lan- caster in the defeat at Boroughbridge. He was there taken prisoner, and appears to have been in custody on July 20, 1322 ; but a writ for his pursuit and capture on August 2 proves that he had made his escape. In the next year he was at the head of those who ravaged the estates of the Despencers.1 Joining the queen in France, he accompanied her on her landing in England in September, 1326, and was present at the fall of Bristol and the seizure of the elder Despencer. Some writers say, that the aged earl was executed without hearing or trial ; while others state, that he was accused before Sir William de Trussel ; but there are no re- mains of any regular proceedings against him. The younger Despencer, on his capture, was arraigned before Trussel in an equally informal manner ; his speech, in pronouncing the horrible sentence, seeming to have been the only indictment. That speech recapitulated all the popular charges against the prisoner and his father; and, after minutely particularising the punishment awarded, concluded by dismissing the fallen favourite with coarse vituperation. Trussel is neither before nor after described as a judge ; and the actor in so summary a process, which has the appearance of martial law, is scarcely entitled to be so designated. Although there is no record that Trussel was returned as a knight, or burgess, to the parliament that assembled at Westminster on January 7, 1327, there is no doubt that he was present in some character, as he was appointed procurator for the whole parliament, and deputed to proceed, with certain prelates and peers, to Kenilworth Castle, where the king was confined, and to pronounce the renunciation of their homage and fealty to him. This formality completed, Edward III. was proclaimed; and Trussel received the reward of his devotion by being 1 Pari. Writs, ii. P. ii. 1528. 1307—1327. HUMFREY DE WALEDENE. 309 immediately constituted the king's escheator south of Trent Pie was, however, removed from this office in the following year, having made himself an enemy in Roger de Mortimer, the queen's favourite, on whose death he was reinstated in the fourth year.1 In 7 Edward III. some change took place in the office, and he had a grant of certain lands in the isle of Anglesey, of which he was soon after made sheriff, and constable of the Castle of Beaumaris. From the ninth to the fourteenth year we find him again king's escheator, some- times on one and sometimes on the other side of the Trent.2 After this time it is difficult to trace distinctly whether the entries apply to his son William, or to him ; but it seems most probable that it was the son who was the admiral of the fleet in 13 and 16 Edward III., and who is stated by Dugdale to have been summoned as a baron to parliament in the latter year.3 If so, however, it is difficult to under- stand how "Monsr. William Trussel" answers as the repre- sentative of the Commons — that is to say, their speaker — in the parliament held at Westminster in May, 17 Edw. III.4 ; but the question is of little importance, because it is allowed that neither he nor his posterity were ever afterwards sum- moned as a baron. WALEDENE, HUMFREY DE. B. E. 1324. See under the Reign of Edward I. There are several proofs that Humfrey de Waledenc was an officer in the Exchequer long before he became a baron of that court. In 19 Edward I. the manor of Horsington was committed to him, during the minority of the heir, at a rent of 50/. a year.5 In 28 Edward I. he was appointed to ' Abbrev. Rot Ong. ii. 4—11. 42—71. * Ibid. 78. 82. 103—136. 1 Dugdale's Huron, ii. 143. 4 Rot. Pari. ii. 136. Abbrev. Hot. Orig. i. 66. x 3 310 IIUMFREY DE WALEDENE. Edw. II. perambulate the forests of Somerset, Dorset, and Devon.1 In 30 Edward I. the bishoprick of Worcester was committed to him during its vacancy; and four years afterwards the archbishoprick of Canterbury.2 He held the latter only from June 8, 1306, till March 26, 1307, when a papal nominee was substituted for him.3 His appointment as a baron of the Exchequer took place on October 19, 1306, 34 Edward I. ; but he only retained his office till the following July, when the reign terminated.4 Although he was not one of the barons sworn in on the accession of Edward II., there is nothing to show that he was disgraced. On the contrary, he is found among the justices of oyer and terminer, in the fourth and eighth years of that reign, for Essex and Hertford. In 13 Edward II. he had an extensive grant of the stewardship of various royal castles and manors in eleven counties — among which was the park of Windsor, — and of the auditorship of their accounts ; a grant which was renewed four years afterwards to him and Richard de Ikene.5 About the same time he is mentioned also as steward to the Earl of Hertford ; and seems to have been appointed, at his desire, one of the justices to take an assize in which he wTas interested.6 He was restored to his place on the Exchequer bench on June 18, 1324, 17 Edward II. ; but though he acted during the remainder of the reign7, it does not appear that he sat as a baron under Edward III. He died in the fifth year of that king, leaving an infant heir, during whose minority his lands in Stanford Rivers, in Essex, and his manor of Lavar Mag- dalen, in the same county, were placed under the custody of John de Cantebrig, at a rent of 207. His son, of the same 1 Pari. Writs, i. 398. s Abbrev. Rot. Orig. i. 119. 150. 3 Madox's Exch. ii. 224. 4 Ibid. ii. 46. 49. 57. 325. 5 Abbrcv. Rot. Orig. i. 252. 276. 6 Rot. Pari. i. 398. 7 Pari. Writs, ii. Part ii. 1567. 1307 — 1. _ INGELARD DE WARLEE. 311 name, was escheator of that county and Hertford, in the twenty-third year of Edward III.1 WALSINGHAM, RICHARD DE. Just. Itin. 1307. See under the Reign of Edward I. RiCHARD de WALSINGHAM was a knight residing in Nor- folk, his family being so called from the town of that name. He was returned for the county to the parliaments of 28, 29, and 33 Edward I. ; and it was probably on that account that he was placed in the latter year among the five justices of Trailbaston appointed for Norfolk and Suffolk 2, and was re-nominated in the new commissions of 1307.3 He was summoned among the justices to parliament in the first year of Edward II., and, during the remainder of his life, was occasionally employed in judicial business ; being more than once commanded to cause the proceedings before him as a justice of assize or otherwise to be estreated into the Exchequer. He still continued to represent Norfolk in parliament up to 7 Edward II. ; and is last mentioned in 12 Edward II. In the following year his executors were directed to bring in the proceedings before him.4 His wife, whose name was Anastasia, was buried in the Black Friars at Thetford.3 WARLEE, INGELARD DE. ? Keei>eu, ISIQ. B. E. 1316. INGELARD DE Warlee was of the clerical profession, and was procurator for the Archdeacon of Worcester in the parliament of 35 Edward I.6 Mr. Hardy has introduced him 1 Abbrev. Rot, Olig, 50. 52. 201- 203. ; Cal. Inquis. p. m., ii. 37. Pari. Writs, i. 892. 3 Rot. Tail. i. 318. 4 Pari. Writs, ii. 1574. * Weever, 828. Rot. Pari, i 19a 344, X 4 312 GEOFFREY DE WELLEFORD. Edw. II. as keeper of the Great Seal on May 11, 1310, 3 Edward II., because on the resignation of the chancellor, John de Langton, Bishop of Chichester, on that day, the king de- livered it to him to be kept in the wardrobe.1 He was then keeper of that department, in which, during any vacancy, the Seal was ordinarily deposited merely for safe custody. It so remained, on this occasion, only till the next day, when it was delivered to certain clerks of the Chancery, to perform the duties ; and afterwards re-deposited there. Ingelard de Warlee continued keeper of the wardrobe till the eighth year of that reign. In 10 Edward II., on December 29, 1316, he was appointed a baron of the Exchequer, in the place of Hervey de Staunton, who was raised to the chancellorship of that court ; and he so continued till his death, which occurred in June, 1318, 11 Edward II., soon after which Robert de Wodehouse was put in his place.2 There is an entry in the wardrobe accounts, that "two pieces of Lucca cloth" were laid upon his body, buried in the church of St. Martin's- le-Grand.3 WELLEFORD, GEOFFREY DE. ? Keeper, 1310. Geoffrey de Welleford is mentioned as a clerk of the Chancery in 35 Edward I.4 The only reason for the in- troduction of his name in this catalogue is, that under the chancellorship of Walter Reginald, Bishop of Worcester, when that prelate went to the king at Berwick, on Dec. 12, 1310, 4 Edward II., the Great Seal was committed to Adam de Osgodby, the keeper of the Rolls, to be kept under the seals of Robert de Bardelby and Geoffrey de Welleford. They retained it till the chancellor's return a week after- 1 Hardy's Catal. - Pari. Writs, i. 1582. 3 Archaeologia, xxvi. 340. 4 Pari. Writs, i. 191. 1307—1327. JOHN DE WESTCOTE. 313 wards.1 He appears again, under the same circumstances, on December 1, 1319, 13 Edward II., when the Seal was placed in the custody of Robert de Bardelby, to be kept under the seals of Master Henry de Cliff, Geoffrey de Welleford, and William de Cliff, until the return of the chancellor, John de Hotham, Bishop of Ely, from Newcastle to York, where they accordingly sealed the writs.2 The last record of his acting as a clerk of the Chancery is on May 20, 1321, when he was present at the delivery of the Seal.3 Of his private history, little that is certain remains ; and it is doubtful whether he was connected with the family of Ralph de Welleford, who has been noticed as a justicier in the reigns of Richard and John. In the last year of the latter king, there is a plea relative to the church of Norton in Leicestershire, in which the names of Geoffrey and Regi- nald, the sons of Walter de Welleford, occur4 : but of this Geoffrey I can discover no more than that he had a grant, in 6 Edward II., of a messuage in the parish of St. Dunstan's, near the New Temple, at an annual rent of forty shillings.5 WELLS, Treasurer of. See J. de Langton. WESTCOTE, JOHN DE. Just. Itin. 1310. John de Westcote appears to have been located in Sussex, where he had property in the township of Leo- minster, and obtained a license that the Abbot of Battle might grant him the manor of Anstigh for the term of his life. He was an advocate in the courts, and his name occurs in the Year Books in the early part of the reign of 1 Rot. Clans. 4 Edw. II., m. 17. * Ibid. 13 Edw. II., m. 13. ;1 Ibid. 14 Edw. II., m.\1. * Abbrev. Placit. 92. » Abbrev. Rot. Ori". i. 193. 314 JOHN DE WESTCOTE. Edw. II. Edward II. In the fourth year he was not only one of the three justices of assize appointed for Essex and Hertford, and the four neighbouring counties, but was also in a com- mission in Hampshire and Wiltshire. He is not named in any judicial employment later than 8 Edward II. ; and his death occurred between that date and June in the thirteenth year, when his executors were commanded to bring all pro- ceedings before him into the Exchequer.1 WINCHESTER, Bishop of. See J. de Sandale. WODEHOUSE, ROBERT DE, Archdeacon of Rich- mond. B. E. 1318. See under the Reign of Edward III. WORCESTER, Bishop of. See W. Reginald. YORK, Archbishop of. See W. de Melton. 1 Abbrev. Hot. Orig. i. 198.; Dugdale ; Pari. Writs, ii. P. ii. 1601. Pari. i. 300. 315 EDWARD III. Reigned 50 years, 1 months, and 27 clays; from January 25, 1:527, to June 21, 1377. SURVEY OF THE REIGN. When Edward III. assumed the title of King of France, he added the year of his nominal reign over that country to that of his reign in England. His claim to the French crown was not urged, nor the new style adopted, till the beginning of the fourteenth year, January 25, 1340 ; from which period, for more than twenty years, all public documents have a double date, the fourteenth year of England being called the first of France ; and so on till the treaty of Bretigny, when he formally renounced his title on May 8, 1360, in the thirty- fourth year. In little more than nine years, however, he resumed the title ; and from June 11, 1369, 43 Edward III., he again introduced the second date, as if it had not been interrupted; and so continued the practice till the last year of his reign, which was designated the fifty-first of England and thirty-eighth of France.1 Edward's assumption of the title of King of France, his renunciation of it, its subsequent revival, and his frequent absences from the kingdom in support of his claim to that crown, occasioned several changes in the armorial bearings 1 Ntcolai's Chronology of History, p. 297. 316 SEALS. Edw. II L and inscriptions engraven on the Great Seal, the designs of which gradually increased in richness and beauty.1 1. The Seal used for the first nine months after the kind's accession was that of his grandfather, Edward L, which origin- ally represented that monarch sitting on his throne, the back and sides of which were ornamented with pinnacles and arcade work. To these Edward II. had added two castles at the sides of the throne ; and Edward III. merely introduced, on the same Seal, an engraving of two flowers of the arms of France, as a distinguishing mark.2 The other side of the Seal had an impression of the king, in full armour, on horseback. 2. This first Seal was broken " in minutas pecias" on October 5, 1327, and the chancellor gave these pieces to his sealer. A new Seal was then adopted, which, in the procla- mation announcing its introduction and conveying its im- pression to the sheriffs of all the counties in England, is described as differing from the other, as well in its circum- ference as in its design on both sides.3 The alteration on the reverse consisted of a different form of chair, or throne, and the substitution of two large fleurs-de-lis on the sides, instead of the castles ; on the obverse, by a new style of armour, and a more graceful drapery for the horse. A payment of 51. to a goldsmith on June 2, 1332 4, for making this seal, leads to no conclusion as to its cost, as it not improbably was- a balance or instalment of the account. 3. In 1335, one of the chamberlains of the Exchequer was paid for going "from York to London, to order a certain Great Seal, for the rule of the realm of England, to be newly made."5 This new Seal, however, was not brought into use till July 10, 1338, 12 Edward III.; when, the king being 1 In this account I have heen greatly assisted by an article in the Archaeo- logical Journal, vol. ii. p. 14., written by Professor Willis with his usual accuracy and perspicuity. 2 N. Fcedera, ii. 683. 3 Ibid. 718. * Issue Roll, 6 Edw. III., 142. 5 Ibid. 9 Edw. III., 145. 1327—1377. SEALS. 317 about to leave the kingdom, in prosecution of his claim to the throne of France, sent an impression of it to all the public authorities, stating that he should take the Great Seal with him, and had provided this to be used in his absence. The variation consists in the reduction of the height of the chair, and the substitution of three lions on each side for the fleur- de-lis.1 4. A fourth Seal became necessary, by the king's formal assumption of the title of King of France. This did not occur till the commencement of his fourteenth year, January 25, 1340, although he had occasionally adopted the style from October 7, 1337. The first use of this new Seal was its being appended to his proclamation against his rival, Philip de Valois, dated at Gaunt, February 8, 1340. On his return to England on the 21st of that month, his proclamation of its introduction was, as usual, accompanied by impressions to be exhibited to the people.2 This Seal, which the king had brought with him from foreign parts, and which was, no doubt, of foreign workman- ship, is represented as coarse and ill- engraved, in which the throne is flanked by two towers, and has a clumsy canopy, with a shield of the arms of France and England quarterly, hanging on each side; the title "Rex Francic et Anglie" appears on the legend ; and the area is diapered with fleurs- de-lis. The record of its destruction, occasioned, no doubt, by its unfinished and inartistic execution, is dated on June 20, 1340 3 ; so that its existence was not of half a year's duration. No notice is taken of the appropriation of the pieces. 5. The next Seal was brought into use on the day of the destruction of the last; and as the king was then going abroad, : In the engraving! to the new edition of Rymer, this seal is made to precede the former in date ; but Professor Willis has clearly proved the contrary to he the proper arrangement. \. Feeder*, ii I 109. ill.-. :1 I hid. ii. I] 29. 318 SEALS, Ed^-. III. it was a seal for the rule of the kingdom during his absence, in substitution of the third-mentioned Seal, the fate of which is not recorded. It is somewhat curious that no engraving or specimen of this Seal has yet been discovered : its design is therefore unknown, except that in the legend the title runs "Rex Anglic et Francie." 6. On the king's angry return to England from Tournay on November 30, 1340, he took away the last-mentioned Seal from the chancellor, and gave to William de Kildesby another Great Seal, which he had brought with him from foreign parts, and ordered that it should be thenceforth used in his kingdom of England.1 Its design is the king on a throne, with a rich triple canopy over his head, and seven compartments of tracery panelling behind, lions on each side, and a shield, quartering France and England, suspended under a pointed arch. The title in the legend is " Rex Francie et Anglie et Dominus Hibernie." It is the first Great Seal in which tabernacle work is intro- duced, and exceeds its predecessors in richness of effect. This Great Seal was the substitute for the fourth which was destroyed, and was to be used when the king was within the realm, while the fifth was employed during his absence. This change took place whenever the king went abroad, and these two Seals continued to be used till the peace of Bretigny, May 8, 1360, 34 Edward III. 7. Soon afterwards, a new Seal was made in accordance with that peace2, and was the richest and handsomest of them all. Tabernacle work divides it into three large, and four narrow, compartments alternately. In the centre is the king on the throne, with lions seated on each side ; St. George and the Virgin Mary in the two narrow compartments near him ; shields, quartering France and England, are suspended in the 1 N. Frcdera, ii. 1141. ■ Ibid. iii. 868. 1327—1377. CHANCELLORS. 319 two next large compartments ; and two warriors stand in the small ones outside. The style is " Rex Anglic, Dominus Hibernie et Aquitannie." It will be observed that, though he dropped the title of king, he still continued to use the arms of France. This Seal continued in use till June 11, 1369, when, the treaty of Bretigny being set aside, the king resumed the title of King of France. On that day this seventh Seal was returned to the Treasury, and the fifth and sixth Seals were again brought forward and used1; but in the latter years of the reign this seventh Seal, the legend being altered to " Rex Francie et Anglic et Dominus Hibernie," was again called into operation, and it became the regular Great Seal not only of Edward III., but of four of his successors, with the mere substitution of their names for his.2 It is scarcely necessary to apprise the reader that all these seals were in two pieces, and that the double impression was taken upon wax placed between them. The chancellor received an annual allowance of wax for this purpose, which was sup- plied from the king's great wardrobe.3 Besides the Great Seal, and its representative while the king was abroad, there were also seals for each of the three courts of King's Bench, Common Pleas, and Exchequer, all in two pieces. The seal for the office of Privy Seal was in one piece only. New ones were delivered in the forty-third year, when Edward resumed the title of King of France. During this long reign there were seventeen chancellors, one of whom held the office three times, and another twice. Their official career occupied a period of forty-nine years and a half; and in the remaining ten or eleven months the Great Seal was held by keepers between the death or resignation of one chancellor and the appointment of another. Of these 1 N. Foedera, ill. 8G8. Irchaeol. Journ. ii. 41. 8 Archotologia, xxxi. 90. ; fssue Ltoll, 44 Edw, III., 301. 320 CHANCELLORS AND KEEPERS. Euw. III. intervals there were only four ; the longest of which was four months and twenty days, and the shortest only nineteen days. Twelve of the seventeen chancellors were ecclesiastics ; four being or becoming archbishops, and eight bishops ; one was a military knight ; and the remaining four wTere educated as lawyers. These latter were forced upon the king by the parliament ; but he on each occasion took an early opportunity of restoring the Seal to clerical hands. The longest period that any chancellor held the Seal wras about eight years and a half, and the shortest about eight months. No less than four chancellors died in this reign while holding the office. In every one of the above-mentioned intervals the keepers consisted of clerks of the Chancery, headed by the master of the Rolls. Other temporary keepers, selected from the same officers, wrere frequently appointed during the reign, when the chancellors were absent on their own or the king's affairs ; but as these were mere deputies, and not independent keepers, they are excluded from the table of chancellors, but their names are noticed in the following detailed account of the succession of the office. Chancellors and Keepers. On the king's accession the Great Seal was in the custody of William de Ayremynne, Bishop of Norwich, and Henry de Cliff, master of the Rolls ; but three days afterwards, January 28, 1327, it was delivered to John de Hotham, Bishop of Ely1, who had held it for nineteen months in the previous reign. His continuance in the office of chancellor was for little more than a year ; his retirement taking place on March 1, 1328. Henry de Cliff and William de Herlaston, the former master of the Rolls, and the latter one of the clerks in 1 Rot. Claus. 1 Edw. III., p. l.m. 25. 1327—1377. CHANCELLORS AND KEEPERS. 321 Chancery, were then entrusted with the Seal as joint keepers ; for though it was delivered to Cliff to be kept under the seal of Herlaston, and he was to entertain the clerks and other officers, and to be paid the accustomed fee, yet the record dis- tinctly says that on the next day they both sealed l : and they are called "custodes magni sigilli" on May 12, when they replaced it in the king's hands. Henry de Burghersh, Bishop of Lincoln, was on the same day appointed chancellor2; and remained in office till the king, breaking the shackles in which the queen and Mortimer had bound him, took upon himself the government of the kingdom, and reclaimed the Great Seal on Nov. 28, 1330.3 Burghersh was several times absent from court ; viz. from July 1 to 30, 1328, when he went with the queen to Ber- wick ; from August 17 to 26 ; from January 15 to 19, 1329 ; and from May 31 to June 11, 1329, being then abroad with the king. On all these occasions the Great Seal was depo- sited with Henry de Cliff and William de Herlaston, or one of them, in the same manner as before ; and separate entries were made thereof on the Boll.4 John de Stratford, then Bishop of Winchester, received the Seal on the day of Burghersh's removal5, and held the chancellorship till September 28, 1334, a period of nearly four years, being in the latter year raised to the archbishoprick of Canterbury. During this his first chancellorship, John de Stratford was frequently sent abroad, and the Great Seal was, as usual, placed in the hands of other persons to act for him. These were his brother, Robert de Stratford, who is some- 1 Rot. Claus. 2 Edw. III., m. 33. ■ Ibid. m. 26. 3 Ibid. 4 Edw. III., m. JG. * Ibid. 2 Edw. III., m. 2. 17. 20. ; 3 Edw. III., m. 19, 20, 5 Ibid. 4 Edw. III., m. 16. VOL. III. Y 322 CHANCELLORS AND KEEPERS. Edw. III. times called locum tenens of the chancellor; Henry de Cliff, master of the Rolls ; William de Melton, Arch- bishop of York ; and Henry de Edenstowe, Thomas de Baumburgh, and John de St. Paul, clerks in the Chancery.1 Richard de Bury, or de Aungerville, Bishop of Durham, was constituted chancellor on September 28, 1334, when John de Stratford resigned.2 He held the Seal only till June 6, 1335, when John de Stratford, Archbishop of Canterbury, was re-appointed 3, and remained in office for nearly two years. Robert de Stratford, then Archdeacon of Canter- bury, who had acted frequently as locum tenens for his brother, the archbishop, was appointed his successor on March 24, 1337 4, and became Bishop of Chichester in September following. He kept the Seal for about sixteen months. The Rolls contain no entry of the disposal of the Seal during the occasional absences of the last three chancellors. Richard de Bynteworth, Bishop of London, suc- ceeded Robert de Stratford on July 6, 1338.5 He died in possession of the Seal on the 7th of December in the follow- ing year. During his short administration he appears to have been absent only thirteen days, for the purpose of being consecrated, viz., from July 6 to the 19th, during which John de St. Paul, master of the Rolls, and Thomas de Baumburgh acted for him.6 On Bynteworth's death the business of the Chancery was transacted by the above two and Michael de Wath, who 1 Rot. Claus. 5 Edw. III., p. 1. m. 10., p. 2. m. 2. ; 6 Edw. III., m. 3. 22. 30. ; 7 Edw. III., p. 1. m. 3., p. 2. m. 4. ; 8 Edw. III., m. 27. 2 Ibid. 8 Edw. III., ra. 10. 3 Ibid. 9 Edw. III., m. 23. 4 Ibid. 11 Edw. III., p. 1. in. 29. 5 Ibid. 12 Edw. III., p. 2. m. 23. 8 Ibid. 1327—1377. < 1IANCELL0RS AND KEEPERS. 323 held the Seal from December 8, 1339 S to February 16, 1340; when John de St. Paul, the master of the Rolls, was ap- pointed sole keeper of the Seal 2, which he retained till John de Stratford, Archbishop of Canterbury, was placed in the office for the third time on April 28, 1340.3 He resigned, on account of alleged infirmity, in less than two months. Robert de Stratford, his brother, then Bishop of Chichester, was thereupon restored on June 20 ; but being absent, the Seal, which was then newly made, was placed in the hands of John de St. Paul, the master of the Rolls, till the bishop's return to court on July 12.4 His second chancellorship was abruptly terminated by the sudden arrival of the king from the siege of Tournay, and his angry dismissal on December 1 in the same year.5 Sir Robert Bourchier was then taken from his mili- tary occupations, and installed into the office of chancellor on December 14, 1340.6 The parliament, however, soon became dissatisfied with the appointment; and the knight returned to his original profession within eleven months after receiving the Seal. During this short interval he was twice absent; on the first occasion from December 16 to the end of the year, when the Seal was left with Thomas de Evesham, then, or a few days after, made master of the Rolls, and Thomas de Brayton and Edmund de Grymesby, clerks in the Chan- cery7, and on the last occasion from February 14 to March •", 1341, when the Seal remained in the custody of Thomas de Pardishowe, under the seals of Evesham and Brayton, 1 Rot Clans. 19 Edw, III., p. a. m. 11, - Ibid. 14 Edw. III., p. 1. m. 42. 3 Ibid. p. 1. m. 27. 4 Ibid. p. 1. m. 13. 5 Ibid. p. _'. in. 0 Ibid. p. 'J. in. 10. 7 Ibid. I 2 324 CHANCELLORS AND KEEPERS. Edw. III. the two latter, however, performing the duties attached to its possession. Sir Kobert Parning, then treasurer, but who had been chief justice of the King's Bench, was raised to the chancellor- ship on October 29, 1341 l ; and died on August 26, 1343. For a month after this event no chancellor was appointed ; but the Great Seal remained in the possession of John de Thoresby, master of the Rolls, and the before-mentioned John de St. Paid and Thomas de Brayton, who jointly trans- acted the business.2 Robert de Sadington, the chief baron of the Ex- chequer, received the Seal as chancellor on September 29, 1343.3 He held it for little more than two years. John de Ofeord, Dean of Lincoln, was made chancellor on Sadington's resignation, October 26, 1345 4, and retained the office till his death on May 20, 1349, having, a few months previously, been elected Archbishop of Canterbury. The duties of the Chancery were then executed by David de Wollore, the master of the Rolls, in conjunction with St. Paul and Brayton, and Thomas de Cotyngham, another clerk of the Chancery 5, until John de Thoresby, who had been advanced to the bishoprick of St. David's, received the Seal as chancellor on June 16, 1349.6 He became successively Bishop of Wor- cester and Archbishop of York, and then resigned the Seal, after having held it for above seven years. Two absences only are recorded in his time; one from September 2 to October 8, 1351, when the Seal was com- mitted to Wollore, Brayton, and Grymesby 7 ; and the other from August 4, 1353, to a day not mentioned, Wollore, 1 Rot. Claus. 15 Edw. III., p. 3. m. 22. 2 Ibid. 17 Edw. III., p. 2. m. 24. 3 Ibid. p. 2. m. 20. 4 Ibid. 19 Edw. III., p. 2. m. 10. 5 Ibid. 23 Edw. III., p. 1. m. 10. 6 Ibid. p. 1. m. 8. 7 Ibid. 25 Edw. III., m. 12. 1327—1377. CHANCELLORS AND KEEPERS. 325 Brayton, and Andrew de Offord, being then entrusted with the Seal. William de Edington, Bishop of Winchester, suc- ceeded John de Thoresby on November 27, 1356 !, and performed the duties of the Chancery without any named substitute for about six years and three months, when he was allowed to resign. Simon Langiiam, Bishop of Ely, was put in his place on February 19, 1363 2; and he in like manner acted throughout the four years and a half of his chancellorship without a recorded deputy. William of Wykeham's appointment as his successor took place between the 10th and 17th of September, 1367, 41 Edward III.3 After three years and a half, in conse- quence of the Commons objecting to the great offices of state being held by the clergy, King Edward was compelled to relinquish his services ; and Sir Robert de Thorpe, chief justice of the Common Pleas, was substituted for him on March 16, 137 1.4 He was the fourth chancellor of this reign who died in office, that event occurring on June 29, 1372. At the commencement of his chancellorship, he had per- mission to visit his home, when Walter Power, William DE BURSTALL, WlLLIAM DE MlRFIELD, and NICHOLAS DE Spaigne, all clerks in the Chancery, were entrusted with the custody of the Seal during his absence, the length of which is not stated.5 Sir John Knyvet, chief justice of the King's Bench, was promoted to the chancellorship on July 5, 1372 6, and remained in office, without any notice of a deputy, for four years and a half; when ' Rot. Claus. SO Edw, III., ro. l. s Ibid. :s: Edw, III., m. 39. Il.u.ly's Ciital. 40. * Rot. CUuS. 15 Edw. [II., m • Ibid. 8 Ibid. 46 Edw. Ill , m, 80, y 3 326 MASTERS OF THE ROLLS. Edw. III. Adam de Houghton, Bishop of St. David's, was made chancellor in his place on January 11, 1377 !, and so con- tinued for the remaining five months of Edward's- reign. On the king's death on June 21, he was abroad on a mission to the King of France, having deposited the Seal with William de Burst all, then master of the Rolls, Richard de Ravenser, and Thomas de Newenham.2 The master of the Rolls was, as is shown in the preceding statement, in most cases one of the persons to whom the business of the Great Seal was entrusted either on the death or during the absence of the chancellor. Six out of the seven of these officers, who lived in the reign of Edward III., were employed in this duty, Michael de Wath being the only exception. They succeeded each other in the following order. Masters of the Rolls. Henry de Cliff, who held the office at the end of the reign of Edward II., died in possession of it about January, 1334. Michael de Wath succeeded him on January 20 in that year, 7 Edward III.3; and resigned on April 28, 1337. John de St. Paul, one of the masters in Chancery, was appointed on that day4, and retained the office till December 2, 1340, when, upon an apparently unfounded charge of mal-administration made by the king on his return from the siege of Tournay, he was dismissed. Thomas de Evesham, the senior master in Chancery, re- ceived the appointment on January 10, 1341, 14 Edward III.5; but only retained it six weeks, when 1 Rot. Claus. 50 Edw. III., p. 2. m.27. 2 Ibid. 51 Edw. III., rn, 7. 3 Ibid. 8 Edw. III., m. 36. * Ibid. 11 Edw. III., p. l. m. 13. 5 Ibid. 14 Edw. III., p. 2. m. 9. & 10. 1327—1377. MASTERS OF THE ROLLS. 327 John de Thoresby was installed on February 21, 1341 !, and held the post till he was made keeper of the Privy Seal, between May 20 and July 26, 1345. David de Wollore's grant does not appear ; but pro- bably it was dated between the last two days, although he is not mentioned with the title till July 2, 1346.2 He died in the office in 44 Edward III., 1370. William de BuRSTALL was his successor. Dugdale dates his nomination on March 28, 1371 3 ; and he was still master of the Rolls at the death of the king on June 21, 1377. Only one of these masters, John de Thoresby, was after- wards raised to the chancellorship, and that not till three or four years after his retirement. Three of them, Michael de Wath, John de St. Paul, and Thomas de Evesham, fell back, after filling the office, into their former places as clerks in the Chancery ; and two only, Henry de Cliff and David de Wollore, retained their position till their deaths. Although the master of the Rolls was clearly a separate officer, nomi- nated by the Crown, taking a special oath, and admitted with great solemnity, there is no doubt that he was still considered one of the clerks of the Chancery : and David de Wollore is described solely by that title twenty years after his appointment as master of the Rolls, though he still retained that office. During the time of William de Burstall, the office of keeper of the House of Converts, Domus Conversorum, in Chancery Lane, was permanently annexed to the mastership of the Rolls ; both, however, having been before occasionally held by the same individual. This establishment was founded by Henry III. as an asylum for such Jews as embraced the Christian religion. 1 Hot Claus. 15 Eclw. III., p. 1. m. 34. a N. Fodera, ill 85. s Dugdale's Chron. Series. Y 4 328 ROLLS HOUSE. Edw. III. The erection of the church must have been commenced just previous to 1232 ; for by a charter dated on January 16 in that year, 16 Henry III.1, the king granted the liberal sum of seven hundred marks to be annually paid to the converts frequenting the church, for their support, and for the construction of their church and buildings ; to be drawn out of the Exchequer half-yearly, until they were more largely provided for in lands and rents, and a certain place assigned to them, whereby they might be able to sustain themselves decently, to the honour of God and the Blessed Virgin, to whom the church was dedicated. The precise position of the church is pointed out in this and a subsequent record to be in the place called New-streete, between the Old and the New Temple in London. This street was soon afterwards named Chancellors' Lane ; which was subsequently softened to its present denomination, Chancery Lane. It is evident from this document that as yet there was no head of the establishment; the-duty of communicating between the converts and the king being therein assigned to the chief justiciary, or the chancellor. Nor was there any such officer on the 19th of April in the following year, the date of the next charter. 2 The erection of the buildings had in the mean time proceeded, for, instead of its being called a church only, it is described as a House, which the king had caused to be founded "ad sustentationem fratrum conversorum et conver- tendorum de Judaismo ad fidem Catholicum. " This is a grant of the houses and lands which belonged to John Herbeton (Herlicum* as the name is afterwards more correctly spelled) in London, and then in the king's hands as his escheat, except the garden in the said place called New- streete, which the king had previously given to his chancellor, Ralph de Neville, Bishop of Chichester3; and for their N. Fcedera, i. 201. Sec ante, vol. ii. p. 201 2 Ibid. 208. 1327—1377. ROLLS HOUSE. 329 further support the king assigned to them all the escheats in the city of London during his reign. Females as well as males were allowed to be members of this community ; as we learn from a mandate to admit William de Lincoln and Christiana de Oxonia, converts, dated August 11, 1233, and addressed to Stephen de Stranda and Josceus Fitz-Peter, in whose custody the congregation is there stated to be. l These, then, it would appear, were the first keepers of the House, and held the office jointly ; but a short time afterwards Josceus Fitz-Peter became sole keeper, custos domus, — a mandate to the escheators and sheriffs of London, dated April 19, 1235, directing them to give him, under that title, possession of John Herlicum's lands and houses in pursuance of the grant.2 On April 1, 1237, the king, having obtained the church of St. Dunstan, Fleet Street, from the abbot and convent of Westminster, bestowed it as a further endowment for this house ; and on November 8, 1248, he granted to the "master and brothers" the houses, rents, lands, and tenements in London which had been forfeited by Constantine, son of Alufus, who had been hanged for felony.3 The keepers of this house were almost invariably eccle- siastics ; and were in general removable at the king's pleasure, but sometimes were appointed for life. Robes were assigned to them out of the king's wardrobe. Master Walter, who subsequently became keeper, was chaplain at the foundation, and received thirty marks a-year for his support.4 There were afterwards two, and sometimes three chaplains to the establishment. 1 Rot. Claus. 17 Hen. III., m. 6. 2 Ibid. 19 Hen. III., m. 13. 3 Rot. Chart. 33 Hen. III., m. 7. 4 Writs, Hit 17 Hen. III. ; Devon's Issue Roll, 515. 330 ROLLS HOUSE. Edw. III. Keepers or Masters of the House of Converts, till it was permanently annexed to the master- ship of the kolls. 1233. Aug. Stephen de Stranda, i joint keepers. — Claus. 17 Hen. III. Josceus Fitz -Peter, J m. 6. 1235. April. Josceus Fitz-Peter. — Claus. 19 Hen. III. m. 13. 1240. Easter. Master Walter received ten marks as keeper. — Devon's Issue Roll, p. 15. ; Lib. 24 Hen. III. 1265. Nov. 28. Adam de Cestreton, for life. — Pat. 50 Hen. III. m. 41. 1268. Thomas de la Leye, for life.— Pat. 53 Hen. III. m. 21. 1271. April 13. John de Sancto Dionysio, afterwards Archdeacon of Rochester, for life. — Pat. 55 Hen. III. m. 19. 1288. Oct. 16. Robert de Scardeburgh, during pleasure. — Pat. 16 Edw. I. m. 4. 1289. Dec. 16. Richard de Climpinges.— Pat. 18 Edw. I. m. 45. During his time the Jews were banished from the kingdom. 1290. Oct. 27. Walter de Agmondesham, during pleasure. — Pat. 18 Edw. I. m. 3. In 26 Edward III. he was receiver of the money for payment of the expenses of the army in Scot- land (Liber Rob. Hayroun in Carlton Ride), and afterwards became chancellor of that kingdom. — Rot. Pari. i. 469. 1298. April 10. Henry de Bluntesdon, called the king's chaplain and " Elymosinarius," during pleasure. — Pat. 26 Edw. I. m. 20. 1307. Nov. 7. Adam de Osgodby, master of the Rolls, during plea- sure.—Pat. 1 Edw. II. m. 13. 1313. Sept. 18. Adam de Osgodby, master of the Rolls, for life. — Pat. 7 Edw. II. p. 1. m. 17. At this period the rents were so much in arrear that the king issued a mandate to the mayor and sheriff of London to assist in their collection. — Pat. 7 Edw. II. p. 1. m. 13. 1316. Aug. 20. William de Ayremynne succeeded him in both offices, and had the grant of this for life. — Madox's Exch. i. 259. He resigned the mastership of the Rolls on May 26, 1324, but continued keeper of this House till October 4, 1325, when his removal no doubt took place on his becoming Bishop of Norwich. Under him the brethren complained to the king 1327—1377. ROLLS HOUSE. 331 that their allowance from the Exchequer was three years in arrear, and that some had died for want of it.— Rot. Pari. i. 378. 1325. Oct. 4. Robert de Holden, for life. — Rot. Pat. 19 Edw. EL p. 1. m. 2. Soon after the deposition of the king he was re- moved. 1327. March 8. Richard de Ayremynne, for life.— Rot. Pat. 1 Edw. III. p. 1. m. 13. He had been, but was not then, master of the Rolls. He afterwards placed this office in the hands of the king1, to the use of 1339. June 6. John de St. Paul, master of the Rolls, to whom it was then given for his life. — Rot. Pat. 13 Edw III. p. 1. m. 10. St. Paul retained it after he had ceased to be master of the Rolls, but resigned on his being made Archbishop of Dublin. 1350. Jan. 28. Henry de Ingelby, for life. — Rot. Pat. 24 Edw. III. p. 1. m. 30. On his resignation 1371. July 22. William de Burstall, master of the Rolls, received the appointment for life.— Rot. Pat. 45 Edw. III. p. 2. m. 29. From this time the two offices of master of the Rolls and keeper of the House of Converts have always been held by the same person. The patent by which they were annexed is dated April 11, 1377, 51 Edward III., two months before the king's death. After reciting that by the negligence of preceding keepers the chapel and buildings had become ruinous, and that William de Burstall had expended great sums in their repair since he became keeper, and also in erecting new houses there, the king grants, that, for the future support of the house, it shall for ever be annexed to 1 It appears, however, by Rot. Claus. 6 Edw. III., m. 30., that though Richard de Ayremynne was then keeper of the House of Converts, Henry de Cliff, the master of the Rolls, resided there. The record states that he took the Great Seal to his " Hospicium " at the House of Converts, and sealed in the chapel of the converts. 332 MASTERS IN CHANCERY. Edw. III. the office of the keeper of the Rolls of the Chancery, and that the chancellor shall have power to institute every suc- ceeding keeper of the Rolls into the said house. No earlier accounts of the keeper of the House of Con- verts now exists than those of Richard de Ayremynne, com- mencing 5 Edward III., 1331 ; nor have any later been dis- covered than 6 James L, 1608, when Edward Bruce, Lord Kinlos, was master. After the banishment of the Jews in 1290 the number of converts must have greatly diminished ; for during the period comprehended in the accounts, they seldom exceeded five or were less than two. The usual daily allowance was three-halfpence to the men and one penny to the women.1 Masters in Chancery. The six following clerks or masters in Chancery, whose names occur under Edward II., continued to act in this reign. There were probably six others, but I have not been able to discover who they were. Henry de Cliff, M.R. - - 1 to 7 Edw. III. Adam de Brome - - 1 to 3 — William de Herlaston - - 1 to 27 — John de Crosseby - - - 1 to 2 — William de Leycester - - 1 to 8 — Henry de Edenestowe - - 1 to 20 — Those appointed in this reign were — Thomas de Baumburgh - - 1 to 14 — ? Adam de Herwynton - - 2 — Thomas de Evesham (M. R. for six weeks in } 2 to 17 14 Edw. III.) Michael de Wath (M. R. from 8 to 11 Edw. III.) - 6 to 14 — John de Blebury - - - 6 to 12 — 1 That learned antiquary and amiable man, the Rev. Joseph Hunter, in whose department these records are kept, has obligingly furnished me with these particulars. 12 to 15 — 1327—1377. MASTERS IN CHANCERY. 333 Thomas de Brayton, or Drayton - - - 6 to 33 Edw. III. John de St. Paul (M. R. from 1 1 to 14 Edw. III.) - 7 to 23 — John de Langtoft - - - - -7 to 14 — Edmund de Grymesby - - - - 9 to 27 — Thomas de Elingham - - - - 1 1 — Robert de Kettleseye - - - - 1 1 to 20 — ? William de Kyldesby - - - - 12 — ? Thomas Durant, Archdeacon of Middlesex - 12 — John de Wodehouse, afterwards chancellor of the 1 Exchequer J ? Henry de Iddesworth - - - - 12 to 20 Henry de Stratford - - - 14 Thomas de Sibthorp (killed by his clerk) - - 14 to 25 Thomas de Cotyngham - - - - 14 to 44 Thomas de Pardishowe - - - - 15 John de Marton - - - - -15 to 17 John de Thoresby, M. R. - - - - 15 to 19 Ely as de Grymesby - - - - 15 to 36 Gilbert de Chishull - - - - 18 Thomas de Capenhurst - - - -18 to 21 William de Emeldon - - - - 18 to 28 Andrew de Offord - - - - - 19 to 29 David de Wollore, M. R. - - - - 19 to 44 ? John de Chestrefeld - - - - 22 John Gogh - - - - - 25 to 29 William de Newenham - - - - 25 to 29 Walter Power - - - - - 25 to 47 John de Rokyngham - - - - 33 John de Codyngton - - - - 33 to 43 ? John de Branketre - - - - 36 to 48 William de Mir field - - - - 36 to 49 Richard de Ravenser, Archdeacon of Lincoln - 36 to 51 Nicholas de Spaigne - - - - 45 to 48 ? Robert de Wykford, afterwards Archbishop of "I Dublin and chancellor of Ireland J William de Burstall, M. K. ... 45 to 51 Thomas de Newenham - - - - 45 to 51 ? Simon de Multon - - - - 46 to 49 Henry de Codington - - - - 49 to 51 Richard de Tissyngton - - - - 50 Thomas de Thelwall - - - - 50 to 51 John de Freton, or Frethorne - - - 50 to 51 ? Michael de Ravendale - - - - 50 to 51 P Peter de Barton - - - - - 50 to 51 45 to 50 — 334 MASTERS IN CHANCERY. Edw. 111. ? John de Bouland - ? Walter Skirlawe, Dean of St. Martin's, London," afterwards Bishop of Lichfield, Bath and Wells, and Durham 50 to 51 Edw. III. 51 Throughout the reign they attended the parliament, and were almost invariably appointed receivers of the petitions presented to it, the triers of which were selected from among the peers and the judges. By a petition in 4 Edward III. it appears that for time out of mind it had been the practice, under the royal command, for the chancellors to present the livings in the king's gift, within the value of twenty marks, to the clerks in the Chan- cery ; and that it had so continued until Henry de Burghersh, Bishop of Lincoln, became chancellor ; and the clerks complain that he, during the whole of his time, presented these livings to his own clerks, contrary to the king's will and the said ordinance and usage. Whereupon they pray that the king and his council will order that the chancellor shall in future give the said benefices to the clerks, and that this shall be by " eleccion de le3 mestres de la chauncellerie" The answer to this petition was, that they should be given to the clerks of the Chancery and the Exchequer, and the two benches, and no other.1 Here we have another step towards the adoption of the present title of masters in Chancery ; and before the end of the reign the designation was introduced into the formal appointment to the office. In 49 Edward III. the king granted that Henry de Codington should, during his life, be one of his clerks "de majori gradu, vidlt. : unus de 12 Magistris cancellariae nostra predicts, " of which one was then deficient : and in a grant to Thomas de Th el wall, two years afterwards, he is spoken of as " unius de duodecim clericorum nostrorum in cancellaria de Rot. Pari. ii. 41. 1327—13;;. MASTERS IN CHANCERY. 335 primo gradu." These are the first instances I have seen of their number being fixed. One of their privileges was to have all pleas between any of their body and other persons tried in the Chancery ; and a writ issued against one of them by the sheriffs of London, at the suit of a private party, was annulled, and the plea ordered to be prosecuted "in cancellaria nostra ;" ■ and this privilege extended to their servants.2 The robes of the clerks were supplied out of the issues of the Hanaper ; and the keeper of that department in May, 24 Edward III., was ordered to pay to the chancellor 71. Is. 8d., being the sum which their summer robes, in con- sequence of the dearness of the materials, had cost beyond the accustomed allowance.3 The importance of the position in which they stood, if not the nature of their duties, may be in some measure collected from the oath appointed for them to take, which is appended to the "Ordinance for the Justices," 20 Edward III. They are to swear that they will " serve the king and his people in their office ; that they will not assent nor procure the king's disherison nor perpetual damage to their power, nor do any fraud to any man's wrong, nor thing that toucheth the keeping of the Seal ; that they shall give counsel in the thing that toucheth the king when required, and conceal it when given ; and that they shall put their lawful power to repress and amend the king's disherison or fraud on the Seal known to them; and, if they cannot do it, shall certify the chancellor to be amended." The same statute shows that there were other clerks of a lower grade in the same department, called clerks of course, clerici cle cursu, who swore the same oath, with several addi- 1 N. Foedera, iii. 13. Ibid. 797. 8 Ibid. 1 0*7. 336 CHANCERY. Edw. III. tional clauses relative to the issue of writs, the preparation of which belonged to them.1 These, no doubt, were the " clerks of the Chancery " who, at four different times in 44 Edward III., received of the king's gift, 11, Is. 6d., 131. 6s. 8d., and 37. 13s. 4c/., for their labour in writing letters to all parts of England to borrow money for the king, and on other state affairs. William de Wyn- terton, " clerk in the Chancery," who was paid 6s. 8d. for writing two charters of the foundation of the king's chapel at Westminster, in 24 Edward III., was also probably of this class.'2 During the second year of this reign the Chancery was held at York, where the King's Bench and Exchequer were then established; and it seems also to have been there throughout the seventh year. But in all the remainder of the reign it appears to have been permanently fixed in London and Westminster. The place of its sittings, in the latter, is invariably in the Great Hall, "at the marble seat where the chancellors were accustomed to sit ; " and in the former, was principally in the Chapter House of the Friars Preachers, or Friars of Mount Carmel, in Fleet Street ; being occasionally varied from circumstances now unknown, or for the convenience of the holders of the Seal. Thus we have one instance of a sealing at the House of Converts, another at the New Temple, and two at Berkyng Chapel, near the Tower. I have already shown, in the survey of the preceding reign, the commencement of the practice of a separate reference to the Chancery. The Rolls of Parliament, and other records, prove that the same course continued under Edward III. ; 1 Stat, of Realm, i. 306. Pell Records, 126. 220. 419. 479.; Devon's Issue Roll, 154. For the communication of several of the documents referred to in this account, I have to express my grateful acknowledgments to William Brougham, Esq., one of the present masters. 1327—1377. KING'S BENCH. 337 and that the equitable jurisdiction of the chancellor, if not completely established, was practically recognised in the course of this reign, seems to be generally acknowledged.1 There is no doubt that there was, at this time, a regular Court of Chancery ; that it was held in Westminster Hall, at the marble stone, or marble chair; that "the chancellor usually sat there, among the clerks of the Chancery ; " 2 and that, when so sitting, he was said to be "in plena cancel- laria." 3 There is an instance, in 44 Edward III., of all the judges of both benches coming into Chancery to debate as to the widow of a grantee of the crown being entitled to livery for her son, who was under age.4 In a case, also, in 17 Ed- ward III., the chancellor, Parning, brought down the record in a suit from the Chancery, into the Court of King's Bench with his own hand.5 It was still the duty of the chancellor or keeper of the seal "tenere hospitium" for the clerks of the Chancery and the other officers of the department.6 The courts of King's Bench and Exchequer, in the first year of Edward's reign, were removed from London to York, to the great annoyance of the citizens of the former, whose remonstrances were at that time unable to produce a reversal of the order.7 But in October in the next year the king, by advice of the parliament, commanded both courts to return to Westminster ; the Exchequer to be held there in the next Hilary term, and the King's Bench at Easter.8 It is evident, however, that the King's Bench still followed the royal movements ; for we find an enactment in February, 8 Edward III., that it should stay in Warwickshire after the 1 Hardy's General Introd. to Close Holls, 110. Rot (laus. ig Edw. 111., p.2. in. -Jl. :i Ibid. 25 Ed\r. III., m, 11. 1 Year Book, Mic. 44 Edw. III., p.4& 5 Ibid. East. 17 Edw. III., p. 21. r> Rot Claws. 2 Edw. Ill . in 7 N. l'ojdora, ii. 717. 8 Rot. Pari. ii. I VOL. III. A 338 king's bench. Edw. III. following Easter : and in 38 Edward III., the Commons presented a petition to the king, complaining that as the Bench is wandering from county to county the people are made to come before the justices in each county, to their great distraction and cost ; and that many are defeated for want of wise counsel, whereof they can find none because of the un- certainty of the place ; and therefore praying that the said Bench may be established in Westminster or York. The king refused to renounce his prerogative of ordering his Bench where he should please ; but promised to do so as should be best in ease and quiet of his people : and a similar complaint, with much the same answer, occurs in 46 Ed- ward III.1 Chief Justices of the King's Bench. There is some doubt whether Geoffrey le Scrope, who was chief justice of this court at the end of the reign of Edward IL, was re-appointed on the commencement of this ; and it is questionable whether the place was filled up during the first year. ? Henry le Scrope, however, who had presided in the court during part of the former reign, is stated by Dugdale to have been discharged from the office of chief justice on March 1 in the first year ; so that, if there is no mistake in this, he may have held it during the months of January and February, 1327. But this again seems to be contradicted by the fact that he was appointed second justice of the Common Pleas on February 5. The greater probability seems to be that the discharge was to Geoffrey le Scrope, and that the office was then left vacant until certain suspicions which were harboured against him had been investigated. On his clearance from these 1 Rot. Pari, ii 286. 311. 1327—1377. KING'S BENCH. 339 Geoffrey le Scrope was reinstated on February 28, 1328, 2 Edward III. The king requiring his presence with him in France in the next year, Robert de Malberthorp, one of the judges of the court, was raised to its head on May 1, 1329 ; but he resigned the place to Henry le Scrope on October 28 following, who in his turn was superseded by his brother, Geoffrey le Scrope, on December 19, 1330. Geoffrey being again called upon to accompany the king abroad, Richard de Wilughby, a judge of the court, was sub- stituted for him from March 28 to September 20, 1332, 6 Edward III., when Geoffrey le Scrope resumed his position for about a year ; but going then on an embassy to France, Richard de Wilughby was replaced on September 10, 1333, 7 Edward III. The precise date on which Geoffrey le Scrope resumed his office does not appear; but he is called by the title of chief justice in the mandate to him to attend the parliament of Edward Balliol in Scotland, which is dated February 1, 1334 ] ; and in the parliament at York which was held about the 20th of the same month it was enacted, that the King's Bench should stay in Warwickshire after Easter, "fur that Sir Geoffrey le Scroop, chief justice, is busie in the king's weighty affairs, whose place to supply Sir Richard Wilughby is appointed."2 Scrope became second judge of the Common Pleas on July 16, 1334, but remained there only a short time; as he was not in that court in 1337, and was certainly chief justice of this on April 4, 1338, when lie was commanded in that character to admit two new judges to their places.3 1 N. Feeders, ii. 875. * Rot. Pari. ii. 377. 3 Rot. Claus. IS Edw. III., p. 1. m. 11. Z 2 340 king's BENCH. Edw. III. He resigned previous to the following October, being then called "nuper Capitalis Justiciarius."1 Richard de Wilughby, who, during Scrope's numerous embassies, had performed the duties of the office, was then re-appointed, and continued to act till the middle of the year 1340; when, being removed, he made way for Robert Parning, a judge of the Common Pleas, who was constituted chief justice on July 24, 1340, 14 Ed- ward III. Before six months had expired, Parning was made treasurer, and was succeeded by William Scot, one of the judges of the court, who was appointed its chief on January 8, 1341, 14 Edward III. On his death, William de Thorpe, also a member of the same bench, became chief justice on November 26, 1346, 20 Edward III. He was disgraced in the twenty-fourth year, and William de Shareshull, then a justice of the Com- mon Pleas, superseded him on October 26, 1350. On his retirement, Thomas de Setone, another justice of the Common Pleas, was made chief justice of the King's Bench on July 5, 1357, 31 Edward III. He was succeeded by Henry Green, also from the Common Pleas, on May 24, 1361, 35 Edward III. It does not clearly appear whether he was disgraced, as stated in Joshua Barnes's history of the reign; but he was certainly removed October 29, 1365, 39 Edward III., when John Knyvet, likewise from the Common Pleas, was put in his place. He created a vacancy by accepting the Great Seal, as chancellor, on June 30, 1372, 46 Edward III. John de Cavendish, also a judge of the Common Pleas, was appointed chief justice on July 15 following, and held 1 Liber. 12 Edw. III., m. 4. I. 1327. II. 1328. [V. 1330. March 6. 7. 9. Dec. 15. 1331. Jan. 18. 1327—1377. KING'S BENCH. 341 the presidency of the court during the .six remaining years of the reign. Judges of the King's Bbncii. The two junior judges of this court at the end of the last reign were Henry Spigurnel and Robert de Malberthorp. The former was not re-appointed, being incapacitated by age ; but the latter, after a short interval, was replaced in his seat. Walter de Friskeney. Robert de Malberthorp. Robert Baynard. Henry de Hambury, loco ? W. de Friskeney. Richard de Wilughby, removed from the Com- mon Pleas, loco ? R. Baynard. Thomas de Louther. Geoffrey de Edenham, loco R. de Malber- thorp, made Just. C. P. VI. 1332. Jan. 28. Thomas Bacon, from the Common Pleas ; loco R. de Wilughby, about to be made Ch. K. B. VII. 1333. March 20. William de Shareshull, for only two months. VIII. 1334. Sept. 14. • Robert de Scardeburgh, or Scorburgh, from the Exchequer ; loco ? T. de Louther. XII. 1338. April 4. Robert Brundish. William Faunt. XIII. 1339. May 2. William Scot, loco ? T. Bacon. Sept. 6. John de Shardelowe, Just. C. P. ; loco R. de Scardeburgh, made C. P. On November 30, 1340, the king returned from the siege of Tournay, and being disappointed at t he- want of funds, hastily dismissed and imprisoned several of his judges and other officers on charges of mal- administration. It would appear from the above arrangement that the judges of this court at the time were, Robert Parning, chief justice, Henry de Hambury, William Faunt, Geoffrey de Edenham, William Scot, Robert Brundish, John de Shardelowe. But of these, though Hambury was alive in ii> Ed- ward III., and Edenham in 15 Edward III., it is 342 king's BENCH. Edw. III. very doubtful whether they remained so long on the Bench, as their names are not on the Liberate Roll of October, 12 Edward III. Neither are those of Brundish or Faunt, of whom there is so total a blank that it is difficult to say whether they retained their seats. It is therefore not impossible that Parning, Scot, and Shardelowe were then the only members of the court; and it is even uncertain whether the latter had not returned to the Common Pleas before this date. He, however, was a sufferer on this occasion : Parning was made treasurer, and Scot chief justice in his room. The only vacancy supplied at the time was XIV. 1341. Jan. 8 Robert de Scardeburgh, loco ? J. de Shar- delowe. XV. Roger de Bankwell. Oct. 28. William Basset, from the Common Pleas. 1342. Jan. 10. Adam de Steyngrave, also from the Common Pleas. XIX. 1345. William de Thorpe, Just. C. P. loco ? R. de Scardeburgh. A mandate to the keeper of the wardrobe to deliver the judges' yearly robes, gives us with certainty their names at its date, April 1, 1347, 21 Edward III. Those of the King's Bench were, William de Thorpe, chief, William Basset, Roger de Bankwell. XXVIII. 1354. Thomas de Setone, loco ? W. Basset. XXIX. 1355. Oct. 12. William de Notton, loco ? R. de Bankwell. XXXV. 1361. Sept. 30. Thomas de Ingelby. The judges of the King's Bench cannot be so distinctly traced during this reign as those of the Common Pleas, no such means of evidence existing as is afforded by the fines levied in the latter court. The number at the commencement was certainly three, afterwards increased to four ; and I am much inclined to think that they never exceeded that number, and that both Hambury and Edenham were removed long before I have felt justified, in the subsequent columnal list, in placing a successor to either of them. Of Brundish and Faunt so little appears, that I have many doubts of their having ever sat on this bench. A question may also be 1327—1377. COMMON PLEAS. 343 raised whether some judge has not been omitted ; for it seems unlikely that there should have been only two judges for several years before the end of the reign. According to the best evidence I can collect as to the judges whose names have been produced, the only two who sat in this court at the death of the king on June 21, 1377, were chief justice John de Cavendish and Thomas de Ingelby. Notwithstanding the clause in Magna Charta ordaining that the Common Pleas should be held in some certain place, there is sufficient evidence to show that under Ed- ward III. the rule was not strictly abided by. The statute of 2 Edward III. c. 11., enacts that before the Common Bench be removed, " the justices shall be warned by a time, so that they may adjourn the parties by such time that they shall not lose their process." The ordinary place of sitting still continued to be at West- minster ; but in the eighth year an assize was brought in the Common Pleas then sitting at York, for the office of ushery in that court, the plaintiff complaining that he was disseised of his freehold in York. One of the counsel distinctly says that "the Common Bench is not in a certain place, but sometimes here (in York) and at other times in London, changed according to the king's will."1 Reference also is made to an assize held before Sir William Herle and his companions, in the Common Pleas at York, in an un- dated petition to parliament9; but which must have been about the same period, as Herle soon after retired from the court. It is probable, as the Chancery and the King's Bench were, as we have seen, not stationary at this period, that the removal of the courts was occasioned by the war with Scot- 1 Year Book, Hil. 8 Bdw. III., pi. 47. ■ Rot. Pari, ii. Z 4 344 COMMON PLEAS. Edw III. land, and the king's desire to have his judges near him while he was prosecuting it. Another instance of this court sitting at York may be found in the petition of the Commons in 38 Edward III., already adverted to, in which it is prayed " that the King's Bench may be established at Westminster or York, where the Common Bench remains, that a man may have counsel of one place or the other." l Chief Justices of the Common Pleas. Hervey de Staunton, the chief justice of this court at the end of the last reign, was probably in too bad a state of health to be re-appointed at the commencement of this, as he died in the same year. Within a few days after the accession of Edward III., William de Herle, one of the judges of the court, was appointed chief justice, his patent being dated Febru- ary 4, 1327. He was replaced by John de Stonore, then chief baron of the Exchequer, on September 3, 1329, 3 Edward III. ; who was superseded in his turn, and William de Herle restored on March 2, 1331, 5 Ed- ward III. In little more than four years he was honourably exonerated from his office, on July 3, 1335, 9 Edward III. John de Stonore was reinstated on July 7, but was removed for some alleged misconduct when the king returned from Tournay at the end of 1340, 14 Edward III. ; and Roger Hillary, one of the judges of the court, was made chief justice on January 8, 1341. 2 1 Rot. Pari. ii. 286. ; Manning's Serviens ad legem, 179, 180. 2 William Scot, although introduced hy Dugdale on April 27, 1341, is omitted here ; its insertion being evidently a mistake, as Scot was then, and continued to he, chief justice of the King's Bench. 1327—1377. COMMON PLEAS. 34 5 John de Stonore was restored on May 9, 1342, and sat till his death, when Roger Hillary was replaced on February 20, 1354, 28 Edward III. ; and also died in the office. Robert DB THORPE was raised to the vacant seat on June 27, 1356, 30 Edward III. He filled it till he was called to take the chancellorship on March 26, 1371, 48 Edward III. TVilliam de Fyncheden, a judge of the court, was appointed in his stead on April 14 ; and was succeeded by Robert de Bealknap on October 10, 1374, 48 Ed- ward HI., who occupied the seat during the remainder of the reign. -©- Judges of the Common Pleas. Tite only changes in the five judges who acted in this court at the end of the last reign, were the appointment of one of them, William de Herle, as chief justice in the place of Hervey de Staunton ; the removal of John de Bousser for a short time ; and the introduction of Henry le Scrope as second justice. I. 1327. Jan. Henry le Scrope, John de Stonore, John de Mutford, Walter de Friskeney. March 24. John de Bousser, loco W. de Friskeney, made K.B. II. 1328. March 6. Richard de Wilughby ; being a sixth, who was afterwards made second justice on Septem- ber 2, 1329. III. 1329. March 2. John Travers, loco John de Stonore, made Ch. B. E. Sept. 30. Thomas Bacon, loco 11. de Wilughby, made second justice. IV. 1331. Jan. 18. llobertdc Malberthorp, from the King's Bench, loco 1!. de Wilughby, made K.B. John de Cantebrig, loco J. de Rfutford. John Inge, loco J. de Bousser. 346 COMMON PLEAS. Er>w. III. V. April 1. John de Stonore, from being chief, to be second justice, loco R. de Malberthorp. VI. 1332. Jan. 28. John de Shardelowe, loco T.Bacon, made Just. K.B. Feb. 3. Richard de Aldeburgh, being a seventh justice. VII. 1333. May 30. William de Shareshull, from the King's Bench ; loco ? J. Travers. VIII. 1334. July 16. Geoffrey le Scrope, loco J. de Stonore. Sept. 24. John de Trevaignon, being an eighth justice. XI. 1337. Hil. William Basset, loco ? G. le Scrope. March 18. Roger Hillary, loco ? J. de Cantebrig. William Scot, loco ? J. de Trevaignon. XIII. 1339. Sept. 6. Robert.de Scardeburgh, Just. K.B., loco J. de Shardelowe, made K. B. XIV. 1340. Feb. 4. James de Wodestoke, loco ? W. Scot. ? John de Shardelowe, loco R. de Scarde- burgh. May 23. Robert Parning, being a ninth justice. Oct. 9. Richard de Wilughby, loco ? R. Parning, made Ch. K. B. On the king's return from France on November 30, the following would appear to have been the judges of the court, viz., John de Stonore, chief justice, John Inge, Roger Hillary, Richard de Aldeburgh, ? John de Shardelowe, William de Shareshull, James de Wodestoke, William Basset, Richard de Wilughby. Of these, Stonore, Shareshull, Shardelowe, and Wi- lughby underwent the king's displeasure and were re- moved ; and probably Inge, as he is not mentioned as a judge afterwards. Roger Hillary was made chief justice ; and a new patent was issued in favour of Aldeburgh and Basset, together with Thomas de Heppescotes. This looks as if the court was newly constituted ; and as Wodestoke died about this time, it is not improbable that it was so, the number being thus reduced to four. 1341. Jan. 8. Thomas de Heppescotes, loco ? R. Hillary. XV. May 30. Richard de Kelleshull, making a fifth, loco ? J. Inge. Oct. 28. Adam de Steyngrave, loco W. Basset, made Just. K. B. XVI. 1342. April 23. William de Thorpe, loco ? A. de Steyngrave, made K. B. 132; •1377. COMMON PLEAS. 347 May 10. May 16. June 4. XIX. 1345. Nov. 10. John de Stouford, loco ? T. de Heppes- cotes. William de Shareshull, restored. John de Shardelowe, restored. Richard de Wilughby ? restored about this time. Roger Hillary, having surrendered the chief justiceship to J. de Stonore, took his seat as a puisne judge, thus making the ninth. William de Shareshull, Ch. B. E., to be second justice loco ? W. de Thorpe, made K. B., thus reducing them to eight. Wre have a precise list of the judges who sat in this court on April 1, 1347, from the record granting them their robes. They were, John de Stonore, Richard de Wilughby, William de Shareshull, Roger Hillary, Richard de Kelleshull, John de Stouford; the places of John de Shardelowe and Richard de Alde- burgh, deceased, not having been filled up. 1348. Jan. 14. XXI. XXVIII. 1354. Feb. 6. XXIX. XXXI. 1355. 1357. XXXIII. 1359. July 4. July 11. Oct. 25. XXXV. 1361. Sept. 30. XXXVIII. 1364. Feb. 3. XXXIX. 1365. Oct. 29. XLV. 1371. Nov. 27. XLVI. 1372. Thomas de Fencotes, loco R. de Aldeburgh, increasing them again to seven. Henry Green, loco ? W. de Shareshull, made Ch K. B. Thomas de Setone, loco ? J. de Fencotes. Henry de Molelowe, loco ? T. de Setone, made Ch. K. B. John de Moubray, loco ? J. de Stouford. William de Skipwith, loco ? R. de Kelles- hull. John Knyvet, loco ? Henry Green, made Ch. K. B. John de Delves, loco ? W. de Skipwith, made Ch. B. E. William de Fyncheden, loco ? J. Knyvet, madeCh. K.B. William de W'yehingham. John de Cavendish, loco ? W. de Fyncheden made Ch. C. P. Roger de Meres, loco ? J. de Delves. Roger de Kirketon, unless be hi' the same with Roger de Meres, as suggested in the memoir of the latter. 348 EXCHEQUER. Edw. III. XLVIII. 1374. Nov. 28. Roger de Fulthorp, loco ? J. de Moubray. L. 1376. Oct. 8. William de Skipwith, loco ? J. de Caven- dish, made Ch. K. B. From the twenty-ninth year of the reign the number of the judges of the Common Pleas had been reduced to five ; and the following were the members of the court at the death of the king on June 17, 1377 : Robert de Bealknap, chief justice, William de Wychingham, Roger de Fulthorpe. Roger de Kirketon, William de Skipwith. The Exchequer, with the exception of its temporary trans- fer to York during part of the first and the whole of the second year of the reign, while the king was in the north prosecuting his Scottish war1, seems to have been permanently established at Westminster. The barons of this court were not commonly men of legal education, but were usually raised to its bench from their practical knowledge of the revenue, acquired in minor offices connected with it. Sometimes, but not always, the chief baron was an exception ; and in the statute of Nisi Prius, 14 Edward III., c. 16, it is enacted "That if it happen that none of the justices of the one bench nor the other come into the county, then the Nisi Prius shall be granted before the chief baron of the Exchequer, if he be a man of the law? The other barons are not named at all in the statute; neither do they ever appear among the justices of assize, unless they have been Serjeants, or have been previously removed from one of the other benches. Chief Barons of the Exchequer. Walter de Norwich, who had long held the first place in this court, was re-appointed chief baron of the Exchequer N. Fcedera, ii. 713. 717.; Rot. Pari. 442. 1327—1377. EXCHEQUER. 349 on the accession of Edward III. He died in the third year: and John de Stonore, a judge of the Common Pleas, was nominated on February 22, 1329; but only sat there till the 3rd of the following September. HENRY LE SceOPE, at that time acting for his brother as chief justice of the King's Bench, was made chief baron December 19 ; and continued in the office till his death, on September 7, 1336, 10 Edward III. Robert de Sadington was raised to the office on March 20, 1337 ; and remained at the head of the court till he received the Great Seal as chancellor on September 29, 1343, 17 Edward III. The vacancy was not supplied for more than nine months ; William de Shareshull, then a judge of the Common Pleas, who was his successor, not receiving the appointment till July 2, 1344. He resumed his place in the Common Pleas, as second justice, on November 10, 1345; and his seat in this court was supplied by John de Stouford, a judge of the Common Pleas, who was chief baron for a month only, from November 1 0 to December 8, 1345, 19 Edward III. ; when Robert de Sadington resumed his seat at the head of the court; and retained it till his death in 1350. Gervase de Wtlford, one of the puisne barons, was then made chief baron on April 7, 1350, 24 Edward III. ; and his presidency appears to have lasted during the remainder of his life. William de Skipwith must have been appointed before February 12, 1362, 36 Edward III., as he is called chief baron on that date. He is stated to have shared in the dis- grace of Henry Green, the chief justice of the King's Bench ; and they were certainly removed on the same day, October 29, 1365, 39 Edward III. 350 EXCHEQUER. edw. in. Thomas de Lodelowe filled the office of chief baron from that date till February 3, 1374, 48 Edward III. William Tank was then appointed his successor, but did not retain his seat much more than a year and a half; being succeeded by Henry de Asty on November 12, 1375,49 Edward III., who continued chief baron for the remainder of this, and re- ceived a new patent at the beginning of the next, reign. Barons op the Exchequer. Of the five junior barons of the Exchequer at the end of the reign of Edward II., Edmund de Passele died in the same year, and Humfrey de Waledene and John de Radeswell were not re-appointed. New patents were granted to the other two, — I. 1327. Feb. 2. William de Fulburn, and William de Everdon ; and two days after Feb. 4. William de Boudon was constituted second baron, a title then first introduced. Oct. 15. Robert de Nottingham, loco W. de Boudon. III. 1329. April 16. Robert de Wodehouse, made second baron. IV. 1330. Dec. 20. Robert de Ayleston. Wrilliam de Cossale, loco ? W. de Fulburn. Thomas de Garton, as second baron, loco ? R. de Wodehouse, made chancellor of the Ex- chequer. Adam de Steyngrave, loco R. de Ayleston, made treasurer. William de Denum. Thomas de Blaston, loco ? T. de Garton. Robert de Scorburgh, or Scardeburgh. Dec. 18. John de Hildesley. VIII. 1334. Nov. 9. Adam de Lymbergh, late chancellor of Ireland, loco J. de Hildesley. X. 1336. Oct. 3. Nicholas Haghman, loco ? R. de Scorburgh. Nov. 10. John de Shordich, loco ? W. de Everdon. XIII. 1339. Sept. 26. William de la Pole, loco ? A. de Lymbergh. XIV. 1340. June 21. William de Northwell, loco W. de la Pole. The bench of the Exchequer, on the return of the king from Tournay, November 30, 1340, was filled V. 1331. Oct. 10 VI. 1332. July 24. Sept. 24. Nov. 2. 1327—1377. EXCHEQUER. 351 by the following barons, (William tie Northwell I presume having retired on his being made treasurer of the household) : Robert de Sadington, chief baron, A i lam de Steyngrave, John de Shordich, Thomas de Blaston, and perhaps Nicholas Hagliman* Although I do not find that any of these were im- plicated in the charges brought by the king against other judges, it is apparent that a new bench was constituted, and that none of these were re-appointed except the chief baron and Thomas de Blaston* Three new ones were joined to them, viz. 1341. Jan. 20. William de Broclesby. Gervase de Wilford, loco ? J. de Shordich. William de Stowe, loco ? A. de Steyngrave. XVIII. 1344. July 2. Alan de Ashe, loco ? T. de Blaston. XXI. 1347. March 8. John de Houghton, loco ? W. de Stowe. The barons of the Exchequer, as named in the order for their robes on April 1, 1347, were, Robert de Sadington, William de Broclesby, Alan de Ashe, Gervase de Wrilford John de Houghton. XXIV. 1350. April 16. James Huse, loco G. de Wilford, made Ch. B.E. XXVI. 1352. May 24. William de Thorpe as second baron, loco ? A. de Ashe. William de Retford, loco ? W. de Broclesby. Henry de Greystock, loco ? W. de Thorpe. John de Bukyngham, loco ? J. de Houghton. Robert de Pleste, loco ? J. de Bukyngham. Almaric de Shirland, loco ? H. de Greystock. John de Stokes, loco ? James Huse. William Gunthorp, loco ? R. de Pleste. John de Blockley. Henry de Percehay, loco ? A. de Shirland. Laurence de Allerthorpe, loco ? W. de Ret- ford. Nicholas de Drayton, loco ? J. de Stokes. The number of barons for the most part was five, but occasionally one or two were added. At the close of the reign there were six ; viz. lbnry de Asty, chief baron, Henry de Percehay! Nicholas de Drayton, Laurence de Allerthorpe, William Gunthorp, John de Blockley. XXVIII. 1354 Nov. 27. XXX. 1356. Oct. 6. XXXI. 1357. XXXVI. 1362. XXXIX. 1365. Oct. 29. Nov. 3. XL VII. 1373. XLIX. 1375. Oct. 5. Nov. 27. L. 1376. Nov. 14. Table of Chancellors and Keepers of the Seal, and of Masters of the Rolls. A. R. A.D. Chancellors or Keepers. Masters of the Rolls. 1 1327, Jan. 25 Henry de Cliff. 28 John de Hotham, Bishop of Ely, Chanc. — 2 1328, March 1 Henry de Cliff, M. It. ") Keg erg William de Herlaston J ^ — May 12 Henry de Burghersh, Bishop of Lincoln, Chanc. 4 1330, Nov. 28 John de Stratford, Bishop of Win- chester, Chanc. — 7 1334, Jan. 20 Michael de Wath. 8 Sept. 28 Richard de Bury, or de Aunger- ville, Bishop of Durham, Chanc. — 9 1335, June 6 John de Stratford, Archbishop of Canterbury, Chanc. 11 1337, March 24 Robert de Stratford, Archdeacon of Canterbury, Chanc. April 28 — John de St. Paul. 12 1338, July 6 Richard de Bynteworth, Bishop of London, Chanc. — 13 1339, Dec. 8 John de St. Paul, M. 11. ] Michael de Wath I Keepers — Thomas de Baumburgh J 14 1340, Feb. 16 John de St. Paul, Keeper — April 28 John de Stratford, Archbishop of Canterbury, Chanc. — June 20 Robert de Stratford, Bishop of Chichester, Chanc. — Dec. 14 Sir Robert Bourchier, Chanc. — 1341, Jan. 10 Thomas de Evesham. 15 Feb. 21 — John de Thoresby. Oct. 29 Sir Robert Parning, Chanc. — 17 1343, Aug. 27 John de Thoresby, M. R. "j John de St. Paul > Keepers — Thomas de Brayton J Sept. 29 Robert de Sadington, Chanc. — 19 1345, ? July — David de Wollore. Oct. 26 John de Offord, Dean of Lincoln, Chanc. — 23 1349, May 20 David de Wollore, M. R. ~j John de St. Paul 1 g Thomas de Brayton i r — Thomas de Cotyngham J June 16 John de Thoresby, Bishop of St. David's, Chanc — 30 1356, Nov. 27 William de Edington, Bishop of Winchester, Chanc. — 37 1363, Feb. 19 Simon Langham, Bishop of Ely, Clianc. — 41 1367, Sept. William of Wykeham, Bishop of Winchester, Chanc. — 45 1371, March 16 Sir Robert de Thorpe, Chanc. — 28 — William de Burstall. 46 1372, July 5 Sir John Knyvet, Chanc. — 50 1377, Jan. 11 Adam de Houghton, Bishop of St. David's, Chanc. The king died June 21, 1377. 1327—1377, king's bench. 353 S* l l I ll 1 la l I I i « I if William d Thorpe made Ch. PQ 4> ;» Ml c iii r mi ii i i, i i 1*1 ii 1 1 1 1 1 1 ii ii- m I I a I l.s< 3 I I a i i I 1*1111 11 II III I 1 1 I I H b eg * I r* I u I I a; a; I — >a — • •— ~ >. 9J ^ "S i I I si 1 lis Is si ilis§§ § ~~ « «fii VOL. III. A A 354 COMMON PLEAS. Edw. III. Table of the Chief Justices and A.R. 1 A.D. Chief Justice. JUSTICES OF THE 1327, Jan 25 to Feb. 5 William de Herle Henry le Scrope John de Mutford John de Stonore March 24 — 2 1328, March G — — — — 3 1329, March 2 __ John Travers Sept. 2, 3 John de Stonore Richard de Wi- 30 lughby 4 1331, Jan. 18 — Robert de Malber- thorpe John de Cantebrig — 5 March 2 William de Herle April 1 — John de Stonore — 6 1332, Jan. 28 — — — — Feb. 3 - — — - 7 1333, May 30 - — - William de Shares- hull 8 1334, July 16 _ Geoffrey le Scrope _ Sept. 24 - — — — ;, 1335, July 7 John de Stonore _ ii 1337, Jan. — William Basset March 18 — Roger Hillary 13 1339, Sept. 6 — — — — 14 1340, Feb. 4 - — - — May 23 _ Oct. 9 — — — — 1341, Jan. 8 Roger Hillary - Thomas de Hep pescotes removed 15 May 15 — — — Oct. 28 - Adam de Steyn- grave William de Thorpe - 16 1342, April 23 John de Stouford May 9-16 John de Stonore restored June 4 18 1344, July 2 made Ch. B. E. 19 1345, Nov. 10 — William de Shares- hull made Ch. B. E. Dec. 8 _ restored 21 1348, Jan. 14 — — — 24 1350, Oct. 26 made Ch. K. B. _ 28 1354, Feb. 6 — Henry Green 20 Roger Hillary — — 29 1355 — — — 30 1356, June 27 Robert de Thorpe - - 31 1357, Julv 4 33 1359, July 11 — — John de Moubray f Oct. 25 — — — 35 1361, Sept. 30 John Knyvet __ 38 1364, Feb. 3 39 1365, Oct. 29 — William de Fyn- cheden — William de Wy- chingham 46 1371, April 14 William de Fyncheden made Ch. C. P. — — Nov. 27 — John de Cavendish — 40 1372, — — — 48 1374, Oct. 10 Robert de Bealknap — — Nov. 28 — Roger 'de .Ful- thorpe — 50 1376, Oct. 8 William de Skip- with 1327—1377. COMMON PLEAS. Judges of the Common Pleas. 355 COMMON PL] Walter de Fris- keney John de Bousser Richard de Wi- lughby made 2nd Just. John Inge Thomas Bacon John de Sharde- lowe Richard de Alde- burgh - Robert de Scarde- burgh John de Sharde- lowe - John de Tre- vaignon William Scot ~~ ' James de Wode- stoke Robert Faming. Richard de Wi- lughby. removed. ? removed removed — Richard de Kel- leshull __ - restored died 1311 - Roger Hillary ? restored. - Thomas de Fen- cotes Thomas de Se- tone Henry de Motdow made Ch. C. P. = William de Skip- with John de Delves Roger de Meres Roger deKirkiton A A 2 356 EXCHEQUER, Euw. III. 8* = =5 1 1 1 1 1 1 IK III 11-21 II K*- «J2 i ii i i i i i 1 1 igi i i ^ i ii igil c > « £ 2 I I I I I I I I I | pq I- .§ I S II I I I- A * -" SO 3 S g » S 0-G ^j= ' I I I I I II 1-5 II I l*"3 I?*" ■§ i r « 1 1 £1 « I I I I I I I I !■§ II I = Si*Q 1-3 I i O I I 3 "g £ B ^2 CO o CO 1330, Dec. 19-20 1331, Oct. 10 1332, July 24 Sept. 24 Nov. 2 Dec. 18 1334, Nov. 9 1336, Oct. 3 Nov. 10 1337, March 24 «Oc5 sa.fi aT3 oTo" co 9 co co o OJ Of K 3 CO CO © — 00 > 6 C J CO CO CO o CO N«« o no 1327—1377. JUDGES' SALARIES. 357 The salary of the chief justices of both benches, at the beginning of the reign, was 40/. each, and that of other judges 40 marks each. The latter stipend was all that was then given to the chief baron and his associates in the Exchequer. By stat. 20 Edward III. chap. 1., after enacting that the judges are to take no reward from any one but the king, it is especially stated that " for this cause we have increased the fees (les feez) of the same our justices, in such manner as it ought reasonably to suffice them." This increase is also particularly referred to in the proceedings against "William de Thorpe for corruption four years afterwards. This seems to contradict Dugdale's assertion that they were reduced from the twenty-fifth year. He allows, how- ever, that he sees no direct certainty ; and the instances of smaller amounts which he produces may have been the balances after previous payments, or instalments of what was due ; for the Treasury was not always ready to pay in full. The word " fee " in the statute evidently meant the salary paid to them by the king, that being the ordinary name given to it ; and had no reference to any larger payments to which the judges were entitled on proceedings before them. It is curious, however, that the salaries themselves were not increased ; but the expressions of the statute and the king are explained by entries on the Issue lioll of 44 Ed- ward III., 1370, which has been published in extenso by Mr. Frederick Devon ; where the following payments to the judges will show that, though no change was made in their stipulated salaries, additional allowances were separately granted to them. .John Knyvet, Ch. K. B., had 40/. yearly for his fee in the office; but he had also, by letters patent " lately granted," loo marks yearly, to be received so long as he should remain in the office. Of this he received 20£ on November 14. in A A 3 358 JUDGES' SALARIES. Edw. III. part payment of 50 marks then payable to him ; and on November 28 he received 13/. 6s. Sd., the balance. In the latter entry the grant is stated to be for his "good service, and that he might more fitly maintain his estate." l Thomas de Ingelby, the only puisne judge of the King's Bench at that time, received 40 marks as his annual fee ; but he also received 20/. a year as a judge of assize ; and likewise an additional grant of 40/. per annum, beyond the fee, appointed to be paid to him as long as he should remain in the office.2 Robert de Thorpe, Ch. C. P., had 40/. for his fee of office ; with an additional 40/., which is described as having been granted to him for life, for his good service, and that he might more fitly maintain the military order which he had received from the king.3 The other judges of the Common Pleas mentioned in this roll are John de Moubray4, William de Wychingham5, and William de Fyncheden6 ; all of whom have 40 marks as their fee, also 20/. as justices of assize ; and Moubray 40 marks, and the two others 40/. by additional grants. The chief baron, and the two other barons of the Ex- chequer, had each of them 40 marks for their annual fee : but the chief had also 20/. as a justice of assize, which the others had not ; showing that they were not employed in that duty. One of them, howTever, Almaric de Shirland, had an addi- tional grant of 40 marks, for services rendered and to be rendered, until otherwise provided for.7 The same record shows us that there were also some Serjeants who were employed as justices of assize, and re- ceived salaries for that duty of 20/. a year each. The records of this reign afford us the first description of 1 Issue Roll, 44 Edw. III., 349. 374. 391. 8 Ibid. 346. 353. 3 Ibid. 34G. 4 Ibid. 341. 346. 370. 5 Ibid. 354. 6 Ibid. 7 Ibid. 280. 340. 346. 1327—1377. JUDGES' SALARIES. 359 the materials which were allowed to the judges for their robes. Of these they were provided with three ; the keeper of the oreat wardrobe having an annual mandate to deliver to each of them, for their summer robes, " dimidium pannum curcum et unam peciam sindonum et dimidium," — half a cloth of a colour called curcus, and one piece and a half of fine linen silk ; for their winter robes, " unura aliud dimidium pannum curcum cum uno capucio et tribus fururiis de bogeto albo," — one other half of the cloth of the curcus colour, with a hood and three furs of white budge, or lambskin ; and for their Christinas robes, which seem to have been what we should now terra their full dress, " unum aliud dimidium pannum curcum cum uno capucio de triginta et duabus ventribus de merim, una fururia de septem cir' de merim et duabus fururiis de bish'," — half a cloth of the colour curcus, with a hood of thirty-two bellies of miniver, a fur of seven tires of miniver, and two furs of silk.1 The justices of both benches and the barons of the Ex- chequer had all the same judicial dress ; and the chiefs of the different courts are not noticed as having anything to dis- tinguish them from their fellows. No special dress is mentioned for the justices itinerant ; but after the earlier years of this reign, these officers were discontinued as separate appointments; the duties which they had performed now devolving on the regular judges, when they travelled as justices of assize. No one, by stat. 14 Edward 111. c. 16., could act in the latter character, except a justice of one bench or the other, or a king's Serjeant sworn. 1 Although in each of the robes the pannus is called "curcus," Dugdale in one instance translates it " short," and in the others •' colour curt." I have adopted the latter, and, acknowledging my ignorance of these matters, have taken his translation of" sindonum," " fine linen silk," and of the other articles enumerated. Orfg. ]>• 98. ; Ahhrev. Hot. Orig. ii. 192. A A 4 360 JUSTICES ITINERANT. Edw. III. Justices Itinerant. III. 1329. Ralph de Bereford, John Randolf, Adam de Brome, Gilbert de Toutheby, John de Ifeld, Lambert de Trikingham, John de Radenhale. IV. 1330. Hugh de Courtney, Thomas de Radclyve, Nicholas Fastolf, Robert de Thorpe, Peter de Middleton, William de Zouche, of Ha- ringworth. VII. 1333. John Claver. XXII. 1349. William de Herlaston. William de Scothou. In the Issue Roll of 44 Edward III., 1370, there are entries of payments made to no less than seven Serjeants acting as jus- tices of assize (pp. 346. 349. 354. 360, 361. 369.), viz.— * Robert Bealknap, John de Fencotes, * John de Cavendish, * Roger de Fulthorpe, Edmund Chelreye, * Roger de Meres, William de Wakebrug. Those marked * afterwards became regular judges. Commissions of Trailbaston were occasionally issued for extraordinary offences in the early part of the reign, and they are mentioned in the Year Book in the twenty-second year.1 The statute 20 Edward III. is called " The Ordinance for the Justices." The duties prescribed for them, as detailed in it, are afterwards comprehended in their oath, which is sub- joined to the statute, and is in the following form : — " Ye shall swear, that well and lawfully ye shall serve our lord the king and his people in the office of justice, and that lawfully ye shall counsel the king in his business, and that ye shall not counsel nor assent to anything which may turn him in damage or disherison by any way, manner, or colour; and that ye shall not know the damage or disherison, whereof 1 Kot. Pari. ii. 404. 411.; Newcome's St. Alban's, 223.; Year Book, P. ii. 11. 1327—1377. JUDGES' OATH. 361 ye shall not cause him to be warned by yourself or by other ; and that ye shall do equal law and execution of right to all his subjects, rich and poor, without regard to any person ; and that ye take not by yourself or by other, privily nor apertly, gift nor reward of gold nor silver, nor of any other thing which may turn to your profit, unless it be meat or drink, and that of small value, of any man that shall have any plea or process hanging before you, as long as the same process shall be so hanging, nor after for the same cause; and that ye take no fee as long as ye shall be justice, nor robes of any man, great or small, but of the king himself; and that ye give none advice or counsel to no man, great nor small, in no case where the king is party ; and in case that any, of what estate or condition they be, come before you in your sessions with force and arms, or otherwise against the peace, or against the form of the statute thereof made, to disturb ex- ecution of the common law, or to menace the people that they may not pursue the law, that ye shall cause their bodies to be arrested and put in prison ; and in case they be such that ye cannot arrest them, that ye certify the king of their names and of their misprision hastily, so that he may thereof ordain a convenable remedy ; and that ye, by yourself nor by other, privily nor apertly, maintain any plea or quarrel hanging in the king's courts or elsewhere in the country; and that ye deny to no man common right by the king's letters, nor none other man's, nor for none other cause ; and in case any letters come to you contrary to the law, that ye do nothing by such letters but certify the king thereof, and proceed to execute the law notwithstanding the same letters; and that ye shall do and procure the profit of the king and of his crown, with all things where ye may reasonably do the same. And in case ye be from henceforth found in default in any of tin; points aforesaid, ye shall be at the 362 KNIGHTHOOD OF THE JUDGES, ETC. Edw. III. king's will, of body, lands, and goods, thereof to be done as shall please him ; as God you help, and all saints."1 The knighthood of some of the judges is evidenced by various mandates to the keepers of the wardrobe to supply them with certain apparel and furniture at the king's expense. Of these the following examples are given by Anstis in his " Observations Introductory to an Historical Essay upon the Knighthood of the Bath." The first is in 3 Edward III., 1329, "pro Joh. de Cam- bridge novo milite faciendo tanquam Baneretto." At that time he was a king's serjeant, and acted as a justice itinerant; and in January 1331 became a judge of the Common Pleas. A similar order occurs in 6 Edward III., 1332, in favour of Robert de Scoresburgh, who became a baron of the Ex- chequer in this year, and had been a justice itinerant; of Thomas Bacon, John de Shardelowe, and Richard de Aide- burgh, at that time judges ; of William de Denum, a baron of the Exchequer ; and of William de Shareshull, then only a king's serjeant. The entry is "pro militia eorundem tan- quam pro Banerett." In the next year, 1333, the legal men included in an order of the same description are William de Shareshull again, who, in the interval, had been made a judge, which raises the supposition that the former order had been annulled ; Robert de Scardeburgh, which, if he was the same person who is called Robert de Scoresburgh in the former order, leads to the same impression ; and John de Shoreditche, a doctor of civil law, who had been chief clerk of the Common Pleas, and was not made a baron of the Exchequer till three years afterwards. All these are knighted "tanquam Bane- retti " except Robert de Scardeburgh, to whose name that distinction is not added. 1 Stat, of Realm, i. 305. 1327—1377. KNIGHTHOOD OF THE JUDGES, ETC. 363 Thomas de Fencotes has similar allowances at Christmas, 21 Edward III., 1347, "ad recipiend. ordinem militarem ad modum Baneretti;" no doubt in anticipation of his being made a judge of the Common Pleas, which took place on January 14 following. The last order in this reign quoted by Anstis is for John Moubray and William Skipwith, "pro apparatibus suis ad ordinem militarum ad modum Baneretorum recipiendum," at Christmas, 1360, 34 Edward III., both of whom had been recently made judges of the Common Pleas. All of these it will be seen were, or were about to be, made judges, except three, who afterwards were also raised to the bench. John de Shoreditche does not appear to have been a serjeant, but was knighted for his services as a royal ambassador. John de Cambridge and William de Shareshull, however, were Serjeants; but the former was also a justice itinerant, and the latter's investiture seems to have been delayed till the following year, when he was raised to the bench; so that they form no certain precedent for the knighthood of the Serjeants. Dugdale, in the rubric to such of these mandates as he quotes, calls the parties Knights of the Bath ; and Anstis introduces all of them for the purpose of showing that they were so. There does not, however, seem sufficient authority for so designating them. Although the nature of some of the articles supplied plainly proves that bathing was part of the ceremony, there is nothing to show that it was a peculiar distinction for any separate order at that time existing. The order of the Bath is never mentioned, but, on the con- trary, the: parties arc all spoken of as receiving "militiam" or " ordinem militarem," or " novo milite faciendo," that is, simple knighthood; the only difference noticed being that they were to receive this knighthood " (anquain baneretti," which was a somewhat more honourable order than that of a 364 KNIGHTHOOD OF THE JUDGES, ETC. Edw. III. simple knight. Granting all the facts adduced by Anstis, he fails to prove the correctness of the inference he draws from them, by omitting to state any distinct difference at this time between the ceremonial adopted on the institution of a knight bachelor, viz., one who was called upon under penalty to assume the order, and those on whom knighthood was con- ferred, as in the above instances, as a matter of royal favour. If knights bachelors were obliged to go through the ceremony of bathing at their investiture, his whole argument falls to the ground. No doubt can exist that, besides those named in the foregoing extracts, many, if not most, of the other judges received the order of knighthood, although the records of their investment do not remain. The higher rank which some of these bore in the law, would make it very unlikely that they should be marked by a less honourable distinction than the others, unless the latter had rendered some peculiar service, which does not appear to have been the case. Geoffrey le Scrope, who was unquestionably a knight at the commencement of the reign of Edward III., was ad- vanced to the higher order of Banneret in the fourteenth year, and received a grant of 200 marks for the support of the dignity ; but he is never called a Knight of the Bath. Neither was his brother, Henry le Scrope, who was alike distinguished ; and I am not aware of any one of the chief justices of either bench who was not admitted into knighthood ; but no ex- pression indicates that they were of the order of the Bath. I cannot find any evidence that a peculiar order so called existed at all in this reign ; and it is certain that, in the public documents where the names of knights occur, no addition appears intimating a difference in their order. However desirous King Edward might be, as he evidently was, to improve the course of justice, and to secure the purity of the bench, it is obvious, from various incidents in his reiim 1327—1377. CORRUPTION OF THE JUDGES. 365 connected with the administration of the law, that he was liable to be led away by sudden impulses; and after awarding punishment without due consideration, to feel himself com- pelled to annul his sentenee, and restore those who had been the victims of his impetuosity. Thus, on his return from the siege of Tournay in 1340, irritated by the failure of the sup- plies he had expected, not only were Robert de Stratford, Bishop of Chichester, the Chancellor, and John de St. Paul, the master of the Rolls, visited with his indignation, but John de Stonore, the chief justice of the Common Pleas, and John de Shardelowe, William de Shareshull, and Richard de Wilughby, puisne judges, were all dismissed from the bench on some charges the nature of which is not recorded.1 But in less than two years all the four judges were restored to their seats, and the other two resumed their places in the king's favour. In 1350, William de Thorpe, the chief justice of the King's Bench, was convicted on his own confession of re- ceiving bribes to stay justice 2 ; but though his property was forfeited to the crown on his condemnation, the king appears to have relented, and to have made him second baron of the Exchequer in May, 1352, unless I am mistaken in sup- posing the latter to have been the same person. Another instance of the king's readiness in making charges, or of his leniency in overlooking them, occurred in October, 1365, when, according to Joshua Barnes, he discharged and imprisoned both Sir Henry Green, the chief justice of the King's Bench, and Sir William Skipwith, the chief baron of the Exchequer, "on account of many notorious enormities, which he understood they had committed against law and justice."3 Green was not restored, as he died in 1369 ; but a Sir William de Skipwith, who, for the reasons I have 1 Barnes's Edward III., SIS. - \. Fcedera, Hi. 208. Barnes's Edward III., GG7. 366 TERMS. Emv. III. given in the sketch of his life, may, I think, be identified with the chief baron, was constituted chief justice of the King's Bench in Ireland, in February, 1370, and a judge of the Common Pleas in England, in October, 1376. It cannot be doubted, however, that, notwithstanding their oath, the judges were in the habit of taking payments from others besides the king. The Knights Hospitallers' Survey, made in 1338, gives us a most unfavourable insight into the corruption of the times. It speaks of pensions paid to divers persons, " tarn in curia domini regis, quam justiciariis, clericis officiariis et aliis ministris, in diversis curiis suis, ac etiam aliis familiaribus magnatum, tam pro terris tenementis redditibus et libertatibus Hospitalis, quam Templariorum, et maxime pro terris Templariorum manutenendis ;" specifying pensions to the amount of 440/., of which 60Z. are paid to the judges, clerks, &c. ; the chief baron, Sir Robert cle Sadington, receiving 40 marks ; besides caps given twice a year to 140 officers of the Exchequer, beginning with the treasurer and ending with the lowest functionary. A further sum of 60 marks a year is stated to be spent in the employment of a general procurator or attorney, to conduct their business in the different courts ; and an annual expenditure of 200 marks in presents made in the courts of the king and the nobles " pro favore habendo, et pro placitis defendendis, et expensis parliamentorum." * Although, as we have seen, the statute of 3 Edward I. permitted assizes to be held during the sacred periods of Advent, Septuagesima, and Lent, dispensations were still considered necessary on some occasions before the judges acted. An undated one is quoted by Spelman 2, entitled, " Licentia concess. Justic. Regis de Assis. tenend. sacro tem- pore non obstante ; " by which Richard, Abbot of St. Alban's, 1 Notes and Queries, ii. 123, 8 Original of the Terms, 95. 1327-1377. PLEADINGS. 367 grants license and authority to John Shardlow and his com- panions to hold assizes at Barnet, within his jurisdiction, on the Monday before the Feast of St. Ambrose, according to the effect of the king's writ. As that feast falls on April 4, it probably was in the holy week before Easter in that year; and therefore, as it extended beyond the Statute, required a special dispensation. Spelman suggests that this license was granted in the reign of Edward I. ; and says that Shardlow was a justice of oyer in Pickering Forest, Yorkshire, in the beginning of that reign, apparently forgetting that Barnet is in Hertfordshire. There was certainly no regular judge of that name until the reign of Edward III. ; and indeed no doubt can arise as to the period when the fact occurred, in- asmuch as the only Abbot of St. Alban's whose name was Richard (except the last under Henry VIII.) flourished in the reign of Edward III. ; and as the abbot died in May, 1334 l, and John de Shardelow (who afterwards became chief justice of the King's Bench) did not become a judge till January, 1332, the limit within which this license was dated, is precisely ascertained ; and on referring to the table for finding Easter, it will be seen that Easter Day fell upon April 4 (St. Ambrose) in the year 1333 2; and that conse- quently the previous Monday was the first day in Passion Week. The pleadings in the courts had been hitherto carried on in French. But that language was almost entirely unknown to the people of England, who began with justice to complain that their rights, their liberties, and their lives were subject to laws which they could not understand ; and that in their suits with each other, they knew not what was said either for or against them " by their Serjeants or other pleaders." No possible advantage arising from the continuance of the 1 Dugdalo'a Monast. ii 197. Rcolas'a Chron, of I I'm 368 THE KING'S ATTORNEY. Edw. III. absurd practice, the king was desirous of granting his people a boon by which they would be materially benefited, and he himself lose nothing; and accordingly, by a statute passed at Michaelmas, 36 Edward III., 1362, chap. 15, it was enacted, that from the fifteenth of Hilary then next, all pleas whatever should be pleaded, defended, debated, and judged in the English tongue, but that they should be entered and enrolled in Latin. An awful pestilence overrun England in 1349, 23 Ed- ward III., and raged so tremendously that the courts did not sit in Trinity Term of that year. The Rolls also of Trinity Term, 35 Edward III., 1361, are wanting on account of a recurrence of the same calamity. The proceedings of the latter term were twice adjourned ; at first to the morrow of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist, and then to the octaves of St. Michael.1 Attornati Regis. From the following list, principally taken from Dugdalc, it will be apparent that the king had two advocates at the same time to conduct his business in the courts ; one being specially stated to be in the King's Bench, and the other in the Common Pleas. The salary was 10/. a year, with occasional gifts from the king. Three are mentioned expressly as being king's Serjeants. I. 1327. Adam de Fyncham, who acted in the last reign, is mentioned as the king's attorney before the King's Bench in this year. He is called Clericus. Alexander de Hadenham, in the Common Pleas. William de Mershton, in the Common Pleas ; appointed on February 26. III. 1329. Richard de Aldeburgh, one of the king's Serjeants ; became a judge of the Common Pleas in 1332. 1 Cal. Exch. Introd. xlvi. xlvii. ; N. Foedera, iii. 616. 621. 1327—1377. THE KING'S ATTORNEY. 369 VIII. 1334. XII. 1338. XVI. 1342. XXriI. 1349. XXVII. 1353. XXX. 1356. XXXIV. 1360. XXXVI. 1362. XXXVII. 1363. XL. 1366. XLI. 1367. Simon de Trewythosa, also a king's serjeant, had twenty marks for prosecuting the king's business in parliament and before the justices of the bench. He died in 1339.1 William de Ilepton, or Hopton, King's Bench.2 John de Lincoln, in the King's Bench ; appointed on May 28, and again mentioned in 1343. John de Clone, or Clove, in the Common Pleas, on August 4, and again in 1339 and 1343. William de Merington, " vivente John de Clove."3 William de Thorpe, a king's serjeant ; made justice of the Common Pleas in the same year, and chief justice of the King's Bench in 1346. Simon de Kegworth, King's Bench, October 12. ? Henry de Greystoke, afterwards a baron of the Ex- chequer. John Gaunt, in the Common Pleas. He seems after- wards to have held the " officium proclamatoris in banco regis parcell' officii hostiarii de scaccario." 4 Richard de Friseby, May 4. William de Pleste, King's Bench. William de Nessefield, November 4. He had been the king's escheator in the northern counties.5 The king, in 1366, gave him 1001. for the prosecution of those who killed John de Coupland.6 Thomas de Shardelowe, called clerk, November 9. He acted in the following reign, and was, I believe, the son of the judge. John de Ashwell, May 20. Michael Skylling, in the Common Pleas In the Issue Roll of 44 Edward III., the last three are mentioned. Shardelowe and Skylling are each called the king's attorney, and each has 10/. yearly for his fee : Ashwell has a special grant of 10/. for his services in prosecuting for the king.7 A case occurs in this reign in which the queen's attorney is directed to appear on her behalf before the treasurer and barons of the Exchequer.' 1 Cal. Inquis. p. in., ii. 88. ■ Il)id. ] :i. 1 Abbrev. R<>t. Orig. ii. 240. &c 7 Devon'i Issue Roll, 126. VOL. III. B li * Cal. Hot. Pat. 119. * Cal. Inquis. p, in., ii 0 \. PoBdera, in. 786. lou. ' Rot Pari. ii. 110. 370 SERJEANTS. Edw. III. Although, as we have already seen, the king's Serjeants attended the parliament, we have in this reign the first example of their being specially summoned. Their title was not always designated in the summons, though frequently they were so described ; and that a selection only was made may be inferred from the smallness of the number who were so distinguished. Thus, there were two only in 3 Edw. III. ; three in the eighth, ninth, and tenth years ; two in the twentieth; and four in the nine following years.1 The precise nature of their duties there is not clearly ascertained ; but, among others, they were required to assist the lords and judges appointed to try the petitions presented. Their names are not stated on the Rolls, but the entry is to the following effect ; that the triers named may call to them the chancellor, treasurer, steward, and chamberlain, "and also the king's Serjeants if need be."'1 "A king's serjeant sworn," as we find in stat. 14 Edw. III., c. 16., already cited, might be appointed to act as a judge of assize ; and Coke states (2 Inst. 422.) that the expression includes any serjeant-at-law, as all of them are called by the king's writ, and are sworn. Numerous instances are to be found, in the Year Books of this reign, of their being so employed. Serjeants. All the names in the following list are taken from Dugdale's Chronica Series and Wynne's Serjeant-at-Law, except where other references are given. Those marked * became judges ; those marked f are not described as king's Serjeants; and those marked \ are mentioned in the Year Books as acting with the regular judges as justices of assize, and must therefore have been Serjeants. Manning's Serv. ad legem, 206. 2 Rot. Pari. ii. 268. &c. 1327—1377. SERJEANTS. 371 I. 1327. III. 1329. IV. 1330. V. 1331. VIII. 1334. IX. 1335. XII. 1338. XIV. 1340. XV. 1341. XVII. 1343. XVIII. 1344. XIX. 1345. XX. 1346. XXIV. 1350. XXVIII. 1354. XXX. 1356. XXXI. 1357. XXXVI. 1362. XXXVII. 1363. XL. 1366. XLIV. 13T0. XLV. 1371. XLIX. 1375. LI. 1377. John de Denum, * Gilbert de Toutheby. Both of these were Serjeants in the last reign ; and the latter, in 2 Edward III., had 201. a year for his expenses in the king's business. * Richard de Aldeburgh, * John de Cantebrig. * John de Trevaignon. * William de Denum, * William de Shareshull. f John de Munden, f Richard de Bellishall. The two latter were stewards of the Abbey of St. Alban's in the beginning of the reign, and are styled Servientes in Banco : and f Thomas de Lincoln was a serjeant-at-law in 1331.1 * William Scot, Simon de Trewythosa. * Robert Parning, Lucas de Burgh. William de Hopton. J Aldred de Doresme, Spigurnel. * John de Stovard, no doubt Stouford. * William de Thorpe. | * Thomas de Fencotes. { Rokel. * Robert de Thorpe, * Henry Green. * William de Notton. I : Burton. * Thomas de Setone. * William de Skipwith, f William de Fishide. * f John Kny vet. Edmund Chellerey, * William de Wychingham. t Richm. * John de Moubray. William de Fyncheden. * Robert Bealknap. * Roger de Meres, * f John de Cavendish,2 f John de Fencotes,2 * Roger de Fulthorpe, I Wakbruge. | Walter Persey, * John Holt. Hillary.5 t- * f Roger de Kirketon.2 f Moris.8 f Gillardus de Ufflete.2 * Henry de Pcrcehay. I * David Hannemere. The term Serjeant was sometimes applied to freeholders, who, holding by military service, were bound to serve as Ncwconics St A 1 ban's, 'J 18. 223. BBS ■ Year Book, 40 Edw. III. 372 APPRENTICES. Edw. III. men-at-arms, though not knighted, and in most cases not holding so much land as to raise the obligation of accepting knighthood. That they then held the next degree to knights appears from two cases in the Year Books, 22 Edward III., p. 18., and 26 Edward III., p. 57., in the latter of which, in the failure of four on the grand assize, the f'moultz vaillantz seriantz " are directed to be chosen knights. Such " Serjeants and men of the law " are brought into distinct contrast in the ordinance of 46 Edward III., which prohibits the election of men of law as knights of the shire in par- liament, and directs that knights and Serjeants of the most value in the county shall be returned. This ordinance is stated in the preamble to have been occasioned by " men of law, who pursue divers businesses in the king's courts, for private persons," causing petitions to be presented in parliament "in the name of the Commons, which in nothing touches them, but only the private persons with whom they are retained." But why was the prohibition limited to their election as knights of shires ? Might they not be guilty of the same abuse if they were members for cities, &c. ? These Serjeants frequently becoming esquires to the knights, the term esquire began about this time to supersede the inferior title of serjeant, and to be adopted by those who were not entitled to it by service in that character. l There can be no doubt that the apprentices of the law were, in fact, attorneys for their clients, representing them in the courts. In 11 Edward III,, John de Codington, "an apprentice of our lord the king, and attorney," presented a petition to the parliament, complaining that, having neither lands nor tenements, nor arms for peace or war, he had been commanded to come armed to Ore well, on pain of death ; 1 Serv. ad legem, 192, 193. ; Rot. Pari. ii. 310. ; Titles of Honour, 832. 1327—1377. COUNSEL. 373 " which," he says, " would be in disherison of his clients, for whom he is attorney; " whereupon he was excused.1 This John de Codington was, perhaps, an apprentice in one of those establishments which we now call the Inns of Court, or Chancery ; for we find him, in 25 Edward III., clerk of the Parliament; and, in the thirty-third year, one of the masters of the Chancery. That there were apprentices of different degrees we learn from the capitation tax, imposed two years after King Ed- ward's death. There we find that the same rate, forty shillings, is charged upon " chescun serjeant, et grant Ap- prentice du Loy;" that "other apprentices who pursue the law " are to pay twenty shillings ; and that a rate of only six shillings and eightpence is made on "all the other apprentices of less estate, and attorneys." 2 Apprentices certainly acted as advocates in the court from the commencement of the reign ; for in Trinity Term of 1 Ed- ward III. the Year Book reports a case (PI. 3.) in which "un apprentice demanda:" and it would appear, from another case in the same term (PI. 10.), that either an attorney was then synonymous with apprentice, or that attorneys might plead in court ; for we find " un attorney dit," and Justice Stonore deciding on his application. Counsel. The Year Books supply the following names of counsel, acting in the courts : they include Serjeants ; and the added initials show the courts to which those who became judges were first advanced. Aldeburgh, C. P., Ashbourne, Basset, C. P., Anar, T. Bacon, C. P., Bedel, Asch, Assh, Aish, B. E., Bankes, Becley, 1 Rot. Pari. ii. » H,id. iii. 58. B B 3 374 COUNSEL. Edw. III. Bereford, Just. Itin., Gurnay, Mallom, Berl, Hallop, Halop, Maimer, Birc, Haln, Middleton, Blaike, Hamton, Mombray, Moubray, Blaiston, B. E., Hannemere, B. E., C.P., Bours, Hanington, Havering- Moris, Brand, ton, Motelow, Mutlow, Brett, Hastings, C.P., Burgh, Hatch, Mottel, Burton, Haul, Hauley, Hauld, Moyn, Caracer, Plepper, Heppescotes, Notton, K. B., Cantebrig, Caunt, C. P., C.P., Palm, Casse, R. Hillary, C. P., Parning, Parn, Parner , Cavendish, C. P., Hillary, Ch. K. B., Chelring, Chellerey, Holt, C. P., Peng, Chust, Honnington, Penros, Claimond, Clom., Hoo, Percy, Parshay, B.E., Clopton, Hoop, Hopton, Perle, Collett, Horneby, Plegh, Pleste, Derworth, Hug, Poer, Power, Desty, Huini, Pointon, Devom, PDenum, B.E., Hunden, Pole, Pigg, Husse, ? Huse, B. E., Pultone, Aldred de Doresnie, Hut, Rede, Redenhale, Douers, Ingham, Richm, Eccles, Ingelby, K. B., Ripp, Elmer, Jukemp, Riss, Essonour, Kary, Rob, Estham, Kelby, Rockel, J. Fencotes, Kell, Kels,Kelleshull, Rolf, T. Fencotes, C. P., C.P., Roull, Fiffe, Kirby, Russel, Fishe, Fishide, Kirton, Kirketon, Sading, Sadington, Fitz-John, C.P., Ch. B. E., Fulthorpe, C. P., Knyvet, C. P., Sadling, Sadel, Sad- Fyng, Fyncheden, C. P., Laising, lingstanes, Gaign, Gayne, Laund, Sand, Gasc, Led, Sauk, Gleit, Leic, Scharde, Shardelowe, Goddel, Leuc, C.P, Gotham, Lincoln, Scorb. Scord. Scarde- Gower, Lodelow, Leod, Lud, burb, B. E., H. Green, C. P., Loding, Ch. B. E., Scott, C. P., R. Green, Loved ay, Scrope, 1327—1377. INNS OF COURT AND CHANCERY. 375 Sell. Shelbie, Suss, Trever. Trewythosa, Setone, K. B., Tank, Ch. B.E. Trewood, Treu, Sidenham, Thirning, C. P., Ufflete, Skipwith, C. P., R.Thorpe, Ch. C.P., Wad, Skylling, W. Thorpe, C. P., Whishaw, Smet, Tond, Toutheby, Just. Wich. Wichingham, Somers, Itin., C. P., Standf, Tours, Wikwood, Stouford, Stouflf, Ston- Irani, Travers, C. P., AVilby, Wilughby, ford, C. P., Tremayn, Trem, C.P., Stourbugh, Trench, Will, Wilt. Stret, Tressillian, K. B., Wolf, Strod, Trevaign, Trevaignon, Worth, Sudb, C.P., Yong. Suer, From the time when Henry III. prohibited the continuance of schools in London for the study of the law in 1235 ], there is a total silence among historians, till the present reign, as to the places where, and the manner in which, that study was pursued. Although it is the fashion to attribute to the reign of Edward III. the institution of the several inns of Court, it is to be lamented that legal antiquaries have given us no- thing but tradition as the ground-work of that hypothesis ; and have left us ignorant, not only of their original constitu- tion, but of the precise distinction between them and the now- called inns of Chancery. These learned authors seem to have taken for granted, that the system they found in their own day had existed from the beginning, that the same connection had always prevailed, and that the dependence of the one on the other had experienced no variation. It would, perhaps, be useless to hope for a recovery of those evidences which their neglect has tended to destroy ; and it would be certainly presumptuous wholly to discard the traditions they have handed down to us ; but it will not be an uninteresting inquiry to examine how far the proofs that remain support the traditions we have received. 1 Sec vol. ii. ]>. 201, 1! l$ 4 376 INNS OF COURT AND CHANCERY. Edw. III. Fortescue, in his work " De Laudibus Legum Angliae," gives the earliest definite account of the schools for the study of the law. He says, there were " ten lesser inns, and sometimes more, which are called inns of Chancery, where the students study the very first principles of the law ; and after they have made some progress there, they are admitted into the inns of Court, properly so called, of which there are four in number." ! He then speaks in eulogistic terms of the exercises in these schools ; but is wholly silent as to their history, constitution, or even their names. We have thus a certain proof of the existence of these seminaries, distinguished as inns of Court and Chancery, in Fortescue's time ; and as his work was written between the years 1460 and 1470, an interval of nearly 150 years had then elapsed since the accession of Edward III., in whose reign tradition fixes their establishment ; with a further period of something less than 100 years since the prohibition, in 1235, of law schools in the city of London. Whatever was the real object of that prohibition, with regard to which writers differ, its operation, if intended to be general, was not likely to be of long continuance. The study of that science which was in daily exercise, a proficiency in which was not to be attained without considerable labour, and for the professors of which there was a continual demand, was a matter of absolute necessity. No royal mandate could prevent individuals from pursuing it, nor put an effectual check on their associating together for the purpose. If the prohibition was intended to be general, the probability is that it was silently allowed to become a dead letter ; but the result would seem rather to prove that the interpretation was con- fined to its literal language ; since not one of the inns of Court or Chancery which were subsequently established was situ- Chap. xlix. 1327—1377. INNS OF COURT AND CHANCERY. 377 ated within the city of London, but beyond the walls, as they then existed. The traditionary inns of Court mentioned by Dugdale, in Dowgate, Fewter Lane, and Paternoster Row, may probably have been among those which were suppressed by the prohibitory mandate. That during the hundred years before the accession of Edward III. there were some establishments for the reception of law students, no one will venture to dispute. They were probably of gradual formation ; and as it is admitted that they were all voluntary societies, they were not likely at first to be ruled by any very defined system of laws. The term apprenticii, introduced into the mandate of Edward I., and the reference to that class in the Year Book of 1 Ed- ward III., plainly presuppose both a place and a means of learning, as well as a degree recognised in the courts. An inference that these apprentices were congregated in hostels or inns, and that they discussed legal questions there, may be also drawn from the fact that Wilughby and Skipwith, who were judges in the argument of a case in 29 Edward III., stated that they had heard a certain exception taken " amongst the apprentices in hostels."1 It must not be supposed, however, that the French word hostel, nor the English word inn, nor the Latin word hospitium, was confined in its meaning to a place at which the study of the law was pursued. Its simple signification was, the mansion or residence of an individual or a family ; and in that sense the word was used at that time in each language, both in common parlance, and in the records of the country. In France we find the same meaning still attached to the word ; and in most of the English inns of Court and Chancery, the name of the family to whom they belonged is still perpetuated : Lincoln's Inn ; Gray's Inn ; Clifford's Inn ; Tliavie's Inn; Furnival's Inn; Barnard's Inn. 1 Year Book, Mich. 29 Edw. III., 17 b. 378 INNS OF COURT AND CHANCERY. Er>w. III. The four inns of Court referred to by Fortescue all writers agree to be the same as those now existing ; viz. Lincoln's Inn, the two Temples, and Gray's Inn ; but, notwithstanding the tradition, there is no proof of their establishment in the reign of Edward III. ; while some evidence does exist that two of the smaller inns were then inhabited by students of the law. The ten smaller inns Fortescue explicitly states to be " between London and Westminster," " in the suburbs ; " and Dugdale, who wrote 200 years after him, thinks that only two of these remained in his time, viz. Clifford's Inn and Thavie's Inn, out of the eight which then existed. The other six enumerated by Dugdale are Clement's Inn, Lyon's Inn, New Inn, Furnival's Inn, Staple Inn, and Barnard's Inn ; but his own account of some of them would seem to contradict the exclusion from those referred to by Fortescue. Thus it is certain that two of the lesser inns, existing in Fortescue's time, no longer remain ; and it appears from his description, that the number of these establishments was not subject to any limitation, as he says there were " sometimes more" than the ten to which he refers. It may therefore be presumed that the number of inns depended upon the fluctuation in the number of students; and that when one establishment was full, new accommodation for those resorting to the study was found in another locality. Fortescue enables us to approach the number of students in his time. He says, that there were two hundred in the least frequented of the four inns of Court, and in each of the ten lesser inns "an hundred students at the least," making an aggregate, therefore, of little less than 2000 students. In the absence of any definite explanation as to the origin of the distinction between the four greater and the ten lesser inns, and of the assumption of authority by the former over the latter, we may very reasonably suppose that it arose from the fact, that each of the four greater inns, occupying a far 1327—1377. INNS OF COURT AND CHANCERY. 379 more extensive area, and accommodating a far greater number of students, than any of the lesser inns, would gradually ac- quire an ascendancy over them. Incipient candidates for legal honours would thus naturally seek admission into these more popular societies ; and, being for a time excluded by their crowded state, would be compelled to resort to some of the lesser inns, until space was afforded for their admission into the principal house. Thus, those smaller inns, which were in the immediate neighbourhood of the several larger inns, may be easily supposed to have become connected with them ; — acting as a sort of nursery, before an advance to the greater school. Thus, Furnival's Inn, and Thavie's Inn, were in connection with Lincoln's Inn ; Clifford's Inn, Lyon's Inn, and Clement's Inn, with the Inner Temple ; New Inn, with the Middle Temple ; and Staple Inn, and Barnard's Inn, with Gray's Inn. It is not difficult, then, to see that the granting of the different degrees in law would be gradually assumed by, and recognised in, the four greater houses. The precise time when this occurred, it is now impossible to fix ; but that it was not always so, we have some evidence in the fact, that in the reign of Henry IV. a member of Clifford's Inn was called to the degree of serjeant from that inn, in which he must, of course, have been previously an apprentice, or what is now called a barrister.1 The ultimate establishment of this separation between the two classes of houses, — this division, as it were, between school and college, — rendered some distinctive appellation necessary to each class : and the adoption of the name of inns of Court for one class, and of inns of Chancery for the other, was probably the consequence. The latter were so called, not, as Dugdale suggests, " because they were antiently 1 l\uic. Allen, 5 B. & A. 984. ; Legal Observer, vii. VOL. III. C C 386 thavie's INK. Edw. III. London, late of John Travels, deceased ; and he then goes on to remark, " And if that inne of Chancery, situate near St. Andrew's Church, in Holburne, now called Davie's or Thavie's Inne, be the same which is mentioned in the Fine Rolls of 1 1 Edward III. (as some judicious persons do think it is), con- sidering the little difference betwixt Travers and Thavye in pronunciation, it [viz., the reason why they are called Innes of Chancery] will then be out of doubt." In p. 271. of the same work, however, without any re- ference to the above suggestion, he states that students of law were resident in this (Thavie's) inn, in the time of Edward III. ; and that it took its name from John Tavie, to wThom it belonged, and who by his will (23 Edward III.) gave all his tenements " in parte australi," in the parish of St. Andrew's, to his wife Alicia for life ; and after her death, " totum illud Hospicium, in quo apprenticii ad legem habitare solebant" to be sold, and to endow a chaplain for his and his wife's souls with the proceeds. Now here Dugdale gives two contradictory origins to the house, and overturns, by the latter significant fact, the former suggested etymology of the name. It is impossible not to admire the labours of that indefatigable writer. Look- ing at the extent and the nature of his wrorks, his unwearied industry is most surprising, and the utility of his voluminous collections no one can deny. It is scarcely to be expected, where documents so multitudinous come under his treatment, that the most careful attention will always avoid mistakes ; and the grateful reader will be ready to make allowances for those oversights, which he must be conscious he is himself so likely to commit. Although, therefore, we cannot but adopt the derivation of the name of Thavie's Inn from John Tavie, and discard that from John Travers, it does not follow that the houses of the latter did not form part of the premises comprehended in 1327—1377. Clement's inn. 387 the inn. The grant to the clerks of the Chancery in 1 1 Ed- ward III. may or may not have been for the use of students of the law ; it is wholly silent on the subject ; but its term was only " while the houses remained in the king's hands, on account of the debts of John Travers." These debts his ex- ecutors may have paid, and thus redeemed the houses ; and then they may have sold them to John Tavie, who may have accepted the tenancy of the apprentices of the law, to whose use the Chancery clerks may possibly have previously de- voted them. However this may be, it is manifest that " apprenticii ad legem " were accustomed to dwell there before the twenty-third year of Edward III. We have no record of what was actually done with the " Hospicium " on the death of Alicia, the widow of John Tavie ; but whatever became of the freehold, there is no doubt that the apprentices continued the occupation. The purchase of the premises by the benchers of Lincoln's Inn will be noticed in the reign of Edward VI. If we were to accept Shakspeare as an historical authority, we should be bound to place Clement's Inn also as a receptacle for students of the law in the reign of Ed- ward III. In the second part of the play of Henry IV., Justice Shallow says — " I was once of Clement's Inn ; where, I think, they will talk of mad Shallow yet;" and Cousin Silence afterwards reminds him, — " That's fifty-five year ago." This would fix the period in Edward's reign ; but, as we have no other evidence of the fact, we can only receive the bard's description of the "mad days" of the "swinge-bucklers" and the " bona-robas," and his allusion to " Sir Dagonet in Arthur's Show," as pictures of his own age, illustrating the 388 REPORTERS. Edw. III. practices and manners which lie himself bad witnessed among the young students. The Year Books of this reign are in four parts : the first comprehends the ten earliest years ; the second extends from the seventeenth to the thirty-ninth, omitting the nineteenth, twentieth, and thirty-first to thirty-seventh inclusive ; the third proceeds from the fortieth to the last year of the reign ; each of them wanting some terms ; and the fourth is called " Le Liver dcs Assises et Plees del Corone moves et dependaunt devant les Justices, ci bien en lour Circuits come aylours ; " including the whole of the reign. In the second and third centuries of David Jenkins's Reports are to be found cases in most of the years up to the forty-seventh ; omitting, however, those of fourteen of those years; viz., 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 11, 12, 16, 18, 25, 31, 32, 37, and 38 Edward III. To Keilway's Reports of the times of Henry VII., Henry VIII., and Elizabeth, are added fifty-five cases in Itinere of this reign, which were dated between the 1st and 47th years. William Benloe reports a case in 32 Edward III. before the justices of assize in Suffolk. The " State Trials " contain the proceedings against Roger Mortimer, Earl of March ; Thomas de Berkele ; and John de Stratford, Archbishop of Canterbury ; principally extracted from the Rolls of Parliament. A remarkable trial occurred in the thirtieth year of this reign, in which Thomas Lyld, Bishop of Ely, was charged with the murder of a servant of Blanche Wake, the daughter of the Earl of Lancaster. Of this he was acquitted, but was found guilty of knowingly receiving the murderer after the crime. Solemnly denying the charge, the bishop ap- pealed to the pope, who summoned his judges William de Shareshull, William de Thorpe, Henry Green, William 1327—1377. REPORTERS. 389 Notton, and Simon Drayton1, to appear at the papal court; and, on their disobeying the citation, pronounced sentence of excommunication against them, followed by an interdict over their property. The king, though greatly annoyed, was obliged to take measures to satisfy the pontiff. The timely death of the bishop, however, facilitated the accommodation.2 1 Probably a Serjeant added to tbe commission. * Godwin de Praesiil. 263. ; Angl. Sac. i. 44 e c s 390 BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES THE JUDGES UNDER THE REIGN OF EDWARD III. ALDEBURGH, RICHARD DE. Just. C. P. 1332. Aldeburgh (Aldborough), in Yorkshire, was the place from which Richard de Aldeburgh derived his name. He had a grant of lands there in 12 Edw. II., and seven years after- wards purchased the manor of Hundeburton and property in Mildeby, both in the same county.1 In 14 Edward II. he was one of the commissioners to inquire as to the men of Ripon having refused to raise 1000 marks which they had promised to pay to the Scots for the preservation of their city, and having allowed the hostages who were security for the money to remain unredeemed in prison.2 Richard de Aldeburgh is frequently mentioned as a counsel in the Year Books of Edward II., and the first five years of Edward III. In the third year of the latter reign he acted as the king's attorney in the pleas of quo warranto at Northampton; and in the same year he is noticed as one of the king's Serjeants. In the fifth year he was a commissioner for preserving the peace between England and Scotland3; and on February 3, 1332, 6 Edward III., he was constituted a judge of the Common Pleas. Dugdale Abbrev. Rot. Orig. i. 245. 293. Ibid. ii. 809. N. Focdera, ii. 437. 1327—1377. ALAN DE ASHE. 391 introduces two other patents, conferring on him the same office, dated November 19, 1333, and January 8, 1341 ] ; but I presume, that as on these days new chiefs of the court were appointed, these were merely formal re-nominations without any intervening retirement ; especially as Dugdale docs not record any break in the fines levied before him. These are stated to terminate at Michaelmas, 14 Edward III., 1340; in which year he had a licence to enclose one hundred acres of land in Rigton in Whernedale.- He received the order of knighthood when he was raised to the bench in 6 Edward III.3 No document remains showing the date of his death ; but he is mentioned as the head of a judicial commission in Yorkshire as late as May 20, 1343.4 ALLERTHORPE, LAURENCE. B. E. 1375. See under the Reign of Richard II. ASHE, ALAN DE. B. E. 1346. An advocate of this name is noticed in the Year Books of the early part of the reign. He was made a baron of the Exchequer on July 2, 1346, 18 Edward III., and he had his robes in 21 Edward III.5; but beyond that date all the pub- lished records are silent about him. An Adam do Assh appears connected with the Exchequer in 44 Edward III.6 1 Cal. Rot. Tat. 114. 117. 119. 138. » Dugdale's Orig. 45. 102. ■ Abbrev. Hot. Orig. ii. 192. Ibid. 137. N. Fcedera, ii. 1225. Issue Roll, 44 Eihv. III. c c 4 392 HOBERT DE AYLESTON. Edw. III. ASTY, HENRY DE. Ch. 13. E. 1375. See under the Reign of Richard II. AUNGERVILLE. See R. de Bury. AYLESTON, ROBERT DE, Archdeacon of Berks. B. E. 1330. See under the Reign of Edward II. In the parliament held at York in November, 1322, 16 Edward II., Master Robert de Ayleston, then canon of Salisbury, was one of the procurators for the bishop of that see. In the following year he was keeper of the Privy Seal, and was employed in various counties to try the sheriffs and others accused of malversation and oppression. On May 21, 1323, he was nominated a baron of the Exchequer; and on July 18, 1326, was sworn in as chancellor of the Exchequer, by which he seems to have vacated his former seat on the bench, as he was not among the barons appointed in the following January on the accession of Edward III. In the fourth year of that reign, however, he resumed his place as a baron, on December 20, 1330, having in the preceding August been collated to the archdeaconry of Berks. He ao-ain vacated his seat on the bench on beino; constituted treasurer on March 29, 1332; and while he held that office the king made an unsuccessful application to the pope to procure his nomination to the vacant bishoprick of St. Andrew's. He continued treasurer till February 3, 1334. There is no other trace of his death than is afforded by the appointment of his successor in the archdeaconry in Septem- ber, 1338, 12 Edward III.1 1 Pari. Writs, ii. P. ii. 428.; Dugdal< 847. 866. Le Neve, 279. ; N. Focdera, 1327—1377. ROGER DE BANKWELL. 393 BACON, THOMAS. Just. C. P. 1329. Just. K. B. 1332. That Thomas Bacon was of tiie same family as that from which Sir Nicholas Bacon and Lord Verulam sprang, there can be little doubt, although it is not in our power to trace the pedigree distinctly. In 9 Edward II., 1316, he was cer- tified, as holding property in Stiffkey, Baconsthorpe, and other places in Norfolk, which formed part of the posses- sions of those eminent individuals. He was perhaps the Thomas Bacon, son of Sir Roger Bacon of Baconsthorpe, on whom that knight settled lands in Isbenham, &c. on his mar- riage with Johanna, daughter of Roger de Antringham, in 8 Edward III. ; but the Bacons were even then so numerous, that the different branches can scarcely be distinguished. Thomas is named in the Year Books of Edward HI. both before and after he was a judge. He was raised to that dignity in the Common Pleas on September 30, 1329, 3 Ed- ward III., and received the honour of knighthood. He was removed into the King's Bench on January 28, 1332, in the sixth year, in the parliament of which he was one of the triers of petitions ; being also appointed to tallage his native county. We do not find any entry of his exercising his judicial functions after 10 Edward III., 1336; but if he were the son of Sir Roger, as above suggested, he was still alive in 1359.1 BANKWELL or B AUK WELL, ROGER DE. Just. K. B. 1341. This name is spelled both these ways ; and Roger dc Bank well was most probably of the family, perhaps a 1 Pari. Writ*, ii. P. ii. 303. ; Dugdalc's Orig. I0'2.; and Chron. Sei Rot. Pari. ii. C«. 447.; Abbrev. Rot. Orig ii. 99. 109. I am Indebted to Thomas Bond, Esq., of tbe Inner Temple, for valuable facts most kindly communicated on the subject of this and otber families. 394 WILLIAM BASSET. Edw. III. younger son, of John do Bankwell, baron of the Exchequer under Edward II. Roger is noticed as an advocate in the early part of the reign of Edward III. In the sixth year he was employed to tallage the counties of Nottingham and Derby1 ; and from his being assigned in 14 Edward III. to inquire into a conflagration at Spondon in the latter county 2, it would seem probable that he was settled there ; the more especially as Sir Godfrey Foljambe, one of his associates in that inquiry, many years afterwards gave a messuage and land to a clergyman named Roger de Bankwell 3, who, it may be presumed, was this Roger's son. He was constituted a judge of the King's Bench before Easter in 15 Edward III., 1341, and was a trier of petitions in the parliaments held from that date till Hilary in the twenty-first year.4 He is mentioned in the Year Books as late as 23 Edward III. BARNSTAPLE, Archdeacon of. See W. de Melton. BASSET, WILLIAM. Just. C. P. 1337. Just. K. B. 1341. I DO not know to which of the numerous branches of the family of Basset this William Basset belongs, but he was apparently a native of Staffordshire. He was an advocate in the reign of Edward II., and in the first ten years of that of Edward III. In the latter of these or the beginning of the eleventh year, 1337, he was raised to the bench of the Common Pleas, and fines began to be levied before him on the octave of St. Hilary in that year. When the king, in December, 1340, dismissed some of his brethren for mal- practices, he escaped, and was comprehended in the new patent issued on January 8, 1341. On October 28 he ex- 1 Rot. Pari. ii. 447. - N. Fcedera, ii. 1133. 3 Abbrev. Rot. Orig. ii. 286. 4 Rot. Pari. ii. 126—164. 1327—1377. ROBERT BAYNARD. 395 changed his court for that of the King's Bench, where he remained certainly till Hilary, 21 Edward III., he being one of the triers of petitions in the parliament then assembled, and probably till 24 Edward III., his name occurring up to that date in the Year Book and book of assizes of that BAUKWELL. See R. de Bankwell. BAUMBURGH, THOMAS DE. ? Keeper, 1332. Among the clerks or masters in Chancery mentioned from 1 to 14 Edward III., is Thomas de Baumburgh (Bambo- rough), so named from that place in Northumberland, Avhere he had property. He seems to have been an especial favourite with the king, who presented him with the church of Emildon, and made him various beneficial grants of lands in that county.2 He acted as keeper of the Great Seal on several occasions; — during the chancellorship of John de Stratford, from April 1 to June 23, 1332, and from January 13 to February 17, 1334; during that of Richard de Bynteworth, Bishop of London, from July 6 to 19, 1336; and, on the death of that prelate, from Decem- ber 8, 1339, to February 16, 1340, while there was no chancellor.3 In the latter year, 14 Edward III., he was one of the receivers of the petitions to parliament4, and probably died soon after, as he is not subsequently named. BAYNARD, ROBERT. Just. K. B. 1328. Robert Baynard was the son of Fulco Baynard, a justice itinerant in the reign of Henry III., who died at a very 1 Cent's Mag., Aug. 181:3.; Dugdale's Orig. 4 5. ; Rot Pari. ii. 164. - Rot. Pari. ii. 22. ; Cal. Inqnis. p. in., ii. 5:5.; Abbrev. Rot Orig. ii. 27. 75. 79. ; Cal. Rot. Pat 118. 3 Hardy's fatal. 31- ' Rot Pari. ii. OS. U2. 396 BOBEBT RAYNAUD. Edw. III. advanced age in 1305, 33 Edward I.1 Kobert, so early as 18 Edward L, was returned as knight of the shire for Norfolk, and represented that county in the parliaments of 2, 8, 9, 14, 15, 19, and 20 Edward II.2 In 5 Edward. II. the custody of Norfolk was committed to him3, and in the two following years he was among the magnates who were specially summoned to parliament. Several of these were not barons, and were never afterwards summoned ; and he, in all the subsequent entries, is merely called " Miles." He was one of the conservators of the peace for the county, and was employed as a commissioner of array, and in assessing the various grants made by the parliament. To him also was intrusted the custody of the bishoprick of Durham, in 1311, on the death of Anthony Bek ; but we do not find that during that reign he was engaged in any other legal duties than those which usually devolved on country gentlemen in their own districts; nor does his name appear at all in the Year Books. On the accession, however, of Edward III., he was ap- pointed, according to Dugdale, a judge of the King's Bench4 ; and it is curious that the writ directing the payment of his expenses as knight of the shire, in the parliament of the preceding January, is dated on March 9, 1327, the same day on which he was raised to the judicial bench. He died, in 4 Edward III., in possession of Hautboys, Whatacre, and five other manors in Norfolk, leaving a wife named Matilda, who lived till 1349, and a son named Fulk, among whose three daughters the inheritance was afterwards divided.5 BEALKNAP, ROBERT. Ch. C. P. 1374. See under the Reign of Richard II. 1 See Vol. II. 228. - Pari. Writs, i. 441., ii. P. ii. 470. 3 Abbrev. Rot. Orig. i. 1 86. 4 Dugdale's Chron. Series. 5 Blomcfield's Norfolk, i. 577. ; Cal. Inquis. \\ m., ii. 30. 148. 1327—1377. THOMAS DE BLASTON. 397 HEREFORD, RALPH DE. Just. Itix. 1329. How nearly Ralph de Bereford was connected with William de Bereford, the chief justice of the last reign, no pedigree explains ; but that it was not very distantly is most probable. According to the certificate in 9 Edward II., he possessed property in the townships of Bourton, Milcome, and Bere- ford, or Barford, in the county of Oxford. In the same year he was appointed one of the custodes of the vacant bishoprick of Winchester ; and on several occasions, during the re- mainder of that reign, was employed on commissions of Oyer and Terminer in various counties. In 1329, the third year of the reign of Edward III., he wa3 the second of five justices itinerant into Nottinghamshire, and was named in a similar commission for five other counties.1 BERKS, Archdeacon of. See R. de Ayleston. BEVERLEY, Provost of. See W. de Melton. BLASTON, THOMAS DE. B. E. 1332. THOMAS de Blaston was probably of Leicestershire, where there is a hamlet of that name. The custody of the honor of Peverell, in that and two other counties, wTas committed to a Thomas de Blaston in the reign of Edward I. ; and he may have been the father of the baron of the Exchequer. The latter I find first mentioned in 3 Edward III., when, under the title of Clericus Regis, he was constituted the king's chamberlain in Chester, lie was raised to the Exchequer bench on November 2, 1332, 6 Edward III. In the eleventh year, he had an allowance of twenty marks for his expenses in 1 Pari. Writs, ii. P. ii. 526. ; Abb. Rot. Orig. i. 227. '277., ii. 24.; N. Feeder*, ii. 537. 574. ; Dugdale. 398 JOHN DE BLOCKLEY. Edw. III. going to divers places, to religious persons and others, to obtain aid to marry the king's sister, Eleanor : he acted, also, as a commissioner of array in Yorkshire. A new patent, as baron of the Exchequer, was granted to him on January 20, 1341, 14 Edward III., when the king had weeded the court, on his return from Tournay, of those whom he considered to have failed in their duty. He held the rectory of Solihull, in Warwickshire.1 BLOCKLEY, JOHN DE. B. E. 1377. The parish of this name, in Worcestershire, was probably the native place of John de Blockley, who endowed the chantry of the church of St. Mary there with some of his lands in 30 Edward III. and subsequent years. He was an auditor of the Exchequer, in 44 Edward III., with a salary of 10/. a year ; and he at the same time received an annual pension of twenty marks for certain good services he had performed to the king and the late queen Philippa ; besides which, he had a grant of the custody of the manor of Exhulne, in Warwick- shire, during the minority of the heir. Like most of the other officers, he was in holy orders. He was raised to the bench as a baron of the Exchequer in 47 Edward III., and so con- tinued till the last year of the king's reign, as appears by a liberate quoted by Dugdale. He was not re-appointed on the accession of Richard II. ; nor is there any further record of his career.2 1 Abbrev. Rot. Orig. i. 39., ii. 17.; Dugdale; Issue Roll, Mich. 11 Edw. III.; Rot. Pari. ii. 105.; Cal. Inquis. p. m., ii. 85. 2 Cal. Inquis. p. m., ii. 194. 263. 352. ; Issue Roll, 44 Edw. III., 49. 92. ; Abbrev. Rot. Orig. ii. 310.; Cal. Rot. Pat. 189. 1327—1877. JOnN DE BOUSSER. 399 BOUDON, WILLIAM DE. B. E. 1327. William de Boudon was of a Northamptonshire family. He was appointed second baron of the Exchequer on Feb- ruary 4, 1327, a few days after the commencement of the reign of Edward III. But as there is no subsequent entry whatever concerning him, he probably died within a few months, Robert de Nottingham succeeding him as second baron on October 15 following.1 BOUSSER, or BOURCHIER, JOHN DE. Just. C. P. 1327. See under the Reign of Edward IT. The first mention that occurs of John de Bousser, is his appointment, as one of the attornies of the Earl of Oxford, to appear in his place at the parliament held in May, 34 Edward L, 1306. 2 In 6 Edward II. he was excused, on a fine of one hundred shillings, from bearing arms — de armis militaribus suscipiendis — for the space of three years. Al- though his name is not introduced in the Year Book of Edward II. before he was raised to the bench at West- minster, it may be inferred that he practised as an advocate, as he was one of the justices of assize in the counties of Kent, Surrey, and Sussex in 8 Edward II.3, and was named in several other judicial commissions from that time till May 31, 1321, in the fourteenth year; when he was constituted a judge of the Common Pleas, in the place of Gilbert de Rou- bury.4 In this court he continued to act for the remainder of that reign ; but some short delay seems to have taken place in his re-appointment on the accession of Edward III. ; his 1 Pari. Writs, ii. P. ii. 527. ; Dllgdale's Chron. Scries. . irl. Writs, i. 166. [lot. Pari. i. Ml>. 1 Rot, Pat l l Edw. II., p. 'J. in. <;. 400 EGBERT DE BOUSSEtt. Edw. III. patent not being dated till March 24, 1 327, two months after- wards ; while those to his brethren were immediately granted. He was the son of Robert de Bousser, and Emma, his wife; and by his own marriage with Helen, the daughter and heiress of Walter de Colchester, became possessed of Stan- sted in Halsted, and other manors in Essex. The last fine levied before him was dated on the morrow of the Ascension, 3 Edward III., 1329. l Dying soon after, he left two sons, Robert and John, the former of whom became chancellor in this reign.2 He was the head of a curious commission in 19 Edward II. to hear and determine a charge made by the Bishop, and Dean and Chapter of London against certain persons for taking and carrying away a great fish, "qui dicitur Cete," found on their manor of Walton ; the prosecutors alleging that King Henry III. had, by his charter, granted them "totum crassum piscem," which should be taken on their land, "except the tongue, which the said king retained to himself."3 BOUSSER, or BOURCIIIER, ROBERT DE. Chancellor, 1340. Robert de Bousser was the eldest son of the above-men- tioned John de Bousser, for so the name was spelled in the whole of the father's time and in the early part of the son's. It was afterwards varied to Bourser, Burghcher, Bourghchier, and eventually Bourchier. In 17 Edward II. he began his career as a man-at-arms, and was returned in that character by the sheriff of Essex, as summoned to attend by general proclamation4; and in 2 Edward III., before his father's death, he was one of the 1 Dugdale's Orig. 45. 2 Morant's Essex, i. 253. 3 N. Fcedera, ii. 619. * Pari. Writs, ii. P. i. 652. 1327—1377. ROBERT DE BOUSSER. 401 knights returned to parliament for that county, and received for his attendance at the rate of four shillings a day.1 In July, 1334, 8 Edward III., he was appointed chief justice of the King's Bench in Ireland ; Thomas de Louther being named to the same office, in case he was unwilling to go.2 Whether he accepted the place, or how long he re- mained in it, does not appear. At the commencement, how- ever, of Edward's claim to the crown of France, we find him engaged, in 1337, in the battle of Cadsant, where Guy, the brother of the Earl of Flanders, was taken prisoner ; and we next meet with him attending at the parliament held in Lent, 1340.3 When the king hurriedly returned from Tournay, at the end of November in that year, and dismissed Robert de Strat- ford, the chancellor, whom he was prevented from imprisoning by his fear of invading the ecclesiastical privileges, he resolved to appoint a lay-chancellor ; and accordingly selected Robert de Bourchier, who was sworn in on December 14, 13404, with a grant of 500/. a year beyond the accustomed fees.5 That this appointment was very distasteful to all parties, is evident from the petitions in the next parliament, praying, that in consequence of the evils arising from bad counsellors, the king should in future make the chancellor, chief justices, and other officers in full parliament, and that they should there be openly sworn to observe the laws. To this the king gave what appeared to be a consent, and his answer was con- firmed as a statute.6 Immediately after the parliament had closed its sittings, he revoked the enactment as improperly forced upon him ; but he soon found it expedient to part with his military chancellor, who gave up the Seal on October 29, 1341, and was succeeded by Sir Robert Parning.7 1 Rot. Pari. ii. 441. 2 N. Feeder*, ii. 890. :i Hot. Pari. ii. 113. ' Rot. (laus. 11 Edw. III., p. 'J. m. 10. 5 Cal. Rot Pat. 138. 6 Rot. Pari. ii. 128. [31. 7 Rot. Claus. 15 Edw. III., p. 3. m. 22. VOL. III. 1) 1> 402 THOMAS DE BRAYTON. Edw. III. From this time Bourchier joined the king's army with so large an array, that his allowance amounted to 40 \l. 10s. He distinguished himself at the battle of Cressi, and was engaged as one of the ambassadors to treat for the subsequent peace. He was summoned to parliament as a peer from 16 Edward III. He fell a sacrifice to the plague that raged in 1349, and was buried in Halsted church, where his monument still re- mains. By his wife, Margaret, daughter and heir of Sir Thomas de Preyers, he had three sons. The eldest, named Robert, brought up to the priesthood, and in whose favour the king applied to the pope in October, 1340 *, stating him to be then twenty-two years old, died before his father. The two others were John, who was twenty years old at his father's death, and William. The male branch of John's family terminated with his son, Bartholomew, in 1409 ; but the barony survived at first in his daughter, and then in Henry, the grandson of William, Sir Robert's youngest son, who will be noticed as keeper of the Great Seal to Edward IV., under the title of Earl of Essex.2 BRAYTON, or DRAYTON, THOMAS DE. ? Keeper, 1340. Thomas de Brayton had a grant of the prebend of Fynglas, in the church of Glasgow, from Edward II., in the thirteenth year of his reign ; and was, therefore, probably at that time in his service. In 3 Edward III. he accompanied the king to France, and was engaged in various missions of 1 N. Foedera, ii. 1 1 39. 2 Dugdale's Baron, ii. 127.; Morant's Essex, i. 380., ii. 253.; Nicolas': Synopsis. 1327—1377. WILLIAM DE BROCLESBY. 403 trust for several of the following years.1 His appointment as a clerk in the Chancery, it would appear, occurred about 6 Edward III., as in the parliament of that year he was a receiver of the petitions.'2 From 14 to 27 Edward III. he was frequently one of those entrusted with the custody of the Great Seal, either during the absence of the chancellors, or in the intervals of vacancy in the office. Under Sir Robert Bourchier, his name appears as holding it from December 16, 1340, to the end of the year3; and from February 14 to March 3, 1341 4 : on the death of Sir Robert Parning, from August 27 to September 29, 13435: on the death of John de Offord, from May 28 to June 16, 1349 6; and under John de Thoresby, from September 2 to October 8, 1351 7; and from August 4, 1353, for a time not stated.8 He con- tinued to act as a clerk of the Chancery till 33 Edward III., 13599 ; after which his name is not mentioned. He is frequently called Thomas de Drayton, in the Rolls of parliament ,0 ; and this, I am inclined to think, was his right name, and that he was of a Norfolk family having possessions at Great Yarmouth.11 BROCLESBY, WILLIAM DE. B. E. 1341. William de Broclesby had land at the place of that name in Lincolnshire. He was an ecclesiastic, and devoted much of his property, both in that county and in Yorkshire, to pious purposes. It does not appear what office he held about the court before he was appointed a baron of the Exchequer on 1 N. Fcedera, ii. 401. 764. 840. 872. 1005. - Rot. rail. ii. 68. 3 Rot. Claus. 14 Edw. III., p. 2. m. 10. 4 Ibid. 15 Edw. III., p. 1. in. 44. 5 Ibid. 17 Edw. III., p. 2. m. 20. 24. ■ [bid. 2:5 Edw. III., P. 1. au h. 10. 7 Ibid. 25 Edw. III., m. 11, 12. H [bid. 27 Edw. III., m. 6. '■> N. Fcedera, in. "' Rot. 1'arl. ii. 146—264. » Abb. Kot. Ori- ii. 103, 404 ROBERT BUUNDISH. E»w. III. January 20, 1341, 14 Edward III. He remained in the court for several years, and is mentioned as being alive in 25 Edward III,1 BROME, ADAM DE. Just. Itin. 1329. Adam de Brome was a clerk or master in Chancery, but is introduced here as having filled the office of a justice itinerant in the county of Nottingham, in 3 Edward III., 1330. He probably was of the family settled at the manor of Brome Hall, in Norfolk ; and is first mentioned in 6 Ed- ward II., 1312, when he was assigned to talliate Warwick- shire and other counties. From that time up to 3 Edward III., besides being frequently mentioned in connection with his duties in Chancery, he was several times employed in judicial commissions, and in the collection of the aid imposed by the parliament.2 In 17 Edward II. he had a licence to erect a school in Oxford, by the name of " Rectoris Domus Schola- rium beata3 Marias Oxon." 3 BRUNDISH, ROBERT. Just. K. B. 1338. The name of Brandish was probably derived from a parish in the county of Suffolk, and is frequently called Burnedish. A John de Burndish acquired the manor of Morton, near Ongar, in Essex, in the reign of Edward I., and died in 9 Edward III. ; when he was succeeded by Nicholas, of wThom it is probable that this Robert Brundish was either a younger son or brother. Of Robert we can find no other mention than that he was constituted a judge of the King's Bench on April 4, 1338, 12 Edward III.4 1 Abbrev. Rot. Orig. ii. 91. 192. 205. 219. ; Rot. Pari. li. 453. 2 Pari. Writs, ii., P. ii. 602. ; Abbrev. Placit. 337. ; Dugdale. 3 Cal. Rot. Pat. p. 94. 4 Abbrev. Rot. Orig. i. HI., ii. 98. 129.; Cal. Inquis. p. m., ii. 70. 159. 184. ; Dugdale. 1327—1377. JOHN DE BUKYNGHAM. 405 BUCKINGHAM, Archdeacon of. See W. of Wykeham. BUKYNGHAM, JOHN DE, Archdeacon of North- ampton, Dean of Lichfield, Bishop of Lincoln. B. E. 1357. John de Bukyngham, or Bokyngham, a native pro- bably of the town of Buckingham, was educated at Oxford, in which university he took the degree of Doctor in Divinity. He was collated Archdeacon of Northampton on February 28, 1350. Nothing is related of his official career until 24 Ed- ward III., 1351, when he was appointed keeper of the king's Great Wardrobe.1 In 1357, 31 Edward III., he was a baron of the Exchequer ; but it may be presumed that he resigned his seat on that bench on his becoming keeper of the Privy Seal two years afterwards, an office which he retained till the middle of the thirty -seventh year.2 On January 1, 1360, Robert de Herle and he were constituted the king's lieu- tenants and captains of the Duchy of Britanny ; and he re- ceived a quittance for the monies which had come into his hands in that character in the year 1365.3 In the mean time he had been advanced successively to the deanery of Lichfield, about 1361, and to the bishoprick of Lincoln on April 5, 1363.4 After ruling that diocese for thirty -four years, Pope Boniface IX., in revenge for certain contests between them, thought proper to remove him from it in 1397, offering him the see of Lichfield instead. The offended prelate, however, refused to accept what he justly considered as a degradation, but chose rather to retire to the cloisters of Canterbury, where, in less than six months, he died on March 10, 1398.5 His works are mentioned by Bale 1 Abbrev. Rot. Orig. ii. 211. - Kal. Excb. i. 189— 200. 1 N. Feeders, iii. 466. 777. ' Le Neve, 127. 140. 162. 5 Godwin lie l'nesul. 2'JJ. D D 3 406 HENRY DE BURGHERSH. Edw. III. and Pits, and prove him to have been an able disputant and profound scholar. A person of the same name was the king's minstrel in the latter part of the reign of Edward III., and had an allow- ance of 7 \d. a day for his life.1 BURGHERSH, HENRY DE, Bishop of Lincoln. Chancellor, 1328. The family of Burghersh derived its name from a manor so called in the county of Sussex. Its possessor in the reign of Edward I. was Robert de Burghersh, who was constable of Dover Castle, and warden of the Cinque Ports. On his death in 1306, 34 Edward I., his eldest son, Stephen, suc- ceeded him, being then twenty-three years of age. Stephen died in 1309 2; and as his successor, Bartholomew de Burg- hersh, was in the Scottish wars in 1317, I take him to have been the brother of Stephen, and not the son, as is generally represented. Bartholomew, indeed, calls Henry de Burghersh his brother 3 ; and Henry is described in the statutes of Oriel College, Oxford, as the son of Robert de Burghasse, knight, and Matilda, his wife. If, as it is said, he were only thirty years of age when he was elected to the prelacy, he must have been born about the year 1290. He was educated at the University of Oxford ; and owed to his connection with Bartholomew de Badlesmere, of Ledes Castle, Kent, his uncle, that favour which produced the king's intercession with the pope to raise him to the vacant see of Lincoln. In one of the royal letters he is called Canon of York.4 The necessary bull having been procured, he was consecrated bishop on July 20, 1320, 14 Ed- 1 Issue Roll, 44 Edw. III., 56. 2 Cal. Inquis. p. m., i. 207. 237. 3 N. Fcedera, i. 1074. 4 Pari. Writs, ii., P. i. 405, 406. 411. 414. 418. 1327—1377. HENRY DE BURGHERSH. 407 ward II. In the next year his brother and his uncle were both in arms on the side of the Earl of Lancaster ; and it is evident that he was suspected of adhering to the same party, as there is a memorandum on the Roll ', that he is not to be requested to raise men-at-arms to march against the rebels and adherents of the earl. The strong terms of vituperation which the king uses in his letter to the pope on that occasion, praying for the bishop's expulsion, form a curious contrast with the laudatory expressions in his five letters of recommendation two years before.2 The temporalities of his bishoprick were however, seized into the king's hands ; as we find by his petition to the first parliament of Edward III., in which he attributes the injury he sustained, to the extent of 3000Z., to the "abetment and procurement of Hugh Despencer the son, and Robert Baldocke." The council intimated, in their answer, that the taking was wrongful and without cause 3 ; and the treasurer and barons were commanded to exonerate the bishop from all amerciaments remaining unsatisfied.4 Though it is said he was restored to his possessions by Edward II., he held no office during the remainder of that reign ; but soon after the accession of Edward III. he was placed in that of treasurer 5, which he filled till, in the next year, on May 12, 1328, he was appointed chancellor.6 In 1329 he accompanied the king to France, to do homage to King Philip for the lands held of that crown ; and is said to have received some hint of an intention to surprise and seize the person of Edward, who thereupon lost no time in escaping. He retained the Great Seal till the downfall of Mortimer and Queen Isabella, when the king, on November 28, 1330, 4 Edward III., placed it in the hands of John de Stratford, 1 Pari. Writs, ii., P. i. 550. * N. Fcedera, i. 464. 3 Rot. Pari. ii. 438. 4 N. Fcedera, i. 697. 5 Rot. Pat. 1 Edw. III., p. 1. in. 9. ,: Ret. Clam. 2 Edw. III. D D 4 408 HENRY DE BURGHERSH. Edw. III. Bishop of Winchester l ; but gave Burghersh a general pardon.2 We find him, however, again in the royal confidence, as treasurer, in the eighth, ninth, and tenth years of the reign ; and from the eleventh till the end of his life he was en- gaged in various negotiations as to Edward's claim to the crown of France, accompanying the king in his expeditions, and becoming bound for him for a loan of 10,000/. 3 The bishop died at Ghent in December, 1340, 14 Ed- ward III., and his body was removed to England for burial in his own cathedral. He is reputed to have possessed great natural abilities and extensive learning. His political character must have been high, since for ten years after the king had released himself from his mother's domination, he was employed, although one of her party, in embassies requiring skill and prudence as well as confidence and trust. Walsingham describes him as covetous and worldly ; and relates an absurd story of his appearance after death, to induce the canons of his church to re-open certain lands to his poor tenants, which to their great injury he had enclosed in his park at Tynghurst. The only recorded complaint I find against him is, that while chancellor, he gave to his own clerks the benefices, in the king's gift, which his predecessor had been accustomed to pre- sent to the clerks of the Chancery.4 On the other hand, it appears that he and his brother founded a grammar-school in Lincoln, to which he left maintenance for five poor priests and as many poor scholars for ever. Bartholomew, his brother, was the ancestor of the present Earl of Westmoreland and the Baroness le Despencer and Burghersh.5 1 Rot. Claus. 4 Edw. III., m. 16. 2 Cal. Rot. Pat. 109. 3 N. Foedera, i. 893—1134. 4 Rot. Pari. ii. 41. 5 Godwin de PrEesul. 294. ; Barnes's Edward III., 36 — 210. 1327—1377. RICHARD DE BURY. 409 BURSTALL, WILLIAM DE. ? Keeper, 1371. M. R. 1371. See under the Reign of Richard II. BURY, RICHARD DE, or DE AUNGERVILLE, Arch DEACON I Durham. deacon of Northampton, Dean of Wells, Bishop of Chancellor, 1334. The real name of this learned and eminent prelate was Richard de Aungerville ; but he assumed that of de Bury from the place where he was born, Bury St. Edmund's, in Suffolk. Angerville is a town in Normandy, where part of the family had property so late as the reign of King John.1 About the same time it was established in Leicestershire ; and one member of it, Sir John de Aungerville, was re- turned knight of that shire to several parliaments in the reigns of Edward I. and Edward II. He probably was the elder son of Sir Richard de Aungerville, the father of the bishop ; and if so, judging from the commencement of Sir John's career, Sir Richard died before 1294 2; so that as de Bury was born in 1281, he must have been of very tender years when he was left an orphan. The care of his education devolved on his uncle, John de Willoughby, a priest, by whom his youthful studies were well directed ; and in due time he was removed to Oxford 3, where he pursued them with so much diligence, that he became dis- tinguished for his learning ; and at the same time acquired the higher character of a man pure in his life and manners. On leaving Oxford, he entered the convent of Durham as a monk. From this seclusion he was withdrawn by being selected as the tutor of the king's eldest son ; but as 1 Madox's Exch. i. 518. Pari. Writs, i. 437., ii. 460. 3 According to the Encyclopaedia Britannica, at University College. 410 RICHARD DE BURY. Edw, III. the prince was not born till 1312, this event could scarcely have occurred before the year 1319 or 1320, when our monk would have been nearly forty years old. His conduct in his new position was so exemplary, that he was rewarded with the treasurership of Griiienne, where he was established when Queen Isabella, and his pupil, the prince, went to France in 1325. The asylum he gave them there, and the pecuniary aid he afforded out of the royal treasures in his keeping, had nearly proved fatal to him. Although the latter rightly belonged to the prince, as his father had transferred the duchy to him, he was pursued by the emissaries of the De- spencers; and, escaping to Paris, was compelled to conceal himself for seven days in the belfry of the church of the Friars Minors in that city. On the accession of his princely pupil to the throne, his services were not forgotten. He was retained near the person of the king, then little more than fourteen years of age, and was rewarded successively with the offices of cofferer, treasurer of the Wardrobe, and keeper of the Privy Seal. Nor was his clerical preferment overlooked. He held at first a small prebend in the church of Chichester, which the king declares his readiness to give up in a letter he addressed to the pope on December 26, 1330, on de Bury's behalf. In this he calls him " his secretary ; " and speaking of his services, " a pueritia nostra," uses these strong expressions : " quod novimus ipsum virum in consiliis providum, conversa- tionis et vita3 munditia decorum, literarum scientia prasditum, et in agendis quibuslibet circumspectum." The object of this letter was to induce the pope to reserve for de Bury the pre- bends in the churches of Hereford, London, and Chichester, with the other benefices which Gilbert de Middleton, Arch- deacon of Northampton, lately deceased, had possessed. Before an answer could have been received to this applica- tion, de Bury was collated to the vacant archdeaconry on 1327—1377. RICHARD DE BURY. 411 January 6, 1330-1 l; but the pope, according to the too common practice of the day, usurped the appointment ; and, on the 1st of the following March, granted the dignity to Peter, one of his cardinals. Whether he was regardless of the remainder of the prayer does not appear ; but prebends in the cathedrals of Lincoln, Sarum, and Lichfield, were among the grants soon after made to de Bury. In October, 1331, he went with Anthony de Pesaigne on a mission to the pope at Avignon2, where he formed an intimacy with Petrarch ; among his conversations with whom is one relative to the Island of Thule, on which, however, Petrarch complains that the learned ambassador was either unable or unwilling to offer any elucidation. On his return from this embassy, he was sent, with two others, to Cambridge, with a commission to inquire into the conduct and claims of such scholars as were supported in that university by the king's bounty. It was probably during this visit that he became one of the gild of St. Mary's there ; to the union of which with that of Corpus Christi the college of the latter name owed its foundation.3 On February 20, 1332, he was admitted Dean of Wells4 ; and in the next year was sent again as ambassador to the pope, by whom he was appointed one of his chaplains. While he was absent on this mission, Lewis Beaumont, Bishop of Durham, died ; and the pope used the opportunity at once of exercising his owm power, and of gratifying King Edward, by setting aside an election made by the monks of Durham, and placing Richard de Bury in the vacant seat. He received the announcement of his elevation on his journey from Avignon through France, and was consecrated at Chertsey on December 19, 1333 ; the ceremony being 1 Le Neve, 161. 8 N. Fcctlera, ii. 827. 8 Master's Corp. Christ. Coll. p, 9. 4 Le Neve, 35. 412 RICHARD DE BURY. Edw. III. attended by the kings of England and Scotland, and a crowd of nobles and prelates, desirous to do him honour. The kino; was not satisfied with his obtaining this eccle- siastical dignity : he estimated his ability and his prudence so highly, that he fixed on him to fill the most important offices in the state. He was accordingly constituted trea- surer on February 3, 1334, and raised to the chancellorship on September 28 in the same year.1 Whether he found that he was unqualified for its cares and responsibilities, or that they withdrew him more than he wished from those of his diocese, he resigned the latter office, after holding it less than nine months, on June 6, 1335, when John de Stratford was re-appointed.2 That his retirement was caused by no change of favour with his sovereign, is evident from his being employed in the following and several subsequent years in frequent embassies to France on the subject of the king's claims, — an occupation to which his learning and talents were probably more peculiarly fitted. His allowance on these missions was at the rate of five marks a day.3 Though frequently absent, he neglected none of the re- quirements of his diocese. He had the habit of turning all his time to account, and neither his meals nor his travels were spent idly. During the former he was read to by his chaplains, among whom were numbered some of the most celebrated men of the day ; and afterwards he discussed with them the various subjects suggested by the reading. During the latter he occupied himself in forming what became the largest library in Europe, the possession of which was one of his greatest glories, as its accumulation formed his chief delight. He spared no expense in securing the most curious and valuable manuscripts, and speaks with evident glee of the motives which influenced the donors of some, and of the 1 Rot. Claus. 8 Edw. III., m. 23. - Ibid, 9 Edw. III., p. 1. m. 29. 3 N. Foedera, ii. 950. 1327—1377. RICHARD DE BURY. 413 difficulties he had to overcome in obtaining others. The stores he had thus collected he bequeathed to the students of Durham (since called Trinity) College, in Oxford ; being the first public library that was founded in that university ; and in his work called " Philobiblon" 1 he not only gives in- structions for its management, but endeavours to excite a love of literature, and a taste for the liberal arts. His own devotion to books may be estimated by the lan- guage he uses regarding them : — "Hi sunt magistri qui nos instruunt sine virgis et ferula, sine verbis et colera, sine pane et pecuniii. Si accedis non dormiunt, si inquiris non se abs- cond unt, non remurmurant si oberres, cachinos nesciunt si ignores." His ardour in their pursuit did not end with their attain- ment. He read and used them ; and he relates that the first Greek and Hebrew grammars that ever appeared in England were derived from his labours. He encouraged the acquaint- ance and assisted the inquiries of all learned and intelligent men, and never enjoyed himself so fully as in the pleasures of their conversation : and his understanding was so cultivated, his wit so piercing, and his spirit of inquiry so eager, that few subjects were beyond his genius and penetration. His virtues and his charities were equal to his talents and learning. He was beloved by his neighbours, with whom he lived on terms of reciprocal affection ; to his clergy he was an indulgent superior; to his tenants and domestics a considerate master. He was most bountiful to the poor, distributing eight quarters of wheat every week for the relief of those around him, and never omitting in his journeys to appropriate large sums for the indigent, in those places through which he passed. 1 This work is by some attributed to his chaplain, Robert Ilolcot ; but the history of the bishop's private life, in the eighth chapter, makes it more probable that it was his own composition. 414 RICHARD DE BYNTEWORTH. Edw. III. The memory of few names, and of none in that age, is more endeared than that of Richard de Bury. He closed his useful life, in the 54th year of his age, at his palace of Auckland, on April 24, 1345, and was interred in his cathedral. His income was so much exhausted by his liberality that his representatives at his death found little to divide. His Philobiblon has been several times printed ; the first time in 1473, the last in 1703 : an English translation was published by the late Mr. Rodd in 1832. An engraving of his seal, which is an interesting specimen of art in that age, may be seen in the Archseologia, xxvii. 402. BYNTEWORTH, RICHARD DE, Bishop of London. Chancellor, 1338. Bynteworth, now called Bentworth, is a parish in Hamp- shire, the manor of which, with the advowson of its church, was granted by the Archbishop of Rouen, in 9 Edward III., to Master Richard de Bynteworth2, who probably was a native of the place. He was employed in the previous year as one of the ambassadors to negotiate the marriage of the king's brother, John, Earl of Cornwall, with Maria, daughter of Ferdinand of Spain ; and in several subsequent years on other missions ; in all of which he is called "juris civilis professor." In 11 Edward III. he was keeper of the king's Privy Seal 3 ; and he appears to have been a canon of St. Paul's at the time of the decease of Stephen de Gravesend, Bishop of London. By his conduct in these employments 1 Godwin de Praesul. 747. ; Barnes' Edw. III. 328. ; Dobson's Life of Petrarch ; Surtees' Durham, i. xlv. - Abhrev. Rot. Orig. ii. 94. It is thus clear that his name was not de Wentworth, as some have supposed. 3 Rot. Claus. 11 Edw. III., p. 1. m. 13. 1327—1377. JOHN DE CANTEBRIG. 415 his character had been so firmly established that he was immediately called upon to fill the vacant see, his election to which took place on May 4, 1338, 12 Edward III., within a month from his predecessor's death. Soon after his confirma- tion the king appointed him his chancellor in the place of Robert de Stratford ; and, having taken the accustomed oath on July 6 *, he immediately proceeded to the ceremony of his consecration, which was performed six days afterwards. His sudden death put an end to his tenure of both these offices on December 8, 1339 2, before he had illustrated either by any memorable act.3 CANTEBRIG, JOHN DE. Just. C. P. 1331. Although John de Cantebrig (Cambridge) could scarcely be the son of Thomas de Cantebrig, the baron of the Ex- chequer in the last reign, as Masters suggests, the latter being a clergyman, he was probably nearly related to him. From the fourth year of Edward II. he was continually employed in the judicial commissions in that county ; and was returned member for it to several of the parliaments from the 14th to the 19th year. He is mentioned as a counsel in the Year Book of that reign, and also in the first three years of Edward III. ; in the latter of which he was one of the king's Serjeants, and as such was joined in the commission into Northamptonshire, &c. On October 22 in that year he was made a knight, tanquam Banerettus, and had robes for his investiture granted to him from the king's wardrobe. On January 18, 1331, 4 Edward III., he was raised to the bench of the Common Pleas ; and, for some reason that does not appear, had a new patent on January 30, 1334. The 1 Rot. Glaus. 12 Edw. HI., p. 3. m. 23. ■ (bid. IS Edw. [II., p. S. m. 11. ■ Godwin de Prswul. 185. 416 JOHN CLAVER. Edw. III. fines levied before him do not extend beyond Michaelmas term of the latter year; and his death occurred in 1335. He is mentioned as seneschal of the Abbot of St. Alban's in 1331. His property was very extensive in the town and neigh- bourhood of Cambridge ; and both during his life, and by his will, he devoted a great part of it to the gild of St. Mary, in that town (afterwards Corpus Christi College), of which he was a member, and twice alderman.1 CANTERBURY, Archbishop of. See J. de Stratford, J. de Offord, S. de Langham. CANTERBURY, Archdeacon of. See R. de Stratford. CAVENDISH, JOHN DE. Just. C. P. 1371. Ch. K. B. 1372. See under the Reign of Richard II. CHICHESTER, Bishop of. See R. de Stratford. CLAVER, JOHN. Just. Itin. 1333. The Year Books introduce John Claver among the ad- vocates in the reigns of Edward II. and Edward III. He was a native of Norfolk, and was employed in several ju- dicial commissions in that county. He acted also as custos of the see of Norwich during its vacancy in both reigns, and tallaged that county and Suffolk in 6 Edward III. In the following year, 1333, he was added to the commission of justices itinerant into Kent. We find no mention of him after 1 Masters' Corp. Christi Coll. p. 8. ; Pari. Writs, ii., P. ii. 630. ; Dugdale's Orig. 45. ; Abbrev. Rot. Orig. 95. ; Newcome's St. Alban's, 223. 1327—1377. HENRY DE CLIFF. 117 10 Edward III., but believe he had a son named "Walter, who held a third part of the manor of Kunham.1 CLIFF, HENRY DE. M. It. 1327. Keeper, 1328. See under the Reign of Edward II. There were two clerks or masters in Chancery of the name of Cliff or Clyff, in the reign of Edward II., who probably were brothers. The earliest notice of Henry de Cliff is that he accompanied the king abroad in May, 1313.2 He is first mentioned in connection with the Chancery in May, 1317, when Edward II. having ordered that the Great Seal should be placed in the custody of William de Ayremynne and Robert de Bardelby to do the business of that department during a short absence of the chancellor, John de Sandale, Bishop of Winchester, the same was left in the bishop's house in Southwark, under their seals, in the charge of Master Henry de Cliff.3 From this time till the year 1324 he was usually one of the two or three clerks in Chancery under whose seals the Great Seal was secured during the occasional ab- sences of the Chancellors Sandale, Hotham, Bishop of Ely, Salmon, Bishop of Norwich, and Baldock, Archdeacon of Middlesex. In the latter year, being then a canon of York, he was one of the procurators for the dean and chapter of York in the parliament then assembled at Westminster, and also acted in the same character for the Bishop of St. Asaph.1 He was raised to the office of keeper or master of the Rolls on July 4, 1325 5; and after the virtual abdication of Edward II., in the following year, he was commanded, on December 17, 1326, to add his seal to that of the Bishop 1 Pari. Writs, ii., P. ii. 679.; Rot. Pari. ii. 20. 447. ; Dugdale ; Abbrev. Rot. Orig. ii. 103. 106. 121. '-' N. Fcedera, ii. 212. • Rot. Claus. ]0 Edw. II., no. 8. nl. Writs, ii., I\ i. 293-4. 5 Hot. Clans. IS Edw. II., m. I. VOL. III. E E 418 WILLIAM DE COSSALE. Ebw. III. of Norwich for the custody of the Great Seal, and they together transacted the business till the appointment of John dc Hotham, Bishop of Ely, as chancellor, a few days after the accession of Edward III.1 About this time he appears to have been under sentence of excommunication for some fancied offence relative to the presentation to the prebend of Blebury in the church of Salisbury : as Edward III., in the month after his accession, addressed a letter of remonstrance to the pope ; and repeated his application in the following March.2 He continued in the office of master of the Rolls for the first seven years of this reign, during which the Great Seal was frequently intrusted to his custody. From March 1 to May 12, 1328, he and William de Herlaston held it between the resignation of John de Hotham, Bishop of Ely, and the appointment of Henry de Burghersh, Bishop of Lincoln ; and from July 1 to 30, and August 17 to 26, 1328; and from May 31 to June 11, 1329 ; during the absence of the latter chancellor. Under the next chancellor, John de Stratford, Bishop of Winchester, also, he had similar possession of it in the months of April and November, 1331, and April and December, 1332. He died about the beginning of January, 1334; and wras succeeded as master of the Rolls by Michael de Wath on the 20th of that month.3 CORNWALL, Archdeacon of. See J. de St. Paul. COSSALE, WILLIAM DE. B. E. 1330. Cossale was a manor in Nottinghamshire which belonged and gave name to William de Cossale. He was a benefactor 1 Rot. Claus. 20 Edw. II., m. 3. 2 N. Fcedera, ii. 714. 732. 3 Rot. Claus. 8 Edw. III., m. 35, 1327—1377. HUGn DE COURTENETE. 419 of Newstead Abbey in that county, endowing it with eighty acres of waste land in the forest of Shire wood for the main- tenance of three chaplains. He was appointed a baron of the Exchequer in 3 Edward III. ; but is not mentioned after the fourteenth year.1 COTYNGHAM, THOMAS DE. ? Kkeper, 1349. On the death of the chancellor, John de Offord, Archbishop of Canterbury, the Great Seal was placed in the custody of David de Wollore, the master of the Rolls, of John de St. Paul, Thomas de Brayton, and Thomas de Cotyngham ; and they held it from May 28 till June 16, 1349, when John de Thoresby was appointed chancellor.2 This is the only occasion on which Cotyngham is mentioned as keeper of the Seal; although he was one of the clerks in Chancery for nearly thirty years from 143 to 43 Edward III, 1340— 1369.4 During part of this period, however, he went to Ireland as master of the Rolls there, to which office he was appointed in 30 Edward III., 1356.5 He was no doubt brought up in the Chancery, as we find him presented by the king so early as 13 Edward II., 1319, with the church of Wygeton ; and acting as the attorney of William de Herlaston, a clerk in the Chancery, in 1325.6 COURTENEYE, HUGH DE, afterwards Earl of Devon. Just. Itin. 1330. Although Hugh de Courteneye was at the head of the commission of justices itinerant into Bedfordshire in 4 Ed- ward III., 13307, he seems to have been placed there as one 1 Cal. Rot. Pat. p. 10G. ; Rot. Orig. ii. 78. 81. ; Inquis. p. m., ii. 97. ■ Rot. Claiu. 23 Edw. TIL, p. 1. m. 8. 10. :i N. Fcedera, ii. 1142. * Rot. Pari. ii. 157—299. » Cal. Rot. Pat, p. I e N. Foedera, ii. 401. 606. T Dugdale's Chron, Serial. E 1. 420 JOHN DE DELVES. Edw. III. of the principal barons of that county, and not as in any- other way connected with the law. The practice of putting noblemen into these commissions, though common in the earlier reigns, was at this time seldom adopted, and was after- wards entirely discontinued. We find him, however, at the head of another commission, for the trial of offenders in the forests, in the same year.1 He was the eldest son of Hugh de Courteneye, Baron of Oakhampton, and Eleanor, daughter of Hugh Despencer the elder, Earl of Winchester. His father died in 1291, when he was sixteen years of age. He had no sooner attained his majority, than he joined in various expeditions under Ed- ward I., by whom he was knighted. He was summoned, also, to all the parliaments as a baron, both under that king and his two successors, until 8 Edward III., 1334 ; and on February 22, in the following year, he was created Earl of Devon, as the lineal descendant of Baldwin de Ripariis, the seventh earl. He died in 1340, 14 Edward III., and was buried at Cowick, near Exeter. By his wife Agnes, daughter of John, Lord St. John, of Basing, he had six children. The eldest, Hugh, succeeded him ; and, notwithstanding two forfeitures, the title still re- mains in one of his descendants, the present earl. The eighteenth earl was created Marquis of Exeter in 1553 ; but, dying without issue three years afterwards, this additional honour became extinct.2 DELVES, JOHN DE. Just. C. P. 1364. John de Delves was the son of Richard de Delves, of Delves Hall, near Uttoxeter, in Staffordshire, who was con- stable of Heleigh Hall, in that county. James de Audley, 1 Abbrev. Rot. Orig. ii. 24. 2 Dugdale's Baron, i. 638. ; Nicolas's Synopsis. 1327—1377. JOHN DE DELVES. 421 Baron of Heleigh, took John, as one of his four esquires, to the wars in France. At the battle of Poictiers, on Sep- tember 19, 1356, 30 Edward III., the Lord Audley, having leave of Prince Edward, " went to the formast front of all the batayles, all onely acompanyed with four squyers, who promysed nat to fayle hym ; " " and there dyd maruels in armes." And " the lorde James Awdeley, with the ayde of his foure squyers, fought alwayes in the chyefe of the batayle ; he was soore hurte in the body, and in the vysage ; as longe as his breth serued hym, he fought ; at laste, at the ende of the batayle, his foure squyers tooke and brought hym oute of the felde, and layed hym vncler a hedge syde, for to refresshe hym ; and they vnarmed hym, and bounde vp hys woundes as well as they coulde." The prince, for his prowess on that day, granted to the Lord Audley, on the field, " fyue hundred markes of yerely reuenewes," which the generous knight immediately, in the presence of his companions in arms, resigned to his four squires, saying, that they had " alwayes serued me truely, and specially this day ; that honour that I haue is by their valyantnesse." And each of them was allowed to add a part of their lord's arms to his own. John de Delves was soon afterwards knighted, and retained in the service of the Black Prince. In 36 Edward III. he is called his " valettus," in an order to the sheriffs of London to supply him with as many bows and arrows as the prince should require ; and he was intrusted with the wardship of the Duchess of Britanny. However natural it was that the royal good- will should be extended to him, it seems strange that a place on the judicial bench should be selected as a reward for his military services, since there is no evidence in the Year Books, or otherwise, that he had been ever previously connected with the law. Yet so it was, and on February 3, 1364, 38 Edward III., lie X E S 422 WILLIAM DE DENUM. Edw. III. was constituted a judge of the Common Pleas ; and appears to have had fines acknowledged before him in the same term. There is evidence, however, that he accompanied the Black Prince to Gascony two months afterwards, so that he did not devote himself much to his legal avocation. Fines, however, appear to have been levied before him till the middle of the following year. As his name was not after- wards inserted among the judges who received their salaries, he probably then retired from the bench. He was lucky enough, at this time, to announce to the king the birth of his grandson Edward, the son of the Prince of Wales, for which he had a grant of 40/. a year.1 He lived till 43 Edward III., 1369; and in pursuance of the directions in his will, dated August 16 in that year, he was buried at Audley, in Staffordshire. By his wife Isabella, the daughter and coheir of Philip de Malpas, he left a daughter, Joan, the widow of Henry de Kymes, and be- queathed to her most of his manors ; but eventually he was succeeded in his estates by his brother Henry ; one of whose descendants, Thomas Delves, of Dodington, in the county of Chester, was created a baronet in 1621 ; but the title became extinct in 1725. The estates then passed to Sir Brian Broughton, Bart., a grandson, who assumed, and the present baronet still bears, the name of Delves.'2 DENUM, WILLIAM DE. B. E. 1332. ? K. B. 1332. The family of Denum, or Denom, was established in the county of Durham. Robert de Denum had two sons, John and William, both of them engaged in legal pursuits, and both serjeants-at-law. They were, not improbably, the 1 Cal. Rot. Pat. p. 1 80. This son died soon afterwards. 2 Froissart (1812), i. 197. 205.; Dugdale's Orig. 45., and Chron. Series; Hasted's Kent, viii. 213. ; N. Foedera, Hi. 671. 729. ; Cal. Tnquis. p. m., ii. 296 ; Burke; Testam. Vet. i. 83. 1327—1377. WILLIAM DE DENUM. 423 persons who are generally called J. and W. Devom in the Year Books of Edward II. and III. William, on the death of John without issue, succeeded to the manor of Herdwyk- juxta-Hesilden, and other large estates in that county, and is stated to have been then sixty years of age. Surtees must be mistaken in saying that John's death took place in 1327; as in 6 Edward III., 1332, he was a commisioner of array in Lancashire, and, two years afterwards, had the custody of the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed committed to him. William de Denum, in the early part of the reign of Edward III., was frequently employed in conducting the negotiations with Scotland. In 1329, the third year of that reign, he was the last of five itinerant judges into Notting- hamshire ; and by writ dated February 8, 1331 was consti- tuted one of the king's Serjeants. On the 24th of Sep- tember, 1332, he was made a baron of the Exchequer; and a little later in the same year Dugdale introduces him among the justices of the King's Bench, on the authority of a liberate. But it is most probable that this document was nothing more than the order for his salary as a baron, the titles not being always clearly distinguished. No entry occurs relative to him after this date, so that it is not unlikely that he retired from the bench when he succeeded to the family estates on the death of his brother. He died in 1350, leaving his wife, Isabella, who was alive ten years afterwards. His son Edmund dying before him, his possessions descended to his four daughters. l DEVON, Earl of. See II. de Courteneye. DRAYTON, NICHOLAS DE. B. E. 1376. See under the Reigu of Richard II. 1 Surtees's Durham, i. 51. 192. ; N. Foedera, ii. 704—849.; Abbrcv. Hot. Ori#. ii. 91. 261.; Dugdale's Chron. S B S 4 424 GEOFFREY DE EDENIIAM. Edw. III. DRAYTON, THOMAS DE. See Brayton. DUBLIN, Archbishop of. See J. de St. Paul. DURHAM, Bishop of. See R. de Bury. EDENESTOWE, HENRY DE. ? Keeper, 1332. Henry de Edenestowe was so called from a place of that name in the county of Nottingham, now Edwinstowe, where he had possessions.1 He was a clerk in the Chancery in 18 Edward II., 1325, and so continued for a number of years. In 4 and 6 Edward III. he acted as clerk of the parliament2; and in the latter year the Great Seal was placed in the custody of the master of the Rolls, in the absence of the chancellor, under the seals of two of the clerks, of whom Henry de Edenestowe was one, from April 1 to June 23, 1332; and from December 17 to January 8, 1333; and again from January 13 to February 17, and from April 6 to September 28, 13343; John de Stratford being chancellor during the whole time. He is not mentioned afterwards in connection with the Great Seal ; but in 20 Edward III., 1346, he is named for a loan to the king of 1007.4 EDENHAM, GEOFFREY DE. Just. K. B. 1331. Geoffrey de Eden ham was of the county of Lincoln, where he had property, and in which there is a parish of that name. We find nothing relative to him before he was made a judge of the King's Bench on January 18, 1331, 4 Ed- ward III. He was appointed to tallage his own county and those of Rutland and Northampton two years afterwards ; 1 Cal. Inquis. p. ra., ii. 102. 2 Rot. Pari. i. 420., ii. 52. 68. 3 Hardy's Catal. 31, 32. 4 N. Foedera, iii. 69. 1327—1377. WILLIAM DE EDINGTON. 425 and is last mentioned, with Thomas de Longevillers, as pos- sessing the manor of Aykle, in Lincolnshire, in 15 Ed- ward III.1 EDINGTON, WILLIAM DE, Bishop of Winchester. Chancellor, 1356. Edington, a parish in "Wiltshire, was the birth-place of William de Edington, who, when he became Bishop of Win- chester, built a church there, and founded a large chantry for a dean and twelve ministers, who were afterwards, at the desire of the Black Prince, changed into that class of friars of the order of St. Augustin who were called Bonnes Hommes.2 He was educated at Oxford ; and, entering into the priest- hood, was presented in 1335 to the living of Cheriton, in Hampshire, by Adam de Orlton, Bishop of Winchester. He also had a canonry in Salisbury cathedral. We do not find him in any official position till 1341, 15 Ed- ward III., when he is mentioned as receiver of the ninth granted by parliament.3 In 17 Edward III., 1343, he was keeper of the king's wardrobe ; and on April 10 in the follow- ing year he was appointed chancellor of the Exchequer, from which he was raised, at the end of two years, to the high and responsible office of treasurer.4 This he held for no less than ten years, and then only exchanged it for the higher post of chancellor. On the death of Adam de Orlton he was placed in the vacant see of Winchester, by papal provision in his favour dated December 9, 1345 ; but he was wise enough to renounce the pope's nomination as prejudicial to the rights of the crown ; and the king " of his special favour, and not by 1 Dugdale; Abbrev. Rot. Orig. ii. 110. 138.; Rot. Pari. ii. 446.; Cal. [nquis. p. m., ii. 102. Monasticon, vi. 535. 3 N. Foedera, ii. 1154. 4 Cal. Rot. Tat. 147. 154. 426 WILLIAM DE EDINGTON. Edw. III. virtue of the said bulls," accepted his fealty, and restored the temporalities to him on the 15th of the following February.1 His treasurership was illustrated by the unfortunate intro- duction of two new coins called a groat and half-groat, the real worth of which was so much less than their nominal value as to produce a corresponding increase in the price of all articles of consumption throughout the kingdom. On the institution of the order of the Garter in 1349, Edward constituted him the prelate of it, perpetuating the dignity in his successors of the see of Winchester. In 1355 he was left one of the custodes of the kingdom in the absence of the king on his renewed invasion of France. The Great Seal was placed in his hands, with the title of chancellor, on November 27, 1356, 30 Edward III., on the resignation of John de Thoresby, Archbishop of York 2 ; and he retained it for more than six years, during which he pre- served the royal favour without losing the confidence of the people. He was, as the record says, "gratefully absolved" from its duties on February 19, 1363, when Simon de Lang- ham, Bishop of Ely, succeeded him.3 He survived little more than three years, still continuing high in the confidence of his sovereign. Shortly before his death the monks of Canterbury elected him archbishop on the decease of Simon Islip ; but he refused the proffered dig- nity, humorously saying, that though Canterbury was the higher rack, Winchester was the better manger. William of Wykeham was brought forward under his auspices, and employed by him in the reconstruction of the nave, which the bishop not only commenced but provided by his will for its completion. He died on October 7, 1366, and was buried at Edington.4 1 Cal. Rot. Pat. 153. ; N. Fcedera, iii. 39. 64. 69.; Devon's Issue Roll, p. 150. 2 Rot. Claus. 30 Edw. III., m. 4. 3 Ibid. 37 Edw. III., m. 39. 4 Godwin de PrEesul. 225.; Duthie's Hampshire, 47. ; Angl. Sac. i. 317. 1327—1377. THOMAS DE EVESHAM, 427 ELY, Archdeacon of. See J. de Offord. ELY, Bishop of. See J. de Hot ham ; S. de Langham. EVERDON, WILLIAM DE. B. E. 1327. See under the Reign of Edward II. It may be presumed that William de Everdon was either brother or son of John de Everdon, who became a baron of the Exchequer in 1 Edward II. In the fifth year of that reign, October 11, 1311, William was appointed treasurer's remembrancer in that court, and had a fee of forty marks per annum for himself and his clerks; and in 10 Edward II., he had an additional grant of 20/. a year de dono, for his good service, until the king should provide him with an ecclesiastical benefice suitable to his degree. From that time we find no entry relative to him till July 18, 1324, 17 Edward II., when he was raised to the bench as a baron ; in which office he continued till the end of the reign ; and was retained in it on the accession of Edward III. The date of his death is not recorded ; but he was employed in 1 1 Edward III. to assist in levying money from the clergy of York for carrying on the French war.1 EVESHAM, THOMAS DE. ? Kkeper, 1340. M. R. 1341. Thomas de Evesham held some place in one of the de- partments of the court as early as 1313, 6 Edward II., when he accompanied the king abroad. In 1319 he was appointed one of the attorneys for Rigand de Asserio, the pope's nuncio 2, and appeared as proxy for the Abbot of Evesham in the parliaments of the sixteenth and eighteenth years of 1 Madox's Exch. ii. 267 — 269. ; Dugdale ; N. Foedera, ii. 1005. 8 N. Foedera, ii. 21 2. 399. 428 NICHOLAS FASTOLF. Er>w. III. that reign,1 In all these appointments he is designated as belonging to the clerical profession. He is first mentioned as a clerk in the Chancery in July, 1328, 2 Edward III.2 On the appointment of Sir Robert Bourchier as chancellor, the Great Seal was placed in his hands under the seals of two of the other clerks, and so re- mained from December 16, 1340, to the 1st of January fol- lowing. On the 10th of that month he was raised to the office of master of the Rolls, then vacant by the dismissal of John de St. Paul.3 It would seem, however, that this was a mere temporary appointment; for he was superseded by John de Thoresby on February 214, after only six weeks' enjoyment of the place. He immediately resumed his duties as a clerk in the Chancery 5, which he continued to perform during the remainder of his life. He was named as a trier of petitions in the parliaments of 6, 14, 15, and 17 Ed- ward III6, and died in the latter year, 1343, possessed of land at Weston Underegge, in Gloucestershire. His London residence was in " Fay tour Lane." 7 FASTOLF, NICHOLAS. Just. Itin. 1330. The family of Fastolf was of Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, for which town Nicholas Fastolf was returned as one of the burgesses to parliament in 2 and 7 Edward II. He was certified two years afterwards as one of the lords of the townships of Wickampton, Reedham, and Freethorpe in that county. In 18 Edward II., October 30, 1324, he was appointed chief justice of the King's Bench in Ireland ; and was still mentioned in that character on July 12, 1327, 1 Ed- 1 Pari. Writs, ii., P. ii. 828. 3 Rot. Claus. 14 Edw. III., p. 2. m. 10. 3 N. Foedera, ii. 1172. 7 Cal, Inquis. p. m., ii. 108. 8 N. Foedera, ii. 745. * Ibid. 15 Edw. III., p. 1. m. 34. 6 Rot. Pari ii. 68. 112. 126. 135. 1327—1377. THOMAS DE FENCOTES. 420 ward III. The patent of his successor in the office being elated in 1333, 7 Edward III., it may be presumed that Fastolf enjoyed it till that time. If so, he must have been on a visit to England when he was added to the commission of justices itinerant into Derbyshire in 4 Edward III., 1330.1 FAUNT, WILLIAM. Just. K. B. 1338. Neither in the Year Books nor in any other records is the name of William Faunt to be found. Dugdale inserts him as a justice of the King's Bench on April 4, 1338 ; and H. Phi- lipps mentions two persons as his descendants in 1684 ; one residing at Foston, in Lincolnshire, and the other at Kings- thorpe, in the county of Northampton.2 FENCOTES, THOMAS DE. Just. C. P. 1348. Thomas de Fencotes, who was of a Yorkshire family, was an adherent of Thomas, Earl of Lancaster, in the reign of Ed- ward II. ; and obtained his release from prison by a payment of 207.3 When John de Britannia, Earl of Richmond, was taken by the Scots in 16 Edward II., Thomas de Fencotes was appointed one of his attorneys in England ; and on the death of the earl in 8 Edward III., he still represented him, and acted as custos of the estate till the death of the earl's successor, John, Duke of Britanny, in the fifteenth year4, having received, a short time before, a grant from the earl of his capital messuage and land at Aldborough.5 From the Year Books it appears that he acted as an advocate in York- 1 Pari. Writs, Li., P. ii. 838. ; N. Foedera, ii. 709. ; Smyth's Law Officers of Ireland, 97. ; Dugdale's Cliron. Ser. - ( lu-oii. Series; Grandeur of the Law ( 1G84), 220. 252. ■ Pari. Writs, ii., P. ii. 208. 4 N. Fadera, ii. 88. 524. 1 159. • Cal. Hot. Pat. 139. 430 WALTER DE FRISKENEY. Edw. III. shire as early as 2 Edward III., and as a justice of assize in the seventeenth year. He was appointed a judge of the Common Pleas on January 14, 1348, 21 Edward III.; and the fines ac- knowledged before him extend to Hilary Term in the twenty- eighth year, 1354 1 ; soon after which it would seem that he resigned, since his name is not included in the list of the judges of the court, as given in the Year Book in Hilary Term, 29 Edward III. He received the order of knighthood when or soon after he was raised to the bench. In 24 Ed- ward III. he gave certain tenements to the priory of the order of Mary of Mount Carmel to enlarge their house in Fleet Street ; and in 31 Edward III., he and his wife Beatrice endowed the convent of Egleston with the advowson of the church of Bentham in Yorkshire ; at which time that manor and the manor of Ingleton are stated to remain in his pos- session.2 There is very little doubt that John de Fencotes, who is mentioned in the Year Books as a serjeant-at-law in 40 Ed- ward III., and who in that character was added to the commission of assize in the forty-fourth year 3, was his son. His practice in the courts did not extend beyond the two subsequent years. FRISKENEY, WALTER DE. Just. C. P. 1327. Just. K. B. 1327. See under the Reign of Edward II. The name of Walter de Friskeney was derived from a parish so called in the county of Lincoln. He is mentioned as a counsel in the Year Book of Edward. II., before he was raised to the bench ; and so early as the fourth year of that reign he was summoned, with six others, as an assistant to the parliament then held. He was probably a serjeant at the Dugdale's Orig. 45. Issue Roll, 44 Edw. III., 354. 2 Cal. Inquis. p. m., ii. 168. 203. 1327—1377. WILLIAM DE FULBURN. 431 time, as some of the others certainly were. We next find him added to several judicial commissions in his own county in 7, 8, and 11 Edward IT. He was constituted a baron of the Exchequer on August 6, 1320, 14 Edward II., in addition to the duties of which he was frequently employed as a justice in the country, and was one of those wTho were empowered to pronounce the judgment upon the Mortimers in 16 Edward II. On the second day of the next regnal year, July 9, 1323, he was removed from the Exchequer and appointed a judge of the Common Pleas. Dugdale refers to a liberate of 18 Edward II. to prove that he was then removed into the King's Bench ; but the desig- nation given to the parties in whose favour these writs are granted is seldom very distinct ; and the term Justiciarius Regis is commonly used forjudges of both courts. We are in- clined, therefore, to think that he remained in the Common Pleas till the end of the reign, as he is mentioned in the Year Book as of that court in 1 9 Edward II. ; besides which he re- ceived a patent in the same court six days after the accession of Edward III., viz., on January 31, 1327. On March 6 following, however, he was placed in the King's Bench ; where he sat till Trinity Term in the second year, when the last notice of him occurs in the Year Book.1 FULBURN, WILLIAM DE. B. E. 1327. See under the Reign of Edward II. William de Fulburn was no doubt a native of the place of that name, in Cambridgeshire. He held an office in the court at the commencement of the reign of Edward II., and was sent into that county, and Huntingdonshire, as others Avere to the rest of England, to instruct and assist the sheriffs 1 5Tear I3ooks, Edw. II. & III.; Pari. Writs, ii., P. ii. 897.; Dugdale. 432 WILLIAM DE FYNCHEDEN. Ebw. III. in arresting the Knights Templars. He was engaged in fixing the tallage of those and other counties in 6 Edward II., and was subsequently employed in special commissions for the trial of offenders. On June 1, 1323, 16 Edward II., he was constituted a baron of the Exchequer, and having filled that office during the remainder of the reign, was re-appointed on the accession of Edward III. The latest occurrence of his name is in a commission dated May 11, 1328, 2 Edward III.1 FULTHORPE, ROGER DE. Just. C. P. 1374. See under the Reign of Richard II. FYNCHEDEN, WILLIAM DE. Just. C. P. 1365. Ch. C. P. 1371. No other trace of the locality of this family occurs than the appointment of a Richard de Fyncheden as a commissioner of array in Yorkshire in 33 Edward III.2 The name of William de Fyncheden is mentioned as an advocate in the Year Books from the twenty-fourth year of that reign, and he was made a king's serjeant in the thirty-sixth year, being also employed as a justice of assize two years after. On October 29, 1365, 39 Edward III., he was raised to the bench of the Common Pleas ; and was advanced to its head on April 14, 1371, 45 Edward III., in the room of Robert de Thorpe. Robert Bealknap, his successor as chief justice, was appointed on October 10, 1374; but whether the vacancy was occasioned by the death or retirement of Fyncheden does not appear.3 1 Pari. Writs, ii. 900. ; Rot. Pari. ii. 25. 208. 8 N. Foedera, iii. 458. * Cal. Rot. Pat. 180. 186.; Dugdale. 1327—1377. HENEY QUE ION. 433 GARTON, THOMAS DE. B. E. 1331. Thomas db Gartox was a member of the clerical pro- fession, and was one of those appointed in 18 Edward II. to assist the bishops in removing foreign priests, the counties of Cambridge and Huntingdon being assigned to him. He held the office of comptroller of the king's household in 3 Edward III., and, in the following year, that of keeper of the wardrobe. On October 10, 1331, 5 Edward III., he was placed on the bench of the Exchequer, as second baron, in the room of Robert de Wodehouse ; but no subsequent entry of his name is to be found. l GREEN, HENRY. Just. C. P. 1354. Ch. K. B. 1361. Queen Isabella having granted to Henry Green, probably for some services as an advocate, the manor of Briggestoke, in Northamptonshire, her son Edward III., in the twenty- second year of his reign, confirmed it to him for life, in case he should survive the queen. He had been appointed one of the king's serjeants-at-law three years before ; and his argu- ments in court, with his proceedings as a justice of assize, are frequently recorded in the Year Books up to the period of his being called to the bench. This occurred on February G, 1354, 28 Edward III., when he was made a justice of the Common Pleas, and afterwards received the honour of knighthood. In the year 1358, having been cited before the pope for pronouncing a judgment against the Bishop of Ely for harbouring one of his men who had burnt a manor of Lady Wake's, and slain one of her servants, he was excom- 1 N. Feeders, ii. 574. 769. 785.; Issue Roll, Easter, l Edsr, III.; Dugdsle. VOL. III. F F 434 HENRY GREEN. Edw. III. municated for his non-appearance. It is not related how he cleared himself from this sentence ; but it did not prevent his being raised to the office of chief justice of the King's Bench on May 24, 1361, 35 Edward III. He opened the par- liaments in the two following years, and was present in the next ; but he was removed from his place, and succeeded by John Knyvet, on October 29, 1365, 39 Edward III. Joshua Barnes says that he and Sir William Skipwith in that year were " arrested and imprisoned for many enormities against law and justice, and were not redeemed without re- funding large sums which by injustice they had got from others ; and were for ever after excluded from their places and the king's favour." Skipwith was at that time chief baron, and lost his place on the same day, but he was after- wards restored to the bench ; and it is somewhat curious, if this charge were made (of which no evidence, however, appears on the records), that in the warrant to Sir Henry Green, directing him to give over the Rolls, &c. to his successor, the king should call him " delectus et fidelis." He is referred to as the " wise justice " in one of the cases reported by Richard Bellewe. That he was not much damnified by any fine imposed upon him is apparent from the numerous manors and other lands in the counties of Northampton, Leicester, York, Hertford, Bedford, Buckingham, and Nottingham, together with a mansion in Silver Street, Cripplegate, London, which he possessed at the time of his death. That event occurred in 43 Edward III., 1369; and his son Thomas enjoyed the same property till his death in 1391-2. 1 Abbrev. Rot. Orig. ii. 195.; Dugdale's Chron. Series; Rot. Pari. ii. 268. 275. 283.; Barnes' Edward III., 624. 667.; Cal. Inquis. p. m., ii. 206., iii. 136. ; R. Bellewe's Rep. 142. 1327—1377. II UN 11 Y DE GliEYSTOKE. 435 GREYSTOKK, HENRY DE. B. E. 1356. The baronial family of Greystoke, in Cumberland, flourished at this period ; but we do not find the name of Henry de Greystoke among its members. He may therefore have been so called from his being born in that place. He was connected with the king's household or Exchequer in the reign of Edward I. ; in the twenty-seventh year of which, as well as several times afterwards under Edward II., he acted as paymaster of the forces in Nottingham and Derby, and was appointed by the latter king to assist the sheriff of Cumberland in arresting the Knights Templars. From the sixteenth year of Edward III. he held the office of custos of the lands and tenements which were reserved for the use of the king's chamber, receiving a salary of fifty pounds a year. In this character various manors, &c. were placed under his charge ; and in the parliaments of 25 and 28 Edward III. he was ordered to be present on the hearing of petitions touching these lands, to give information "pur le Roi et au le Roi." Dugdale introduces him in the twenty-seventh year as attorney-general ; but it is probably in reference to these matters only, as he does not appear to have been other- wise connected with the law. Though he is described as a "clericus," he could not have taken that grade in holy orders which prevented him from marrying; for his widow Jane, the daughter of Sir William Pickering, is said to have married Chief Justice Gascoigne. He had a grant of the French portion of the church of Mapcldurham, and of a messuage and lands in Rcsceby, in Yorkshire, for his good services; and he was made a baron of the Exchequer on October 6, 1356, 30 Edward III., beyond which no trace of him remains.1 1 Pari. Writs, i. 956., ii. P. ii. 648. v. ; N. Focdera, ii. 1214, ; Abbrev. Rot. Orig. ii. 1.79. 173,174.208.; Rot. Pari, ii ; Wotton'a Baronetage, v. 336. 436 NICHOLAS HAGHMAN. Edw. III. GRYMESBY, EDMUND DE. ? Keeper, 1340. Edmund de Gkymesby was of the town of that name in Lincolnshire, where he had considerable property.1 He was probably the son of Simon de Grymesby, escheator to the king, and is mentioned as one of the procurators to appear for the Abbot of Thornton in the parliaments of 17 and 18 Edward II.2 In the next year he was parson of the church of Preston.3 In 7 Edward III., 1333, he received the appointment of keeper of the Rolls in the Irish Chancery 4 ; but two years afterwards we find him sent to various parties in England to obtain loans for the kino; to enable him to carry on the war with Scotland.5 He was no doubt then a master or clerk in the English Chancery ; in which office he continued to act till the 25th, and perhaps the 27th, year of the reign, being a receiver of petitions in all the parlia- ments assembled in that interval.6 During this period the Great Seal was twice placed under his seal ; the first time from December 16, 1340, to the end of the year, in the absence of the Chancellor Bourchier ; raid the last time from September 2 to October 8, 1351, while John de Thoresby was chancellor.7 GUNTHORP, WILLIAM. B. E. 1377. See under the Reign of Richard II. HAGHMAN, NICHOLAS. B. E. 1336. Nicholas Haghman, or Hawman, was probably the son of Alan de Haghman and Amicia his wife ; as in 6 Ed- 1 Abbrev. Rot. Orig. ii. 155. 176. 2 Pari. Writs, ii., P. ii. 958. ■ Rot. Pari. i. 437. 4 Cal. Rot. Pat. 117. 5 N. Foedera, ii. 912. 6 Rot. Pari. ii. 126—236. 7 Hardy's Catal. 34. 39. 1327—1377. HENBY DE HAMBURY. 437 ward II., 1313, he was parson of the parish of Eversley, in Hampshire, of the manor and advowson of which Alan and Amicia became possessed in 5 Edward I. He was constituted a baron of the Exchequer on October 3, 1336, 10 Edward III. ; but though, from his being one of those who undertook to raise wool for the king's aid in the parliament of July, 1340, 14 Edward III., he seems to have been then in office, his name was not included in the new patent for the barons of the Exchequer on January 20, 1341.' HAMBURY, HENRY DE. Just. K. B. 1308. Hambury, or Hanbury, is a parish in Worcestershire, where the father and grandfather of Henry de Hambury, both named Geoffrey, resided. It is parcel of the forest of Feckenham, of which Nicholas de Hambury, Henry's elder brother, was appointed custos in 17 Edward II. In the same year a licence was granted to Henry to receive the manor of Holeweye in that county from the Abbot of Bordesley 2 ; and both he and his next brother Robert were soon after connected with Wales, as Henry was one of the manucaptors for the members returned to parliament for Beaumaris in 20 Edward II.3 ; and Robert was the king's chamberlain for North Wales at the beginning of the next reign.4 I do not find Henry's name as an advocate in the Year Books ; but he was made one of the judges of the King's Bench in Ireland in 17 Edward II., and was raised to the office of chief justice of the Common Pleas there in the 1 Abbrev. Rot. Orig. i. 198.; Abbrev. Placit. 191.; Dugdale ; Rot. Pail, ii. 1 19. 1 Abbrev. Rot. Orig. i. 278. 281. 3 Pail. Writs, ii., P. i. 864. 4 Abbrev. Rot. Orig. ii. -18. 53. 71. r f 3 438 THOMAS DE HEPPE6COTES. Edw. III. following year.1 He was soon afterwards removed from that country, being appointed a judge of the King's Bench in England in 2 Edward III., 1328, acting in the same year among the justices assigned to try felonies in Gloucestershire and four other counties.2 The cause of his elevation to the bench may have been his connection with Thomas, Earl of Lancaster; for his adherence to whom he had received a pardon in 12 Edward IL, and in the sixteenth year was a surety for the payment of a fine by another person who had been imprisoned for the same cause.3 In 19 Edward III. he endowed a chaplain with some land at Dovebrygg, in Derby- shire, reserving to himself ten librates of land at Snelleston in the same county4; and he is mentioned as being alive in the twenty-sixth year in the herald's visitation of Worcestershire.5 He must, however, have long retired from the bench, as the Liberate Roll does not name him among the judges in 12 Edward III. His lineal descendants are divided into several opulent branches, two of which have been recently ennobled ; one having been created Baron Bateman, of Shobden, in the county of Hereford, on January 30, 1837; and the other, Baron Sudely, of Toddington, in the county of Gloucester, on July 12, 1838. HEPPESCOTES, THOMAS DE. Just. C. P. 1341. Thomas de Heppescotes was one of those who were appointed to supply the places of the judges removed on the king's return from Tournay. His patent is dated January 8, 1341, 14 Edward III.; but his continuance in the court did not last beyond the end of the year, when his death 1 Cal. Rot. Pat. 94. 96. ; Smyth's Law Off. of Ireland, 114. 2 Abbrev. Rot. Orig. ii. 24. 3 Pari. Writs, ii., P. ii. 130. 205. 4 Cal. Inquis. p. m., ii. 126. 5 Family Pedigree. 1327—1377. WILLIAM DE HERLASTON. 439 may be presumed to have occurred, as no further mention is made of him. He was probably a native of Northumber- land, where there is a hamlet called Hepscott in the parish of Morpeth. His name appears both as advocate and judge in the Year Books, but not later than the above period.1 HERLASTON, WILLIAM DE. Keeper, 1328. Just. Itin. 1333. See under the Reign of Edward II. William de Herlaston no doubt came from the place of that name in Staffordshire. He was connected with the court in the early part of the reign of Edward II., ac- companying that king abroad in the sixth year in the train of Ingelard de Warlee, keeper of the wardrobe.2 He soon afterwards became a clerk in the Chancery, and was parson of the church of " Estwode near Reylegh," in which character he presented a petition in 1315, 8 Edward II., praying to have the tithe "Pullanorum" restored to him, which he alleged that his predecessors had received until the park came into the king's hands.3 In July, 1319, 13 Edward II., he had a grant of the prebend of Carnwyth in the church of Glasgow.4 According to the practice of the time, the Great Seal was placed in the custody of some of the clerks of the Chancery during the occasional absence of the chancellor, and they transacted the business appertaining to it. William de Herlaston was frequently one of those intrusted with this duty. In the reign of Edward II. he held it from April 18 to May 3, 1321 ; from December 15, 1321, to March 3, 1322 ; and from June 5 to August 20, 1323, under the chancellor, 1 Dugdale'fl Orig. 45.; Rot. Pari. ii. 126. * N. Fwder*, ii. BIS. Rot. Rati. i. 343. * N. Fader* ii. 40!, r F 4 440 WILLIAM DE IIERLE. Edw. III. John Salmon, Bishop of Norwich ; and from August 8 to a day not named; and from November 16 to December 12, 1324, under the chancellor, Robert de Baldock, Archdeacon of Middlesex.1 He was also in the latter part of this reign keeper of the king's Privy Seal.2 In 2 Edward III. he and Henry de Cliff, the master of the Rolls, were appointed keepers of the Great Seal from March 1 to May 12, 1328, during the vacancy in the office of chancellor3: and under Henry de Burghersh, Bishop of Lincoln, then made chancellor, he acted in the same character several times during that and the following year ; viz., from July 1 to 30; from August 17 to 26, 1328; from January 15 to 19; and from May 31 to June 11, 1329, 3 Edward III.4 After this date he does not appear in connection with the Great Seal, nor is he afterwards ex- pressly mentioned among the clerks of the Chancery. His name, however, frequently occurs in the Year Book as "clerk " from 17 to 27 Edward III., the reports from the tenth to the seventeenth year being wanting. He is also noticed as a trier of petitions in the parliament of the twenty first, and Dugdale introduces him among the justices itinerant in the twenty-second year. HERLE, WILLIAM DE. Ch. C. P. 1327. Just. C. P. 1329. Ch. C. P. 1331. See under the Reign of Edward II. Although Fuller, in his Worthies, states that it is probable that William de Herle was born in Devonshire, because he was owner of Ilfracombe6, the preponderance of evidence seems to be in favour of Leicestershire; both Kobert de Herle, apparently his father, and he having been summoned 1 Pari. Writs, ii., P. ii. 1001. 8 Rot. Claus. 2 Edw. III., m. 33. 5 Rot. Pari. ii. 164. 2 Rot. Pari. ii. 383. 4 Hardy's Catalogue. 6 Fuller's Worthies (1811), i. 281. 1327—1377. WILLIAM DE HERLE. 441 by the sheriff of that county, the former in 1301, 29 Ed- ward L, to perform military service, and the latter in 1324, 17 Edward II., to attend the Great Council at Westminster.1 The principal part of his property was certainly in that county. He was brought up to the law ; and his name frequently appears in the Year Book of Edward the Second's reign, before he was a judge. In 4 and 6 Edward II. he was sum- moned as an assistant to parliament, apparently in the cha- racter of a serjeant-at-law ; and in the ninth year he was one of three " qui sequuntur pro Rege " in a suit against the men of Bristol2; these three and another in the same year having a grant of 207. per annum each for prosecuting and defending the king's causes.3 The wardrobe account of 14 Edward II., 1320, contains the entry of a payment to him of the large sum of 1337. 6s. Sd. in these words: "To William Herle, King's Serjeant, who, by the king's order, will shortly receive the honor of knighthood, of the king's gift, in aid of his rank, 6th of August."4 He was probably knighted in preparation for his taking his seat on the bench, to which he was raised on the 16th of the following October, as a justice of the Common Pleas, in the room of John de Benstede. Previously to that year we find him only once employed in a special commission, in 12 Edward II., for the trial of sheriffs, &c. : but in all the parliaments, from 10 to 14 Ed- ward II., he was summoned to assist, his place in the list showing that his attendance was required as a Serjeant, although no title is attached to any of the names. On his becoming a judge, he is placed in a higher position in the list.5 He was several times employed by Edward II. in negotiations with the Scots, and had a grant in 1325 often marks for his services therein.6 1 Pari. Writs, i. 355., ii. 639. - Rot. Pari. i. 3 Dugdale'i Chron. Series. * Arcba?ol. xxvi. 345. ■ Pari. Writs, ii., P. ii. 1001. a N. Feeder* ii. 594. 442 WILLIAM DE IIEELE. Edw. III. He retained his seat in the Common Pleas till the end of the reign; and, on the accession of Edward III., was imme- diately made chief justice of that court, his patent being dated February 4, 1327, with an augmentation of his salary, according to Fuller, of 240 marks a year. Though he was dis- placed on September 3, 1329, by John de Stonore, it is evident he still continued to act as a judge, as he was at the head of the justices itinerant in Nottinghamshire in the following December, and also, in the succeeding year, in Derbyshire. He was restored to his place as chief justice on March 2, 1331, and was again removed on November 18, 1333 ; but Henry le Scrope, who was then appointed, resumed his seat at the head of the Exchequer on the next day. The cause of these changes can only be inferred ; but William de Herle, from that day, presided till July 3, 1337, 9 Edward III., when, at his own request, he was allowed to retire from his office, on account of his age and infirmities. The patent spoke in eulogistic terms of his approved fidelity, the solidity of his judgment, the gravity of his manners, and his laudable and unwearied services to the state ; and required him to remain on the secret council, and to attend at his pleasure during the rest of his life.1 He lived nearly twelve years after his retirement from the bench, the date of his death being 21 Edward III., 1347. Through his wife Margaret, the daughter and heir of William Polglas, by Elizabeth, the heir of Sir William Champernon, the manor of Ilfracombe, and other large pro- perty in Devonshire, came into his possession. He left a son named Robert, who died without male issue in 38 Ed- ward III.2 1 N. Foedera, ii. 913. 2 Cal. Inquis. p. m„ ii. 135. 265. Leicestershire, 622. Prince's Worthies of Devon ; Nicholl's 1327—1377. ROGER HILLARY. HILDESLEY, JOHN DE. B. E. 1332. John de Hildesley was parson of the church of Thynden and canon of Chichester in the reign of Edward II. ; from the tenth year of which, till the seventh year of the next reign, he was continually employed in diplomatic missions to various courts. He was raised to the bench of the Exchequer on December 18, 1332, 6 Edward III., having evidently been previously an officer connected with that department, ac- companying the treasurer, in 3 Edward III., when he went abroad with the king. He remained in this office somewhat less than two years, being superseded on September 9, 1334, by Adam de Lymberg, on his becoming chancellor of the Exchequer. He is so called in 12 Edward III., and is named two years afterwards as a trier of petitions in par- liament.1 HILLARY, ROGER. Just. C. P. 1337. Ch. C. P. 1341. Just. C. P. 1342. Ch. C. P. 1354. The family of Hillary is a very ancient one, and in the reigns of the Edwards possessed large property in the counties of Lincoln, Warwick, and Stafford. Roger Hillary was the son of William and Agnes Hillary ; and, pursuing the pro- fession of the law, is frequently mentioned as an advocate in the Year Books of Edward II. and Edward III. He and his brother Richard were procurators for the Abbot of Coventry in the parliament of 18 Edward II. He was raised to the Irish bench as chief justice of the Common Pleas in 3 Edward III., where he remained for eight years. He was then constituted a judge of the same court in England on March 18, 1337, 11 Edward III.; to 1 N. Fcedera, ii. 329. 589. GOG. 764 — 875.; Dugdale ; ltot. Pari. 114.; Cal. Itot. Pat. 120. 444 JOHN DE HOTIIAM. Emv. III. the head of which he was advanced on January 8, 1341, in the room of John de Stonore. Dugdale, in his Chronica Series, makes William Scot supersede him in that office on April 27 ; but this is evidently an error, as the latter was then and for some years afterwards chief justice of the King's Bench. On May 9, 1342, however, Roger Hillary made way for John de Stonore on his restoration to the chief justiceship ; receiving himself, on June 4, anew patent as a judge on that bench. On the death of Stonore in 28 Edward III., Roger Hillary was, on February 20, 1354, again constituted in his place, and continued to preside in the court for the short remainder of his life. His death occurred before June 27, 1357, when his suc- cessor was appointed. By his will he desired to be buried in the church of All Saints, in Staffordshire, in which, and in the two other counties above named, he left many manors and extensive property. By his wife Katherine he had, besides other children, a son Roger, who was probably the serjeant- at-law mentioned in the Year Books of 40 Edward III.1 HOTHAM, JOHN DE, Bishop of Ely. Chancellor, 1327. See under the Reign of Edward II. The ancestor of John de Hotham was John de Trehouse, who, for his assistance to the Conqueror at the battle of Hastings, obtained, with other grants, that of the manor of Hotham, in Yorkshire, the name of which was eventually adopted by the family. John de Hotham was a younger son, and in 14 Edward I. had lands at Crauncewyke, in that county 2 5 in which he was also assessor of the tenth granted in the twenty-seventh year of the reign.3 1 Pari. Writs, ii., P. i. 333. ; Cal. Rot. Pat. 106. ; Rot. Pari. ii. 119-254. ; Cal. Inquis. p. ra , ii. 199. ; Test. Vet. i. 61.; Dugdale. 2 Abbrev. Placit. 209. 3 Pari. Writs, i. 27. 1327—1377. JOHN DE HOTHAM. 445 In the second year of Edward II. he was sent to Ireland as chancellor of the Exchequer l ; but in the two next years we find him acting as the king's escheator on both sides of the Trent.2 In the following year, October 6, 1311, the king, with high encomiums of his character, addressed a letter to the pope, earnestly praying a dispensation in his favour ; and some explanation of the royal countenance he thus re- ceived is given by the fact that he was " custos domorum" of Peter de Gaveston in the city of London.3 The termina- tion of Gaveston's career in June, 1312, did not, however, interrupt ITotham's advance; for on December 13 he was made chancellor of the Exchequer in England ; and in May, 1313, being then called Canon of York, was sent on a mission to the court of France. In August, 1314, and again in Sep- tember, 1315 4, he went with extraordinary powers to Ireland, then invaded by Edward Bruce, the king of Scotland's brother, to effect a reconciliation with the barons, and to treat with the natives. In this he was only partially success- ful ; for though he induced the tenants of the crown to asso- ciate in binding themselves, under the penalties of forfeiture, to aid each other to the utmost in their efforts against the common enemy, he made little impression on the chiefs of the natives.5 It does not appear that while thus employed he was removed from his office of chancellor of the Exche- quer, which he certainly held in Easter, 1316 6, and probably did not retire from it till his election to the bishoprick of Ely, which took place on July 20, as Hervey dc Staunton received the appointment two days afterwards. The new bishop was consecrated on October 3, and soon after went on a mission to Rome. On May 27, 1317, 10 Ed- ward II. he was raised to the treasurership of the Exchequer 1 Cal. Rot. Pat. 69. - Abbrev. Rot. Orig. i. J 68— 174. : \. Feeders, ii. 147. 157. 4 Ibid. 211. 213. 252. 256. 276. ■ Lingard'a England, Ii i. 306. 8 Madox's Exch. ii. 327. 446 JOHN DE HOTHAM. Edw. III. in the place of Walter de Norwich, and held that office till June 10, 1318, when he was succeeded by John de Wale- wayn.1 On the following day the Great Seal was delivered to him as chancellor ; but for the next six or seven weeks he was obliged to leave the duties of his office to be performed by deputies, as he was engaged in frequent journeys on the king's affairs 2 ; probably in promoting that reconciliation with the barons which was effected in the following October. He held the Great Seal for about nineteen months, during the latter part of which period he was engaged in negotiating a truce with the Scots.3 On his resignation on January 23, 1320, it wTas delivered to John Salmon, Bishop of Nor- wich4 ; but Hotham still continued to be employed by the king on several confidential missions. Three days after the accession of Edward III., viz. on January 28, 1327, he was again entrusted with the office of chancellor, and continued to perform its duties till March 1 in the following year.5 He then retired from its labours, and during the remainder of his life devoted himself to the administration of his diocese. Godwin says that he was provost of Queen's College, Ox- ford, and was chancellor of that university ; but his annotator, Dr. Richardson, states that the college wras not yet founded, nor was there at that period any chancellor of the university. His expenditure for his cathedral was enormous for those times ; first, in the completion of the presbytery which had been commenced a century before by Bishop Norwold ; and next in restoring the campanile of the church, which had fallen down and been reduced to ruins. His confirmation to the see of the manor of Oldbourne, in London, was another of the liberal acts which illustrated his presidency. During the 1 Madox's Exch. ii. 39. 8 Rot. Claus. 11 Edw. II., m. 3. 3 N. Foedera, iii. 409, 410. 4 Rot. Claus. 13 Edw. II., m. 9. 5 Ibid. 1 Edw. III., p. i. m. 25., 2 Edw. III., p. 2. m. 11. 1327—1377. JOHN DE HOUGHTON. 447 last two years of his life he was entirely disabled by paralysis, which terminated in his death, at his palace of Somersham, on January 25, 1336, leaving behind him a high character for piety, prudence, and liberality.1 His nephew was summoned to parliament as a baron in 8 Edward II., but not afterwards.2 It was the descendant of that nobleman who was created a baronet in 1641, and whose conduct as governor of Hull, in the civil wars, led to his own and his son's untimely execution. From his grandson descended Sir Beaumont Hotham, a baron of the Exchequer in the reign of George III. ; whose elder brother, Admiral William Hotham, having been raised to the peerage of Ireland, by the title of Baron Hotham of South Dalton, and dying without issue, was, under a special remainder, succeeded by Sir Beaumont, whose grandson is the present peer.3 HOUGHTON, ADAM DE, Bishop of St. David's. Chancellor, 1377. See under the Reign of Richard II. HOUGHTON, JOHN DE. B. E. 1347. John de Houghton, or]Houton, who probably was the father of the above-named Adam, was connected in early life with the Exchequer. In 19 Edward II. he accompanied the king to France in that character, and was then the parson of the church of Post wick, a parish in Norfolk. In that county he had the manor of Wormegay and considerable property, with part of which he endowed the priory of the Holy Cross there. In 1 Edward III. he is called clerk of John de Wodehouse, keeper of the wardrobe ; and was advanced to be one of the chamberlains of the Exchequer in 1 Godwin de PrawuL 260. a Dugdale's Baronage, ii. 91. :* Biographical Peerage, it. 383. 448 JOHN DE IFELD. , Edw. III. the twelfth year; in which office he continued till he was called to the bench of that court as a baron on March 8, 1347, 21 Edward III. How long he remained there does not appear, nor are we told the time of his death.1 HUSE, JAMES. B. E. 1350. Although there is nothing positive to show that James Huse was related to the baronial family of that name which flourished at this time, it is not improbable that he was a younger scion of it. He was made a baron of the Exchequer on April 16, 1350, 24 Edward III., on the elevation of Gervase de Wilford to the chief seat in that court. We know little more of him, than that he is mentioned in the Year Book of 26 Edward III., and that in the thirty-fourth year he was employed as a commissioner to treat with the people of the counties of Somerset, Dorset, Wilts, Devon, and Cornwall, as to raising forces for the defence of the kingdom.1 IFELD, JOHN DE. Just. Itin. 1329. John de Ifeld was born at Ifeld, in the county of Kent, and was the third son of Thomas de Ifeld, who died in 34 Edward I., when he was thirteen years of age.3 He held property not only in Kent, but in Surrey and Sussex ; and during the reign of Edward II. he was actively employed in the preservation of the peace of those counties, and in assessing the aids imposed by parliament, and arraying the men-at-arms within them.4 In 1 Edward III. he was one 1 N. Foedera, ii. 606., iii. 25. 53. ; Cal. Inquis. p. m., ii. 69. ; Devon's Issue Roll, 139.; Cal. Exch. iii. 166.; Dugdale. 8 Dugdale's Chron. Series ; N. Foedera, iii. 469. 3 Cal. Inquis. p. m., i. 208.; Abbrev. Rot. Orig. i. 151, * Pari. Writs, ii., P. ii. 1037. L327— 1377. JOHN INGE. 449 of the perambulators of the forests south of Trent l ; and in the third year, 1329, was named as a justice itinerant into Nottinghamshire. In the three following years he repre- sented his native county in parliament, and is mentioned as late as 13 Edward III. as a commissioner of array for Surrey.2 INGE, JOHN. Just. C. P. 1831. John Inge, though probably of the same family as William Inge, the chief justice in the last reign, was of a different branch of it. He was settled in Somersetshire, and, being no doubt brought up to the law, was employed from 10 Ed- ward II. in various judicial commissions within that county, and also acted there as assessor of the aids granted by Par- liament. In 15 Edward II. he was sheriff of Devonshire ; and three years afterwards had the castles, towns, and honors of Roger de Mortimer in Wygeton and Ludlow gom- mitted to his custody. On January 18, 1331, 4 Edward III., he was made a judge of the Common Pleas ; and fines were acknowledged before him as late as Michaelmas, 1340, 14 Edward III. ; in which year he is also mentioned as a trier of the petitions to par liament. He died about 20 Edward III., leaving, by his wife Alicia, a son named John, at whose death, in the fortieth year of that reign, the property devolved on Lis daughter, Johanna.3 1 Rot. Pari. ii. 425. 2 Dugdale; Hasted's Kent, i. 238.; N. Foedera, ii. 1071. 3 Pari. Writs, ii., P. ii. 1039.; Abb. Rot. Orig. i. 25.232., ii. 291.; Dugdale's Orig. 45. ; Rot. Pari. 37. 78. 114. ; Cal. Intjuis. p. m., ii. ISS. 151. 285. vol. in. <; G 450 RICHARD DE KELLESHULL. Edw. III. INGELBY, THOMAS DE. Just. K. B. 1361. See under the Reign of Richard II. KELLESHULL, RICHARD DE. Just. C. P. 1341. The pleadings of Richard de Kelleshull as an advocate appear in the Year Books of the early part of the reign of Edward III. He was probably the son of Gilbert de Kelleshull, to whom a pardon was granted in 15 Edward II., for all felonies, &c. committed in the " pursuit " of the De- spencers l ; and who was steward of the household to the chan- cellor, Richard de Bynteworth, Bishop of London, at the time of his death in 1339.2 The family no doubt came from Kel- shull in Hertfordshire. Richard was appointed to several judicial commissions from 9 Edward III., but was not raised to the bench of the Com- mon Pleas till May 30, 1341, 15 Edward III. We do not think that he continued in that court much beyond Hilary, 1354, 28 Edward III., that being the date of the last fine levied before him ; and his name not occurring among the judges mentioned in the Year Book in the following year. He was alive, however, three years afterwards, when he en- feoffed the parson of the church of Heydon, in Essex, with that manor and advowson. He had a son named John, who died in 41 Edward III.3 KIRKETON, ROGER DE. Just. C. P. 1372. See under the Reign of Richard II. 1 Pari. Writs, ii., P. ii. J 66. 2 N. Foedera, ii. 1101. " Abhrev. Rot. Plac. ii. 99. 110. 246. 291.; Dugdale's Orig. 45, 1327 — 1377. JOHN KNYVET. 451 KNYVET, JOHN. Just. C. P. 1361. Ch. K. B. 1365. Chanc. 1372. The family of Kny vets was of very ancient descent, having been settled in England previous to the conquest. In the reign of Edward II. Richard Knyvet of Southwick, in Northamptonshire, was appointed custos of the Forest of Clyve, in that county. He married Johanna, the daughter and heir of John Wurth, a Lincolnshire knight, and was alive in 19 Edward III.1 John Knyvet was their eldest son, and within two years of that date was practising as an advocate in the courts.2 Ten years afterwards, 31 Ed- ward III., he was called to the degree of the coif; and we have Sir Edward Coke's authority that he was " a man famous in his profession," 3 his subsequent advances in which give weight to the character. On September 30, 1361, 35 Edward III., he was consti- tuted a justice of the Common Pleas ; and in four years was promoted to the office of chief justice of the King's Bench in the place of Sir Henry Green, his patent being dated October 29, 1365, 39 Edward III.4 From the difference of his designation, in the entries on the parliament Roll, it would appear that he was knighted in 1363.5 The king, in compliance with the petitions of the Com- mons, determined, in 1371, on placing the Great Seal in the hands of laymen. Robert de Thorpe, whom he had then appointed, having died in the following year, it was deemed advisable to continue the experiment for some time longer. Sir John Knyvet was accordingly removed from the pre- sidency of his court, and constituted chancellor on June 30, 1 Abbrev. Rot. Orig. i. 280., ii. 173. ; Cal. Inqois. p. m., i. 245., ii. : * Year Book, Edw. III. ■ Fourth Inst. 79. * N. Fcedera, iii. 777. s Rot. Par), ii 275. 283. G o 2 452 JOHN KNYVET. Edw. III. 1372.1 During the four years and a half that he retained the office he acted with great wisdom and discretion; but the king, being at the termination of that period under the in- fluence of the Duke of Lancaster, was induced to revert to the old practice of having ecclesiastical chancellors ; and Adam de Houghton, Bishop of St. David's, was substituted for Sir John on January 11, 1377.2 We have a proof in the Year Book of 48 Edward III., fol. 32, pi. 21, that Knyvet, wide chancellor, used to visit his old court. It is there stated, "Et puis Knivet le Chanc. vyent en le place, et le case luy fuit monstre par les Justices, et il assenty," &c. The king survived about five months, and Sir John Knyvet was one of the executors of his will, which was dated Octo- ber 7, 1376. He was also executor of the wills of Sir Robert Thorpe, his predecessor in the chancellorship, and of Mary, Countess of Pembroke 3 ; from which we may fairly deduce that he had exhibited a character worthy of confidence. He lived several years after ; and, although he did not re- sume under Richard II. either of his former posts, he was present in each of the first four parliaments of that reign, and was always named among the triers of petitions, imme- diately above the two chief justices. It shows the considera- tion in which he was still held, that to him, in conjunction with these two learned persons, an important question be- tween the Earl of Pembroke and William la Zouch of Haryngworth was submitted.4 The inquisition at his death, in 4 Richard II., details a vast extent of property in Northampton, Cambridge, and several other counties. By his wife Alianora, the elder daughter of Ralph Lord Basset of Weldon, who survived him for eight years 5, he left a son of the same name as his own, whose descendants flourished till the end of the seventeenth cen- 1 Rot. Claus. 46 Edw. III., m. 20. - Ibid. 50 Edw. III., p. 2. m. 7. 3 Testam. Vetust. pp. 11. 88. 100. 4 Rot. Pari. iii. 4 89. 79. 5 Cal. Inquis. p. m., iii. 30. 101. 1327—1377. SIMON DE LANGIIAM. 153 tury, and by various intermarriages acquired large additions to their possessions. The principal branch was established at the castle and manor of Buckenhain, in Norfolk, in 1461 ; and Philip, its representative, was created a baronet at the first institution of that order in 1611. The title, however, became extinct by the death of his son in 1699 without issue. Other branches made themselves eminent in various ways ; and one of them, Sir Thomas Knyvet, having been of the bedchamber of Queen Elizabeth and of the Privy Council of James L, was instrumental in the discovery of the Gun- powder Plot, and was raised to the peerage by the title of Lord Knyvet of Escrick in Yorkshire, on July 4, 1607 ; but dying without children in 1622, the barony became extinct. The barony of Clifton is supposed to be in abeyance in this family ; and that of Berners, after an abeyance of nearly one hundred years, was restored to, and is now held by, one of its representatives.1 LANGHAM, SIMON DE, Abbot of Westminster, Bishop of Ely, Archbishop of Canterbury, Cardinal. Chancellor, 1363. The monks of Westminster had reason to rejoice when Simon de Langham entered their fraternity. From the time of his becoming a monk there in 1335 till his death, forty years afterwards, he was a devoted friend to their house. Appointed prior in April, 1349, he, on the death of Simon de Burcheston at the end of the next month, was elected abbot. He then applied his early savings to the discharge of the engagements of the monastery ; he suppressed its abuses, regulated its discipline, and gained the esteem of the brotherhood by his kind and equitable sway. When, after presiding with singular credit for thirteen years, he was 1 Dugdale's Baron, ii. 4*24. ; Blomefield's Norfolk, i. 257. ; Burke's Extinct Baronetage; Nicola .'s Synop 454 SIMON DE LANGHAM. Edw. III. raised by his merits to the treasurership and chancellorship of the realm, and was advanced in the church to the bishoprick and the primacy, he still proved his regard for his first refuge, by purchasing additional estates for the establishment ; and even in his last«hours, and after eight years absence from his country, his lasting affection to the house was still further evidenced by a splendid bequest of books, vestments, and money, and a direction that his body should be deposited in one of its chapels.1 Nothing remains by which to explain the origin of the name he went by ; and we cannot expect to trace a family descent for an inhabitant of the cloister. His sagacious management of the monastic revenues pointed him out as well fitted for the office of treasurer of the kingdom, to which he was raised on November 21, 1360, 34 Edward III.; and his piety and learning caused his election, two years after- wards, to two bishopricks, London and Ely, both of which happened to be then vacant. He was appointed, by his own selection, to the latter on January 10, 1262, and the tempo- ralities were restored on March 19. He continued treasurer till February, 1363; when he succeeded William de Edington, Bishop of Winchester, as chancellor. It is curious that by the latter title he attests the confirmation of the treaty with the king of Castile, dated the 1st of that month, although the Great Seal was not delivered to him, nor did he take the oath, till the 19th.2 On July 22, 1366, he was translated to Canterbury by papal provision, and about the same time must have resigned the Great Seal, though the record of this proceeding does not exist. William of Wykeham is, however, mentioned as chancellor on the 16th of the following September. During his primacy he greatly exerted himself in the cor- 1 Monast. i. 275. 2 N. Fcedera, iii. 687. 689.; Rot. Claus. 37 Edw. III., m. 39. 1327—1377. MMON DE LANGIIAM. 455 rection of tlie abuse of the privilege of pluralities, and settled the dispute between the London clergy and their parishioners by fixing the rate of tithe at one halfpenny in the pound. The archbishop, however, incurred some censure by the removal of John Wickliffe from the headship of Canterbury Hall in Oxford ; but this was in consequence of the appoint- ment having been contrary to the statutes of Simon Islip, its founder. And if this Wickliffe be the same man as the reformer, of which some doubt has been lately raised, there is evidence in his writings to show that his attacks on the popish exactions were not occasioned by this quarrel, as he had commenced them some years earlier. On September 27, 1368, Pope Urban V. promoted Lang- ham to the dignity of a cardinal presbyter, by the title of St. Sixtus. The king taking umbrage at his acceptance of it, he resigned the archbishoprick on November 27, and retired to Avignon. Pope Gregory XI. advanced him to the title of Cardinal Bishop of Preneste, having first em- ployed him in several negotiations in 1372, to mediate peace between the kings of England and France and the Earl of Flanders, during which he revisited his native country. In these treaties he is styled the Cardinal of Canterbury, and the king calls him his "dear and faithful friend."1 It is certain that he retained so much of the royal favour as to be permitted to hold various preferments at this time in England. Besides a prebend in the church of York, he was Treasurer and Archdeacon of Wells, and Dean of Lincoln; his filling the latter place while a cardinal being the subject of a complaint to the parliament of April, 1376. 2 It is stated that at this time he had applied for and pro- cured permission to return to England, and that he projected the rebuilding of Westminster Abbey. But all his plans 1 N. Fcedera. iil 932- 97a - Rot. Pari ii. 339. 456 THOMAS DE LODELOWE. Edw. III. were frustrated by a paralytic stroke, which occasioned his death on July 22, 1376. He was first buried in the church of the Carthusian monastery which he had founded in Avig- non, and was three years afterwards removed to St. Benet's Chapel in Westminster Abbey, where his tomb still remains. The progress of his advance from the lowest position to the highest posts in the state and the church ; the confidence reposed in him by a sovereign by no means deficient in judgment; his conduct in his various offices, whether lay or ecclesiastical ; all tend to add credit to the character that is given him as a man of great capacity, wise, affable, temperate, and humble. Of his munificence we have evidence in his benefactions to Westminster, which are said to have extended to the large sum of 10,000/. ; so that we are inclined to consider the "railing hexameters" on his translation from Ely to Canterbury — Laetentur cceli, quia Simon transit ab Ely ; Cujus in adventuin flent in Kent millia centum, rather as the malicious effusion of an individual enemy than as the expression of popular feeling.1 LICHFIELD, Dean of. See J. de Bukyngham. LINCOLN, Archdeacon of. See J. de Stratford ; W. of Wykeham ; R. de Ravenser. LINCOLN, Bishop of. See H. de Burghersh ; J. de BUKYNGHAM. LINCOLN, Dean of. See J. de Offord. LODELOWE, THOMAS DE. Ch. B. E. 1365. Three families of the name of Lodelowe (Ludlow) flourished in the reign of Edward II., two of which sent members to 1 Godwin de Prassul. 115. 261.; Weever, 479.; Le Neve, 6. 39. 44. 69. 145.; Angl. Sac. i. 46.; Dugdale's Monast. i. 275. ; Chalmers's Biog. Diet. 1327—1377. THOMAS DE LOUTHER. 457 parliament respectively for Shropshire and Surrey ; one possessing the manor of Hodnet in the former county, and the other that of Walton in the latter. The third held the manor of Campedene, in Gloucestershire.1 To which of these families Thomas de Lodelowe belonged it is not easy to determine with any certainty; but he himself appears to have been established in Kent, as in 33 Edward III., he was one of the commissioners for keeping the peace in that county, and in 46 Edward III. was among the custodes of the sea- shore there.2 He was constituted chief baron of the Exchequer on October 29, 1365, 39 Edward III., in the place of Sir William de Skipwith, and acted as a trier of petitions in all the subsequent parliaments till the 47th year.3 During this period he is several times mentioned in the Year Books as a justice of assize ; for which he received a fee of 201. yearly, in addition to his salary of forty marks as chief baron.4 On February 3, 1374, 48 Edward III., William Tanks was appointed his successor.; but from the difficulty of ascertaining to which family he belonged, we know not whether he died at that time. LONDON, Bishop of. See R. de Byntewoeth. LOUTHER, THOMAS DE. Just. K. B. 1330. Thomas de Louther was the second son of Hugh de Louther, of Westmoreland, the attorney-general of Edward I., and a justice itinerant in that and the following reign.5 He was constituted a judge of the King's Bench on December 15, 1330, 4 Edward III., and in the same year was joined in 1 Pari. Writs, ii., P ii. 1126. ; Cal. Inquis. p. m., i. 123. 255. 2S3. 2 N. Foedera, iii. 464. 952. s Rot. Pari. ii. 289- 1 Issue Roll, 44 Edw. III., 83. 280. s See ante, p. 275. 458 ADAM DE LYMBERGH. Edw. III. the commission for the county of Bedford. He remained in that court only till the following year, when he was ap- pointed chief justice of the King's Bench in Ireland, re- taining the office in 8 Edward III., when the king granted to him, in that character, the first custody of all the heirs and lands in Ireland which devolved to the crown.1 But in the course of the same year he was superseded by Robert de Bourchier on July 16, 1334, being, however, at the same time, directed to proceed to Dublin to take upon himself the office of chief justice, in case Robert de Bourchier declined to go, with a mandate to act as second judge if Bourchier went.2 It seems probable that he took the second place accordingly ; for we find him again raised to the chiefship in 1338, 12 Ed- ward III.3 How long he remained there afterwards, or when he died, does not appear ; but in 33 Edward III. a commission was issued to inquire into a charge made against a Thomas de Louther, and John de Louther the son of his brother, for a breach of the law of arms in forcing a Scottish knight, made prisoner, to pay a second ransom for his release.4 He is said to have left issue, but no account of them remains.5 LYMBERGH, ADAM DE. B. E. 1334. Adam de Lymbergh, who was of a Lincolnshire family, was in constant employment in offices of trust and respon- sibility, under both Edward II. and III. In the fifth year of the former reign, October 8, 1311, he was appointed one of the remembrancers of the Exchequer, and frequent entries occur, showing his active engagement in its duties till 1 Cal. Rot. Pat. 113. 120. '-' N. Foedera, ii. S91. 3 Cal. Rot. Pat. 133. 4 N. Foedera, Hi. 418. 5 Colli ns's Peerage, v. 696. 1327—1377. ROBERT DE MALBERTHORP. 459 15 Edward II. He was then made constable of Bordeaux, where he remained three or four years ; and afterwards, on the accession of Edward III., became keeper of the Privy Seal. From 5 to 8 Edward III., he was chancellor of Ireland, in which character he is mentioned in the latter year, so late as July 16, 1334. From this office he was transferred to the English court of Exchequer, in which he became a baron on November 9, 1334 ; and probably sat there till his death in 13 Edward III., when his manor of Severbege, and his lands in Torkeseye and Navenbye, all in Lincolnshire, descended, he being an ecclesiastic, to his sister Matilda.1 MALBERTHORP, ROBERT DE. Just. K. B. 1327. Ch. K. B. 1329. See under the Reign of Edward II. Robert de Malberthorp was so called from a manor of that name in Lincolnshire. In the sixth and eighth years of the reign of Edward II., he is mentioned in connection with property in that county 2 ; but we find nothing to show his proceedings as a lawyer, except his occasional employment in commissions there, from 10 Edward II. till he was raised to the bench. This event occurred some time in the fourteenth year, probably after August 6, 1320, when Lambert de Trikingham was removed into the Exchequer, and Robert de Malberthorp appears to have taken his place in the King's Bench. From that time till the end of the reign, he was actively engaged in the performance of his judicial duties, principally in the country. His re-appointment on the accession of Edward III. was 1 Madox's Exch. ii. 267. ; Pari. Writs, ii., P. ii. 1096.; N. Fcedera, ii. 519— 596. 812. 891.; Dugdale ; Cal. In<|iiis. p. in., ii. 89. ; Abbrev. Hot. Orig. ii. 49. 130. 2 Abbrev. Rot. Orig. i. 198. 216. 460 ROBERT DE MALBERTHORP. Emv. III. delayed on account of Queen Isabella's indignation against him, in consequence of his being concerned in the judgment pronounced, five years before, upon Thomas, Earl of Lan- caster. But he obtained his pardon on March 7, 1327, on the testimony of the prelates and peers that he gave that judgment by command of the king, whom he did not dare to disobey, and to avoid danger to himself. Such is the disgraceful entry on the patent of pardon.1 It may be presumed, therefore, that he was then permitted to resume his judicial functions. We accordingly find him acting as a justice of assize in this first year, and sitting in court in Hilary Term of the second.2 In the third year, he was named in the commission issued on February 2, 1329, to try certain malefactors in the city of London 3 ; and on May 1 following had so entirely recovered favour, as to be promoted to the office of chief justice of the King's Bench, during the temporary absence of Geoffrey le Scrope. This lasted till October 28 in the same year, when Geoffrey resumed his seat ; and Robert de Mal- berthorp returned to his place among the puisne judges. He remained in that court till January 18, 1331, 4 Edward III., when he was removed into the Common Pleas. The fines levied before him do not extend beyond Martinmas in the same year ; and his death occurred some time either at the end of that or the beginning of the following year. A son of his, named William, is named as early as 6 Ed- ward II.4 1 N. Foedera, ii. 696. 3 N. Foedera, ii. 755. 4 Rot. Pari. ii. 25. 208. ; Pari. Writs, ii. Abbrev. Rot. Orig. i. 198., ii. 59. Year Book, Edward III. P. ii. 1131.; Duffdale's Orig. 45. 1327—1377. WILLIAM DE MELTON. 4G1 MELTON, WILLIAM DE, Dean of St. Martin's, London; Archdeacon of Barnstaple ; Provost of Beverley ; Arch- bishop of York. Keeper, 1333. See under the Reign of Edward II. The parentage of William de Melton cannot be traced with any certainty ; but he seems to have been principally con- nected with the county of York, and is supposed to have been a native of Melton, in Holderness. In 28 Edward I., 1300, Melton was parson of the parish of Repham, in Lincolnshire l ; and in the next year, under the title of "our beloved clerk," he was employed to pay the foot soldiers raised in Wales.2 It appears probable, also, that he had been employed in the education of the king's son, who at this time was about sixteen years of age ; for in the letter which that prince addressed to the Pope, on his behalf, in the third year of his reign, he uses these expressions, "qui a nostras aetatis primordiis nostris insistebat obsequiis."3 On the accession of the young king, he was appointed comp- troller of the royal wardrobe, and was afterwards advanced to be the keeper of that department. In the former character, the Great Seal was delivered to him, on January 21, 1308, to be carried abroad with the king, who was proceeding to France to marry Isabella, the daughter of Philip le Bel.4 Another seal was given to John de Langton, the chan- cellor, to be used in England ; which, after the king's return, was, in the following March, carried to the Ex- chequer by William de Melton, then bearing the additional title of " Secretarius Regis."5 Again, on the resignation of John de Langton, May 11, 1310, the Great Seal was placed 1 Cal. Inquis. p. m., i. 165. -' Tar], Writs, i. 359. Feeders, ii. 107. 4 Rot. Claus. 1 Edw. II., m. 11. 5 Ibid. m. 7. ; Madox's Exch. i. 75. 462 WILLIAM DE MELTON. Edw. III. in the wardrobe, under the seals of Melton and of two of the clerks of the Chancery 1 ; but on July 6, it is stated to be in the custody of the master of the Rolls, under the seals of the same two clerks.2 The king's confidence in him is apparent, from numerous royal mandates, countersigned " nunciante W. de Melton ;" from his being employed on an embassy to France ; and from his being raised to the office of keeper of the wardrobe. During this time ecclesiastical honours flowed rapidly upon him. He was made a canon of York ; on August 27, 1308, he was invested with the deanery of St. Martin's, London 3, and, on October 13, in the same year, with the archdeaconry of Barnstaple4; in 1310, he became provost of Beverley5 ; and was elected archbishop of York, on January 21, 1316, as the successor of William de Greenfield, but was obliged to wait more than two years for his consecration 6, notwithstanding the king's numerous and urgent applications to the Pope. On July 3, 1325, 18 Edward II,, he was constituted treasurer of the Exchequer7 ; but, as the king's friend, was displaced, on the transfer of the crown to his son, in January, 1327. During the troubles in the previous year, his chapel was broken into, and his episcopal ornaments, including his pall, were stolen ; and messengers were sent to the Pope, with the king's request for a new one.8 The new government, however, showed no ill will to the archbishop. On the contrary, in the first year of the reign of Edward III., they restored to him the rights which his predecessors had in the port of Hull, under a charter of king Athelstan, and which had been for some time invaded ; and employed him also in treating for peace with the Scots.9 1 Rot. Claus. 3 Edw. II., m. 6. 2 Rot. Claus. 4 Edw. II., m. 26. 3 Monast. vi. 1323. 4 Le Neve, 98. 5 Allen's Yorkshire, iii. 234. 6 Godwin de PrEesul. 685. 7 Rot. Pat. 18 Edw. II., p. 2. m. 5. 8 N. Fcedera, ii. 624. 9 Ibid. 704. 797. 1327—1377. ROGER DE MERES. 463 In 4 Edward III. he was indicted, as an adherent of the Earl of Kent, and, being fully acquitted, obtained a writ of conspiracy against his accusers.1 That his accusation was not credited appears from his restoration to the treasurer- ship in the same year. This office he held from Novem- ber 28, 1330, to April 1, 1331 2; and on August 10, 1333 3, he was appointed sole keeper of the Great Seal during the temporary absence of John de Stratford, the chancellor. He acted in that character till January 13, when he delivered up the seal to three clerks of the Chancery, by the king's direction. It would seem that his removal was occasioned by his having confirmed and consecrated Robert de Graystanes, as Bishop of Durham, without first obtaining the king's approval ; for on March 30th following, there is an entry of a grant of the royal pardon to the archbishop for that offence.4 Pie lived for five years more, and died at Cawood, on April 22, 1340, after presiding over his province for about four-and-twenty years,, and expending considerable sums on his cathedral; in which his remains were deposited. The character that is given to him speaks as highly of his private as of his public life ; representing him as pious, charitable, lenient, and hospitable in the former, and zealous, faithful, and energetic in the latter. In his property he was succeeded by his nephew, who died about thirty years afterwards, leaving a son ; both of the same names as the archbishop.5 . MERES, ROGER DE. Just. C. P. 1371. Roger de Meres was of a Lincolnshire family, established at Kirketon in the district of Holand.6 In 12 Edward III., 1 Rot. Pari. ii. 31. 54. " Dugdale's Chron. Series. 1 Rot Claus. 7 Edw. III., p. 1. m. 3. * N. Fcedera, ii. 882. s Abbrcv. Rot. Orig. ii. 136. 302. a Ibid. ii. 318. 464 ROGER DE MERES. Edw. III. one of his name, probably his father, was assigned as the attorney of John, Duke of Brittany, and Earl of Richmond.1 Roger, the son, was appointed one of the king's Serjeants in 40 Edward III., receiving the annual allowance of 20/. for his services in prosecuting and defending suits. He was also employed while a serjeant to hold assizes in the country, for which he had a further salary of 201. a year.2 On November 27, 1371, 45 Edward III., he was raised to the bench of the Common Pleas; but there is no record of any fines being levied before a judge of that name, nor of his attending the parliament beyond November in the next year. There are, however, some circumstances which raise a suspicion that this Roger de Meres was the same with Roger de Kirketon, and that he used both names indifferently. We know that he had property at Kirketon, and it was quite a common practice for a man to call himself after his estate. The name of Meres does not at all occur in the Year Book, which is somewhat extraordinary for one who was clearly a ser- jeant ; but that of Kirketon is continually introduced, and the period within which the latter is mentioned not only tallies with the career of Meres, but notices him as serjeant in the right year, and terminates at the precise date required, viz. Trinity Term, 45 Edward III., 1371. Meres was constituted a justice of the Common Pleas on November 27, following; and Dugdale, while he records no fines as levied before him, introduces Kirketon, without giving the date of his appoint- ment, from a fine acknowledged before him in February, 1372. The name of Roger de Meres appears as a trier of petitions in the parliament of that year, and then stops ; but in the next and following parliaments of the reign, Roger de Kirke- ton is named instead of him.3 Roger de Kirketon is not mentioned as a serjeant or in 1 N. Fcedera, ii. 1024. 2 Issue Roll, 44 Edw. III., 346. 354. 3 Rot. Pari. ii. 309. 317. IS27— 1377. TETER DE MIDDLETON. 465 any other way in the Issue Roll of 44 Edward III., while payments are made to Roger de Meres, both as a Serjeant and a judge of assize. The death of Roger de Meres is not noticed among the inquisitions post mortem, while that of Roger de Kirketon is in 9 Richard II. And lastly, in 15 Richard II., John de Meres, apparently the son, in the inquisition on his death, has the addition of Si de Kirketon " to his name, while a subsequent page notices a Robert de Meres de Soterton l ; affording positive proof that the name of Kirketon was sometimes used, and, by the fact of two families of the same name existing in Lincolnshire, sufficiently accounting for the assumption by one of them of the name of his estate. As the question, however, is disputable, I have treated them separately as two individuals, leaving it to the curious to pursue the investigation. MIDDLESEX, Archdeacon of. See A. de Offord. MIDDLETON, PETER DE. Just. Itin. 1330. Peter de Middleton was one of the sons of Adam de Middleton noticed in the last reign as a justice itinerant. He was appointed to the same duty in the county of Bed- ford, in 4 Edward III., 1330; and in the eighth year was made a justice of the forests in Yorkshire, In 9 Edw. III., the latter county was entrusted to his custody as sheriif ; but in the following year he died in possession of the manors of Stobbum and Stolkeld in Yorkshire, and of Irreby in Cumberland, and also of his father's cow pasture, called Hcselspring, in the forest of Inglewood, to which his son Thomas succeeded.2 1 Cal. Inquis. p. m., iii. 75. 142. 165. ' 8 Dugdale; Abbrev. Rot. Orig. ii. 88. 94. 106. ; Cal. Inquis. p, in., ii. 70. VOL. III. H II 46 G JOHN DE MOUBRAY. Edw. III. MIRFIELD, WILLIAM DE. ? Keeper, 1371. William de Mirfield was of a Yorkshire family, and purchased the manors of Fersleye and Shell in that county in 22 Edward III. He held the rectory of Bradford, and was a clerk or master in Chancery from the thirty- sixth to the forty-ninth year of the reign, 1362 — 1375, when he died. He is mentioned as residing in Holborn. On March 18, 1371, he was one of the four of those officers to whom the Great Seal was entrusted during the absence of Sir Robert de Thorpe, the chancellor; but it is not stated how long they held it. His property, on his death, was divided among his sisters, one of whom was named Johanna.1 MOTELOW, HENRY DE. Just. C. P. 1357. So few remains have been collected of Henry de Motelow, that nothing more can be recorded of him than that his name appears among the advocates in the Year Books from 18 Edward III. ; that he was raised to the bench of the Common Pleas, on July 4, 1357, 31 Edward III. ; that he had 20Z. a year allowed him to support the order of knighthood ; and that fines were not acknowledged before him later than Easter, 1361, 35 Edward III.2 MOUBRAY, JOHN DE. Just. C. P. 1359. The connection of John de Moubray with the noble family of Moubray, of which there were three of the same name who were contemporaneous with the judge, we have not been 1 Abbrev. Rot. Orig. ii. 198. 342.; Cal. Inquis. p. m., ii. 329. 346.; Rot. Pari. ii. 268—317. 34C*. ; Rot. Claus. 45 Edw. III., in. 35. 2 Dugdale's Orig. 45., and Chron. Series. 1327—1377. JOHN DE MUTFORD. 467 able to trace. He had evidently very extensive practice as an advocate from 17 Edward III. ; and was one of the king's serjeants-at-law in the 28th year. His name frequently appears as a judge of assize till he was raised to the bench at Westminster. This event occurred on July 11, 1359, 33 Edward III., when he was appointed a justice of the Court of Common Pleas ; and was soon after made a knight of the Bath. His continuance there may be traced by the reports in the Year Books and the fines acknowledged before him, which extend till 47 Edward III., 1373 ; in which year, on November 27, he delivered into the treasury the Rolls of his assizes in the northern counties.1 MUTFORD, JOHN DE. Just. C. P. 1327. See under the Reigns of Edward I. and Edward IT. John de Mutford was of a knightly family, settled in the parish of that name in the county of Suffolk. In pursuing the profession of the law, he arrived at that eminence to be engaged in conducting the king's causes in 22 Edw. I., 1294, in which year he acted in that character in Middlesex, and is again named in Cornwall in 30 Edward I.2 Although it does not appear that the office of attorney-general was then established in a separate individual, an entry on the Rolls of parliament in 35 Edward I., in which John de Mutford is directed to be called before the treasurer and barons of the Exchequer, to inform them of the king's right in the matter of a petition then presented 3, seems to show that his duties were very similar to those now performed by that officer. In that same year (the last of the king), he was appointed 1 Dugdale's Orig. 45. 103. ; and Chron. Ser. ; Kal. Exch. i. 235. 2 Dugdale's Chron. Series. < Rot. Pari. i. 197. a ij 2 468 JOHN DE MUTFORD. Edw. III. one of the justices of Trailbaston to act in Cornwall and nine other counties.1 From the commencement of Edward II.'s reign, he at- tended the parliament among the judges, and we find him on various occasions acting as a justice itinerant, and com- manded to cause his proceedings to be estreated into the Exchequer. In 5 Edward II., he was sent to Ireland as one of the commissioners to quiet the discontents and dis- turbances there, and two years afterwards was summoned to appear before the council ready to proceed on the king's service to parts beyond the seas. After being in continual and active employment as a jus- tice of assize, he was raised to the bench at Westminster, being constituted a judge of the Common Pleas by patent, dated April 20, 1316, 9 Edward II. In this court he con- tinued to act during the remainder of the reign, and for the first three years of that of Edward III. ; the last fine acknow- ledged before him being dated in Hilary, 3 Edward III., 1329; and the last record of his sitting in court being Michaelmas in that year.2 His death occurred in the same year, and he was buried in Norwich Cathedral,3 NEWENHAM, THOMAS DE. ? Keeper, 1S77. See under the Reign of Richard II. NORTHAMPTON, Archdeacons of. See R. de Bury; J. DE BUKYNGHAM ; W. OP WrKEHAM. 1 Rot. Pari. i. 218. 2 Pari. Writs, ii. 1213. ; Rot. Pari. i. 341—350. ; Year Book, Part I. 8 Blomefield's Norwich, ii. 39. 1327—1377. WALTER DE NORWICH. 469 NORTHWELL, WILLIAM DE. B. E. 1340. That William de Northwell held the office of clerk of the kitchen in the household of Edward II., appears by two writs, dated October 3, 1314, by which certain victuals, purveyed in various counties, are ordered to be delivered to him.1 In them he is designated " dilectns clericus noster," showing that he was in holy orders, and that the office was considered of some importance. He was gradually advanced in his position, and we afterwards find him in 11 Edward III. clerk or keeper of the wardrobe.2 He is so called as late as March 2, 1340, 14 Edward III.3; and doubtless still held the office when he was constituted a baron of the Exchequer in the place of William de la Pole on June 2 1 in the same year. He did not remain there long, as certain bills dated in August, September, and November, 1340, are mentioned as being under his seal as treasurer of the king's household 4 ; and there is no doubt that on receiving this last appointment he retired from his seat as baron ; his name not being among those constituting the court in the following January.5 NORWICH, WALTER DE. Ch. B. E. 1327. See under the Reign of Edward IT. BlomefielD says that Walter de Norwich was the son of Geoifrey de Norwich. He was possessed of very large estates in Norfolk, Suffolk, Lincoln, and Hertford, over which he obtained a charter of free warren, together with a fair at Ling, in Norfolk. No mention is made of the commence- ment of his career in the Exchequer ; but he had probably 1 Pari. Writs, ii. P. ii. 82. 2 Issue Roll, Mich. 11 Etlw. III. 3 N. Feeders, ii. 1116. * Kal. Exch. i. 165. •'' Dugdale'a Cbron. S B n 3 470 WALTER DE NORWICH. Edw. lit been long an officer there before 35 Edward I., when he was remembrancer. In this office he acted in the first years of the next reign ; and was raised to the bench as a baron of the Exchequer on August 29, 1311, 5 Edward IL, on the death of Walter de Gloucester. On the 23rd of the following October, he was appointed locum tenens of the treasurer of the Exchequer; and on March 3, 1312, was again named baron in the place of Roger de Scotre deceased. As he still continued to act as treasurer's lieutenant, we can no otherwise account for these two nominations as baron, than by supposing that Roger de Scotre, though not so described in his patent, held the highest place in the court, and that Walter de Norwich's second patent advanced him to fill it. It is, however, precisely the same in form as his first patent, and as those of the other barons ; but the suggestion derives support from the fact that only five days afterwards John Abel was made a baron in the place of Walter de Norwich, who is described in that patent as " nunc capitalis baro," which is the first occasion on which that title is used. The interval between this and the eighth year of the reign was devoted to the performance of the double duties of baron and of treasurer's lieutenant ; but in the latter year, on being raised to the office of treasurer on September 26, 1314, he vacated his seat on the bench. He retained the treasurership till May 30, 1317, 10 Ed- ward IL, when he was relieved from tho office on account of illness, and not only received the honourable appointment of chief baron, but was also commanded to assist at the privy councils of his sovereign, whenever he was able. He is called by this title in 13 Edward IL, as present on the de- livery of the Great Seal ; but it is remarkable that on three several occasions in 15, 16, 17 Edward IL, when he was de- puted to perform the duties of the treasurer in his absence, in neither of the commissions is he described as chief baron, and in two of them is called simply "unus baro de scaccario nostro." 1327—1377. WILLIAM DE NOTION. 471 He was immediately re-appointed chief baron of the Ex- chequer on the accession of Edward III., and kept his seat in the court till his death in the third year of that reign. By his wife Margaret he had three sons, John, Roger, and Thomas ; the elder of whom was summoned as a baron to parliament, but the title became extinct before the end of the reign by failure of his issue.1 NOTTINGHAM, ROBERT DE. B. E. 1327. Two persons so called have been already noticed in the reio-n of Henry III. ; but the surname being taken from so exten- sive a place, there is nothing to prove that this Robert de Nottingham was connected with them. It is possible that he was the son of William de Nottingham, who is mentioned as acting for the king in 5 Edward II., but we have not been able to trace the relationship. Robert was appointed remem- brancer of the Exchequer on June 21, 1322, 15 Edward II. ; and on October 15, 1327, 1 Edward III., he was raised to the office of baron of that court in the place of the second baron, William de Boudon ; but on April 16, 1329, Robert de Wodehouse was made second baron. Whether this arose from the death or retirement of Robert de Nottingham does not appear ; and though there are several subsequent entries of the name, some clearly belong to another person, and others have nothing to identify them with the baron.2 NOTTON, WILLIAM DE. Just. K. B. 1355. William de Notton was of a Yorkshire family, and pro- bably a native of the place of that name. He became an ad- 1 Madox's Exeb. i. 75., ii. 49. 84. ; Dllgdale'fl Baron, ii. 90. ; and Chron. Scries; N. Fccdera, ii. 42B. ; Blomcfield's Norwich, i. 76. ; Norfolk, i. 719. 2 Dugdale's Chron. Scr. ; Pari. Writs, ii. P. ii. 19 1. II H I 472 ANDREW DE OFFORD. Edw. III. vocate of considerable eminence, to judge from the frequent recurrence of his arguments in the Year Books. In 20 Ed- ward III. he had a confirmation from the king of a messuage and above 200 acres of land, part of the manor of Fishlake, in Yorkshire, by the service of one rose. In the same year he was one of the king's Serjeants, and was appointed on various judicial commissions for several subsequent years. On October 12, 1355, 29 Edward III., he was constituted a judge of the King's Bench. He was subjected, in 1358, to excommunication for neglecting to appear to the pope's citation to answer for the sentence he had pronounced against the Bishop of Ely, for harbouring the man who had slain one of Lady Wake's servants. His period of service in the King's Bench was terminated in 35 Edward III., when he is mentioned as a judge of assize in the Year Books. In that year he was constituted chief justice of the Common Pleas in Ireland ; and two years after- wards he is noticed as one of the council of the king's son, Lionel, Earl of Ulster, then lieutenant of that county. He had large property at Fishlake, with the manors of Boston and Wolveley, in Yorkshire; and he and his wife Isabella were benefactors to the priory of Bretton, in that county, and of Royston, in Hertfordshire.1 OFFORD, ANDREW DE, Archdeacon of Middlesex. ? Keeper, 1353. Andrew de Offord was a brother of the undermentioned John de Offord, and, like him, was employed in diplomatic missions for many years of his life. From 17 to 29 Ed- ward III., 1343 — 1355, we find him continually named on 1 Cal. Rot. Tat 153. 174.; N. Fcedera, iii. 101. 297.622.; Abbrev. Rot. Orig. 212.; Rot. Pari. ii. 455.; Barnes's Edward III , 551. ; Cal. Inquis. p. m., ii. 168. 190. 1327— 1377. JOHN DE OFFORD. 473 embassies to Rome, Castile, Portugal, Flanders and France.1 It was, probably, during the chancellorship of his brother, that he was made a clerk or master of the Chancery, although he is not distinctly named among those officers till a later period. On August 4, 1353, when the chancellor, John de Thoresby, went to York, of which he had recently been elected archbishop, he left the seal in the hands of David de Wollore, M. II,, Thomas de Bray ton, and Andrew de Offord 2 ; but how long he remained absent does not appear. OfFord was a receiver of petitions in the parliaments of 28 and 29 Ed- ward III.8; and died in 1358. He was at first described as juris chilis professor; after- wards as Canon of York ; and lastly as Archdeacon of Middle- sex, to which he was admitted in 1349.4 OFFORD, JOHN DE, Archdeacon of Ely, Dean of Lincoln, Archbishop of Canterbury. Chancellor, J 345. The name of this chancellor is generally spelled Offord, but on some few occasions Ufford ; and it is the fashion to call him one of the sons of Robert de Ufford, the first Earl of Suffolk. We are satisfied, however, that he was not so, and doubt very much whether he was in any way connected with the family. Kobert de Ufford, who was created Earl of Suffolk, in 1 337, had, according to Dugdale, only two sons, Robert, who died in the life of his father, and William, who succeeded to the title. The records show two other sons, named Richard and Edmund le Frere5; and Blomcfield calls a John de Ufford, who was rector of Kingham, in Norfolk, in 1359, and who died in 1375, a son of the earlG; but that may be questionable, 1 N. Foedora, ii. 1224., iii. 308. ■ Rot. Claus. 27 Edw. III., ni. & :< Rot. Pari. ii. 254. 264. 4 Le Neve, !!».!. 6 Abbrcv. Rot. Orig. ii. 134. 146. 336. 6 Blomdield's Norfolk, i. 667. 474 JOHN DE OFFORD, Ebw. III. as he is not mentioned in the earl's will.1 There was, however, a John de Ufford, who was contemporary with the chancellor. He was the son of Ralph de Ufford, the brother of Robert, the first earl ; but he is in every way distinguished from the chancellor. He is always called a knight, and was summoned to parliament as a baron in 1360, eleven years after the death of the chancellor, and his own death occurred in the following year. The discrepancies in these dates appear to settle the question ; but if any doubt remained it would seem to be extinguished by the following fact. The first earl's grandfather, whose name was Robert de Peyton, assumed that of Ufford, from a place in Suffolk, where he had his residence ; while there remains curious evidence to prove that the chancellor's family derived its name from the manor of Offord, in Huntingdonshire. We find that in 4 Edward I., 1275-6, there was a John de Offord who had property at Offord-Dameys in that county ; and, further, that in 5 Edward III., 1331, the custody of that manor was given to Magister John de Offord (our chancellor) till the legitimate age of the heir2 : so that he probably was a younger son of the first-named John, and uncle to the infant heir. However this may be, it i3 clear that the two families were distinct. In the early part of the reign of Edward III., John de Offord was Dean of the Arches3 ; and from the eighth to the eighteenth years he was continually engaged in important foreign embassies to the courts of France, Scotland, and Avignon. At first he is described as juris civilis professor, and as Canon of St. Paul's ; in 12 Edward III., as Archdeacon of Ely ; and on August 3, 1344, 18 Edward III., as Dean of Lincoln. From October 4, 1342, he is mentioned as keeper 1 Nicolas's Testam. Vetust. 73. 114. See, however, Anglo. Sac. i. 794., note. 2 Dugdale's Baronage, ii. 47. ; Abbrev. Placit. 266 ; Abbrcv. Rot. Orig. ii. 50, 3 Newcome's St. Alban's, 229. 1327—1377. JOHN DE OFFORD. 475 of the privy seal, and on one occasion as the king's secretary.1 To enter into the particulars of these negotiations would be to give a history of this period of the reign. As they concern himself, they show the estimation in which he was regarded by his sovereign ; and they afford evidence that his conduct of them exhibited so much wisdom and tact, as to point him out as a fit recipient of the honours with which he was afterwards invested. On October 26, 1345, 19 Edward III., he succeeded Robert de Sadington as chancellor2, and held the Seal till his death, being the third chancellor during this reign who died in office. By the death of John de Stratford, on August 23, 1348, the archbishoprick of Canterbury became vacant. So soon after as the 25th of the following month, Pope Clement VI. issued a bull placing John de Offord in the vacant seat ; the Holy Father and the English king uniting to set aside the monks' election of Thomas Brad- ward in. One of his biographers says, that he paid a large sum ere he procured his appointment ; but these assertions are easily made, and it is far more probable that the pope's attention to the king's recommendation was influenced by the opportunities he himself had had of judging of Offord's character and abilities, while performing his ambassadorial functions. The temporalities were restored on December 14, but he was fated never to obtain full possession of his dignity. Before his installation he was seized with the mortal disease which for several months had devastated England, and was one of the last of its victims, dying at Tottenham, on May 20, 1349.3 lie was buried privately at Canterbury. His London residence, while chancellor, was in the parish of St. Clement Danes.1 Both universities claim the honour 1 N. Feeders, ii. 880. 1239., iii. 18. 17G. * Rot. Claim. 19 Kdw. III., p. 2. m. 10. 3 Ibid. 23 Edw. III., p. 1. DA. 10. 4 Ibid. 22 Kdw. III., p. '_'. m. 8. 476 ROBERT PARNING. Edw. III. of his education; but that of Cambridge, in which he is prayed for "in missa Benefactorum," seems to have the preference.1 PARDISHOWE, THOMAS DE. ? Keeper, 1341. Although the Great Seal is stated to have been placed by Sir Robert Bourchier the chancellor, when he left London on February 14, 1341, in the custody of Thomas de Pardis- howe, under the seals of Thomas de Evesham, the master of the Rolls, and Thomas de Brayton, it is clear from the terms of the record, that the two latter only were appointed to execute the functions of the office ; which they did till his return on March 3.2 Pardishowe is called a clerk in the Chancery, but there is no other entry of his name. PARNING, ROBERT. Just. C. P. Ch. K. B. 1340. Chanc. 1341. Robert Parking was possessed of considerable property in Cumberland, and was returned to Parliament in the last year of the reign of Edward II., as one of the representatives of that county. He was no doubt at. that time pursuing the legal profession, for though his name does not appear in the Year Book of that reign, it continually occurs from the first to the thirteenth year of that of Edward III. He took the state and degree of a serjeant-at-law in 3 Edward III.3, and is mentioned as a king's serjeant in the eighth year. From this time till he was called to the bench he frequently acted as a judge of assize. On May 23, 1340, 14 Edward III., he became a justice of the Common Pleas ; but only remained in that court for two 1 Godwin de Prcesul. 111. ; Angl. Sac. i. 42. 375. 794. 2 Rot. Claus. 15 Edw. III., p. 1. m. 44. 3 Coke, 4th Inst. 79. 1327—1377. ROBERT PARNING. 477 months, being raised on July 24 in the same year to the office of chief justice of the King's Bench in the place of Richard de Willoughby. His presidency there, however, did not continue longer than the 15th of the following December, when he changed the office of chief justice for that of treasurer. l Being distinguished, as Coke says, for his profound and excellent knowledge of the laws, his elevation to the bench can be well understood ; but the cause of his early removal from a sphere in which he was so fitted to shine is not so readily apparent. It arose, probably, from the king having as high an opinion of his integrity as of his legal attainments ; and occurred at the time when the royal displeasure was exhibited by the sudden dismissal of his predecessor, Robert de Northbury, Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry, from the treasurership, and of Robert de Stratford, Bishop of Chichester, from the office of chancellor. Sir Robert Parning held his new position for little more than ten months ; for on October 27, 1341, the Great Seal was placed in his hands2, when the king was compelled by public opinion to take it away from his military chancellor, Sir Robert Bourchier. At this time he lived in Aldermanbury. He continued chancellor till his death ; and it is remarkable that, though there is no imputation against him for neglecting his duties, he was still in the habit of attending the court of Common Pleas to hear arguments there, and sometimes to take part in them. Instances of this occur in the 34th and 51st cases in Hilary, 17 Edward III., and in several others in the two following terms. He died on August 26, 1348, 17 Edward III.3, leaving, by his wife Isabella, a son named Adam, who succeeded to eight manors and other property in the counties of Cumberland and Northumberland.4 1 Dugdale's Chron. Series. 2 Rot. Claus. 15 Ed v. III., p. S. m 3 Ibid. 17 Edw. III., p. 2. m. 24. • Abbrev. Rot. Orig. ii. 202.; Cal. Inquis. p. m., ii. 110. 478 WILLIAM DE LA POLE. Edw. III. PERCEHAY, HENRY DE. B. E. 1375. See under the Reijm of Richard II. PLESTE, ROBERT DE. B. E. 1362. No entry occurs in any of the published records relative to Robert de Pleste, who, according to Dugdale's Chronica Series, was a baron of the Exchequer in 1362, 36 Ed- ward III. ; nor can we find any tiling of him or his family, except that there was a William de Pleste, who, in the same year, is called " attornatus regis." POLE, WILLIAM, DE LA. B. E. 1339. In the newly rising port of Kingston-upon-Hull, was established a rich merchant named William de la Pole. He was the father of two sons, Richard and William, both of whom rendered valuable pecuniary assistance to Edward II. and Edward III. In the fifteenth year of the former reign, Richard was appointed collector of the customs on wools in that town ; and in 1 Edward III., 1327, was made the king's chief butler, and gauger of wines. Two years afterwards, he and his brother William received the manor of Miton, in Holdernesse, from the king, in exchange for their half of the manor of Lindeby, in Nottinghamshire, in consideration of their " good services," the nature of which, with regard to Richard, may be inferred from a royal undertaking, in 14 Ed- ward III., to repay 13847. 35. 4d. he had advanced. Richard died in the nineteenth year, leaving a son, William *, who must not be confounded with the subject of the present notice. William de la Pole, the brother of Richard, was born at 1 Abbrev. Rot. Orig. i. 261., ii. 6. 35. 140. 174. 1327—1377. WILLIAM DE LA POLE. 479 Ravenser, in the neighbourhood of Kingston-upon-Hull, to which he ultimately removed. In the very first year of the reign of Edward III., he had a grant of 4000/., out of the first issues of the customs of that port, in payment of an advance he had made to meet the royal necessities l ; and in the sixth year, 1332, he sumptuously entertained the king when he visited Kingston on his way to Scotland. On this occasion he is said to have received the honour of knighthood, and to have procured the title of mayor for the principal officer of the town, being himself the first who bore it. The next year he was one of those employed in a mission to Flanders, and was several times engaged in similar duties during the six following years.2 In 9 Edward III. he was constituted custos of the exchanges of England, and receiver of the old and new customs of Hull and Boston. The immediate consideration of the last appointment was his undertaking to pay the expenses of the king's household at the rate of 10/. a day.3 He was the general agent for the crown with the trading interest, and was commonly denominated the king's merchant. In the twelfth year, Edward III. gave him a royal acknowledgment for 10,000/. advanced, and for 7500/. for which he had become bound4; and, in the same year, in consideration of monies paid by him in aid of the royal expenses, and for the defence of the kingdom, the king granted him various manors in Nottinghamshire and Yorkshire, and afterwards invested him with the order of knight banneret, adding other rents for the support of the honour, together with a reversionary assignment of 1000 marks of rent in France, when the king recovered his rights there. Besides this, houses in Lombard Street, London, which had belonged to the " Societas Bar- dorum," were appended to the royal donation.5 1 Abbrev. Rot. Orig. ii. 11. 2 N. Fcedera, ii. 8G2— 908. 1085. 3 Abbrev. Rot. Orig. ii. 97. 109. 4 N. Fcedera, ii. 1065. 8 Abbrev. Rot. Orig. ii. 123. 128. 142. 480 WILLIAM DE LA POLE. Edw. III. Dugdale, in his Chronica Series, omits the appointment of William de la Pole as a baron of the Exchequer, noticing only his removal from the office ; but he supplies the omission in his Baronage, by stating that he was constituted second baron, on September 26, 1339, 13 Edw. III. There are two other patents dated the same day, at Markoyn in France, in which, though De la Pole has not this official desigation, he is one of eight high officers to whom extensive powers are granted for the purpose of raising funds to pay the royal debts incurred in the French war.1 In the parliaments held in the following October and April, he was present as one of the judges2 ; but he was removed, or retired from his seat on the bench, on June 21. When Edward III. returned from Tournay, in November, 1340, grievously disappointed by the ill-success of his mi- nisters in the collection of funds, William de la Pole was among the sufferers from his indignation.3 He was im- prisoned, and all his estates were taken into the king's hands. The particular charge against him arose from a commission which he and Reginald de Conductu, or Atte Conduit, had received, as to the purchase and sale of wools for the king's use.4 A judgment was given against them in the Exchequer, but the whole process was annulled in the par- liament of July, 1344, 18 Edward III.5 He lived for more than twenty years afterwards, highly in the king's favour. The remainder of his life is principally illustrated by his founding and liberally endowing an hospital at Kingston-upon-Hull, which, in the last year of his life, he obtained a license to convent into a religious house of nuns, of the order of St. Clare.6 He died on April 21, 1366, 1 N. Foedera, ii. 1091. 8 Rot. Pari. ii. 103. 112. 3 Barnes's Edw. III., 212. * N. Foedera, ii. 988. 6 Rot. Pari. ii. 154. 6 Abbrev. Rot. Orig. ii. 286. 1327—1377. THOMAS DE RADECLYVE. 481 40 Edward III.1 By his wife Catherine, the daughter of Sir John Norwich, who died in 5 Richard II., he had several sons; Michael, afterwards Earl of Suffolk, who will be noticed as chancellor in the next reign, Thomas, Edmund, and Walter. His daughter, Blanche, was married to Richard le Scrope, who was twice chancellor to Richard II.2 POWER, WALTER. ? Keeper, 1371. Walter Power, clerk, who was one of the commissioners of array for the counties of Bedford and Buckingham in 20 Edward III., held the manor of Brereby and other pro- perty in Yorkshire, part of which he gave to the prior of the convent of Monk Bretton. He was a clerk or master in Chancery from 25 to 47 Edward III., 1351 — 1373; and in that character was at the head of four in whose custody the Great Seal was left on March 18, 1371, during the temporary absence of the chancellor, Sir Robert de Thorpe. He is noticed as holding the office of attorney-general to John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, in 1366.3 RADECLYVE, THOMAS DE. Just. Itin. 1330. We take this Thomas de Radeclyve to have been a native of Radcliff on Sore, in the county of Nottingham. As he was summoned among the judges to the great council at West- minster in 17 Edward II., he was probably of the legal profession. He was the last named of six justices itinerant into Bedfordshire in 4 Edward III., 1330; and was sub- 1 Cal. Inquis. p. m., ii. 274. 2 Dugdale's Baron, ii. 182.; Monast. vi. 20.; Burgon's Gresham, i. 56. ; Allen's Yorkshire, iii. 12. * N. Foedera, iii. 78. 483. ; Abbrev. Rot. Orig. ii. 220. ; Cal. Inquis. j>. m., ii. 172. ; Rot. Claus. 45 Edw. III., m. 35. ; Rot. Pari. ii. 225—317. VOL. III. 1 1 482 JOHN RANDOJ/F. Edw. III. sheriff of the county of Nottingham in the same year, as appears by a complaint made against him in parliament, the result of which is not recorded. In 8 Edward III. he granted part of his lands at Radcliff for the support of the vicar of Lokyngton, at which time he had a house and land at Kynston, in the same county.1 RADENHALE, JOHN DE. Just. Itin. 1329. The parish of Radenhale, or Redenhale, in Norfolk, gave name to this family, which also possessed property in Suffolk. A Henry Redenhale was in the king's household, and was paid 20/. to provide small pike, and ten marks to obtain lampreys, from Gloucester for the coronation of Edward II. John, who was perhaps his son, was employed in judicial investigations in those counties in the latter years of that monarch, and his name occurs in the Year Books as an advocate in the first three years of Edward III. In the last of these, 1329, he was appointed a justice itinerant, and was sent into Northamptonshire; and he continued to act in other counties till 7 Edward III. Robert de Radenhale, parson of the parish of Eye, in Suffolk, who gave the manor of Baventishalle, in that county, for the support of a chaplain in 28 Edward III., was probably his son.2 RANDOLF, JOHN. Just. Itin. 1329. See under the Reigns of Edward I. and Edward II. There were at this period two families named Randolf ; one settled in Shropshire, and the other in Hampshire. This 1 Pari. Writs, ii. 1319.; Dugdale ; Rot. Pari. ii. 411.; Cal. Inquis. p. m., ii. 63. 2 Issue Roll, 1 Edw. II., 120, 121. ; Pari. Writs, ii. P. ii. 1319. ; Dugdale; Cal. Inquis. p. m., ii. 190. 1327—1377. JOHN RANDOLF. 483 John Randolf belonged to the latter, and is first mentioned in 13 Edward I., 1285, as one of the executors of William de Braboef, the justice itinerant noticed in that reign. He was connected with the Exchequer, and in 26 Edward I. was appointed one of the commissioners to visit the sea-ports, and enquire into the concealment of the customs on wool, &c.! The only time his name appears in Dugdale's Chronica Series, is as the third of five justices itinerant into Cornwall in 30 Edward I. ; but a document contained in the Rolls of parlia- ment of 8 Edward II. proves not only that he acted for four years as a justice of assize, as well as a justice itinerant in the last circuit into Cornwall, but also that his salary for these services then remained unpaid. This, however, pro- bably arose from his being a debtor to the king for the issues of the castle of Christchurch, and of the manors of Lyming- ton, Edbrighton, and Bronmore, in the county of Hants, which were in his custody, and from his being expected to deduct his fee from them. On making up his account, it appeared that he was indebted in the sum of 17/. Os. 4Jd., which he prayed to retain in part of his fee as justice, and to have the remainder paid to him ; and he had an order to obtain a writ of liberate from the Chancery, and then to apply to the treasurer.2 In the first two years of the reign of Edward II. he had been summoned to parliament among the judges, and was employed in a variety of ways in a judicial character as late as the thirteenth year, when he was commanded to cause his proceedings as a justice of assize, or otherwise, to be estreated into the Exchequer.3 Although we do not find him judicially mentioned for the next seven years, there are several entries relative to him in the interval; and in 2 Edward III. he was named on a 1 Madox's Exch. i. 231. 784. ■ Rot. Pari. i. SS9. 1 Pari. Writs, i. 799., ii. P. ii. 1323. 484 WILLIAM DE RETFORD. Emv. III. commission to try certain malefactors of France charged with molesting the merchants of Southampton. In the following year, 1329, he was one of the justices itinerant into Northamptonshire ; but after 4 Edward III., when he had the custody of the castle and manor of Porchester com- mitted to him, he is not again noticed. We believe William Randolf, of Laverstoke, in Wiltshire, to have been his son.1 RAVENSER, RICHARD DE, Archdeacon of Lincoln. ? Keeper, 1377. See under the Reign of Richard II. RETFORD, WILLIAM DE. B. E. 1354. It is highly probable that William de Retford was the son of Robert de Retford, the justice itinerant of the last reign. The document by which he was appointed keeper of the great wardrobe, is on the Roll of Nottinghamshire, the county to which that Robert belonged. This is dated in 23 Ed- ward III. ; and by a mandate as to the purchase of certain materials for the king's use issued two years previously, and countersigned as by his advice and testimony, it appears that he then held a place in the royal household. He is there called " clericus." He was raised to the Exchequer bench as a baron on November 27, 1354, 28 Edward III. ; and is mentioned as a justice of assize in 32 Edward III., in Serjeant Benloe's Reports. The period of his death or retirement we have not been able to discover.2 RICHMOND, Archdeacon of. See R. de Wodehouse. 1 Abbrev. Rot. Orig. i. 284., ii. 41. 81. ; N. Fcedera, ii. 751. ; Dugdale. * Abbrev. Rot. Orig. ii. 205.; N. Fcedera, iii. 114.; Dugdale. 1327—1377. ROBERT DE SADINGTON. 485 SADINGTON, ROBERT DE. Ch. B. E. 1337. Chancellor, 1343. Ch. B. E. 1345. Although it has been suggested, in the notices of two judges in the reigns of Henry III. and Edward L, that the names Shottindon and Sodington may be only varieties of that of Sadington l, there is nothing positive to prove that it is so ; and we cannot find any evidence that they and the subject of the present notice are of the same family. Robert de Sadington was clearly so called from a place of that name in Leicestershire ; and, we conceive, was the son of John de Sadington, in the household (valettus) of Queen Isabella, by whose request the custody of the hundred of Gertre, in that county, was committed to him.2 This connection may probably account for Robert's first employment about the court. In 3 Edward III. he was com- missioned, with the sheriff of Leicester and another, to sell the corn in certain manors which had fallen into the king's hands ; and his name occurs in the Year Books as an advocate from that to the tenth year, during which period he was placed on two or three commissions of enquiry.3 It does not appear, however, that he held the degree of a serjeant-at-law. Soon after the death of Henry le Scrope, chief baron of the Exchequer, he was appointed to that office, his patent being dated March 20, 1337, 11 Edward III.; and Prynne says, that he was the first chief baron whom he finds summoned to parliament, meaning, we presume, by that specific title.4 On July 25, 1339, he acted as the locum tenens of William de Zouche, the treasurer, then abroad ; and from May 2 to June 21, 1340, he held the office of treasurer.5 During this time he still continued chief baron; and, as the court was then constituted, there was no solid objection to his 1 Robert de Shottindon, ii. 474. ; Thomas de Sodington, ante, p. 154. 2 Abbrev. Rot. Orig. i. 243. * Ibid. ii. 29. 107. ; N. Foedera, ii. 829. 840. * Prynne, on 4th Inst. p. 4. * Dugdale's Chron, S. I I 3 486 ROBERT DE SADINGTON. Edw. Ill- holding both offices. His removal from the treasurership was, perhaps, fortunate for him, as he otherwise would probably have been swept away with the rest on King Edward's angry return from Tournay in the following November. On September 29, 1343, a month after Sir Robert Par- ning's death, the Great Seal was delivered to Robert de Sadington, as chancellor.1 He held it for about two years. During his time, there is a curious entry of the seizure, by the mayor and bailiffs of Sandwich, of nine bulls and nu- merous letters and processes from the Roman court, attempted to be surreptitiously introduced into the kingdom "in quadam linea tela cerata inclusos ; " and of their being delivered by the chancellor, in "full Chancery at Westminster," to the chamberlain of the Exchequer, to be kept in the treasury.2 If Lord Campbell's depreciatory paragraph, with its mar- ginal stigma on the chancellor as a " bad equity judge," is founded on nothing more (and he gives us no other au- thority) than Coke's silence as to his merits, we fear that such a reason might go further than the noble author intended ; and we acknowledge that we find no trace of his being more deficient or less successful than his contemporaries. The cause of his resignation of the Seal on October 26, 1345 3, is not given ; and, from anything that appears, it was quite as likely to have arisen from political as from legal motives. His reinstatement as chief baron of the Exchequer, on the 8th of the following December, seems to exclude the idea that he was inefficient as a judge. In the next year he was appointed one of the custodes of the principality of Wales, the duchy of Cornwall, and the earldom of Chester, during the minority of the king's son, Edward, Prince of Wales.4 In 1347 he was the head of the commission assigned "ad judicium ferendum," that is to say, to sentence and to execute the Earls of Menteith and 1 Rot. Claus. 17 Edw. III., p. 2. m. 26. - N. Foedera, iii. 25. 1 Rot. Claus. 19 Edw. III., p. 2. m. 10. 4 Cal. Rot. Pat. 154. 1327—1377. JOHN DE ST. PAUL. 487 Fife, taken with King David in the battle of NeviFs Cross, in which they are described as traitors to Edward de Balliol, King of Scotland. In the following year he went the circuit into Kent.1 Though there is no distinct entry of his death, it probably took place in the first quarter of 1350, 24 Edward III. In that year he had a grant of the custody of the lands of William Botreaux, in Sadington, in Leicestershire, during the minority of the heir; and his successor as chief baron, Gervase de Wilford, having been appointed on April 7, his name no more appears. He married Joyce, the sister and heir of Richard de Martival, Bishop of Salisbury ; and John de Sadington, mentioned in 37 Edward III., was probably his son.2 ST. DAVID'S, Bishop of. See J. de Thoresbt. ST. MARTIN'S, London, Dean of. See W. de Melton, W. of Wtkeham. ST. PAUL, JOHN DE, Archdeacon of Cornwall, Arch- bishop of Dublin. ? Keepeu, 1334. M. R. 1337. Keeper, 1340. The family of John de St. Paul had property in the county of York ; and it is not improbable that he was the son of Robert de St. Paul, lord of the township of Byram, who was one of the adherents of the Earl of Lancaster in the reign of Edward II.3 John was a clerk in the Chancery, and is the last named of three of those officers to whom the custody of the Great Seal was entrusted at York, from January 13 to February 17, 1334, during the temporary absence of John de Stratford, the chancellor.4 1 N. Foedera, iii. 108. 177. 1 Abbrev. Rot. Orig. ii. 210. 230.; Nicholl's Leicestershire, 192. ; Dugw. 111. wards.1 In 8 Edward III. he was superseded in that office by Richard Fitz-Simon, and his services were transferred to the Court of King's Bench in England, of which he was con- stituted a judge on September 14, 1334.2 He was in a commission of array for York in 13 Ed- wardlll.3; and on September 6, in that year, 1339, he changed his seat in the King's Bench, with John de Shardelowe, for the latter's place as a judge of the Common Pleas. In this court, however, he remained little more than a year, resuming his seat in the King's Bench on January 8, 1341, and retaining it for nearly four years. He was then, in 18 Ed- ward III., 1344, restored to his former position of chief justice of the Common Pleas in Ireland4 ; and in the same year two new Seals were for the first time provided, by the advice of the council, for sealing the judicial writs of the two benches there, the custody of which was granted to him, with the fees appertaining to the duty.5 His history terminates here, for his name is not again mentioned. SCORBURGH, ROBERT DE. Just. Itin. 1330. B. E. 1332. That Robert de Scorburgh took his name from Scorbrough, in the East Riding of Yorkshire, and that he was sometimes called by the name of Robert de Scardeburgh, will be appa- rent from the two following facts. Under the name of Scorburgh he had a license in 17 Edward II. to assign a lay fee in Beverley and Etton ; and on his death, in 14 Ed- ward III., he is described, under the name of Scardeburgh, as possessing the manor of Scorby, and also property in Stamford Bridge and Etton, both of which are in the East Riding, and in the neighbourhood of Beverley and Scorbrough.6 We 1 Cal. Rot. Pat. 113. 117. 2 Ibid. 120. 8 N. Foedera, ii. 105. 4 Cal. Rot. Pat. 135. 149. 5 Abbrev. Rot. Orig. ii. 166. 6 Ibid. i. 274., ii. 136. 1327—1377. ROBERT DE SCORBURGH. 491 cannot, however, agree with the learned editor of the Par- liamentary Writs and of the Index to the Rolls of Parliament in interpreting both the names Scardeburgh and Scorburgh as meaning Scarborough, in the North Riding; and no question can be entertained that Robert de Scorburgh and his contemporary, Robert de Scardeburgh, were not the same individual. Robert de Scorburgh 's connection with the law appears from his being employed on special commissions in Yorkshire in 16 and 20 Edward II. ; the former being for the trial of offenders chasing the deer in the archbishop's park at Beverley.1 In both of these commissions he is called Scorburgh, and is evidently added to the regular judges, as a serjeant is in the present day. In 18 Edward II. he was appointed also on a commission of enquiry, his name being then spelled Scoreburgh. Again, in 2 Edward III. there is a petition to parliament by the people of " Scartheburgh," relative to a trial before Robert de Scoresburgh and his com- panions, justices of Oyer and Terminer in that town2; and in the fourth year he was amongst the justices itinerant into Derbyshire, as Scorburgh.3 He was raised to the bench of the Exchequer on Novem- ber 2, 1332, 6 Edward III., the record calling him Scorburgh, by which name he received knighthood in the same year.4 He is also so named, in the following year, in the record commissioning him to treat with the Earl of Flanders.5 After this we hear nothing of him till his death in 14 Ed- ward III., when it appears, by the document above referred to, that his property was committed to the custody of Wolfand de Clistere, because Thomas, his son and heir, was an idiot. 1 Pari. Writs, ii. P. ii. 1406. ■ Rot. Pari. i. 420., ii. 28. 3 Dugdale's Chron. Series. * Dugdale's Orig. 102. * N. Foedera, ii. 875. 492 WILLIAM SCOTT. Edw. III. SCOTHOU, WILLIAM DE. Just. Itin. 1348. Except in Dugdale's list of justices itinerant for Kent in 22 Edward III., 1348, we find no reference whatever to William de Scothou, who probably took his name from a parish so called in Norfolk. A Peter de Scothow was returned member for Norwich in 12 Edward II.1 SCOTT, WILLIAM. Just. C. P. 1337. Just. K. B. 1339. Ch. K. B. 1341. The name of Scott was so common even at this early period, that it is difficult to speak with certainty of the family of this William Scott. If H. Philipps, in his Grandeur of the Law, 1684, is right in saying that Sir Thomas Scott, then of Scott's Hall, in Kent, was descended from him, it would seem that the original name of the family was Baliol, and that William, the brother of John Baliol, King of Scotland, who frequently wrote his name as William de Baliol le Scot, after the contest for the crown in the reign of Edward I. had terminated in his brother's overthrow, politically dropped his patronymic, and retained only the national addition he had assumed. In the reign of Edward III. this family was seated in the parish of Braborne, in Kent ; and it was not till Henry VI. 's time that they removed to Scott's Hall, a manor in the neighbouring parish of Smeeth.2 William Scott was a pleader in the courts from 3 Ed- ward III., and was made one of the king's Serjeants in the eighth year. On March 18, 1337, 11 Edward III., he was raised to the bench of the Common Pleas ; but was removed into the King's Bench on May 2, 1339 ; and when Robert 1 Pari. Writs, ii. P. i. 205. : Hasted's Kent, viii. 5. 1327—1377. GEOFFREY LE SCROPE. 493 Parning was made treasurer in 14 Edward III., William Scott succeeded him as chief justice of that court on Ja- nuary 8, 1341. Dugdale, who transfers him to the Common Pleas as chiei justice there on April 27 in the following year, has no doubt mistaken the expression in the liberate Roll which he quotes as authority ; inasmuch as no new chief justice of the King's Bench was then appointed in William Scott's stead, and he is specially noticed as still holding that office in 20 Edward III., the year of his death1 ; besides which, no fines appear to have been levied before him after he left the Common Pleas in 13 Edward III.2 One Humphrey Hunney, probably a discontented suitor, having complained that the chief justice had awarded an assize contrary to law, was imprisoned, judged, fined, and ransomed for the offence.3 His descendants numbered among them many eminent in offices of trust, as well in the state as in the county : and Sir John Scott, chief baron of the Exchequer in the reign of Henry VIII., is said to have been of the same family, which was not extinct at the end of the last century. SCROPE, GEOFFREY LE. Ch. K. B. 1328, 1330, 1332, 1337. Just. C. P. 1334. See under the Reign of Edward IT. Sir Harris Nicolas, who has carefully investigated the history of this family 4, is of opinion that the first person who is recorded to have borne the name of Scrupe, or Scrope, was a native of Normandy. In the reign of Henry II. they had baronial possessions in Gloucestershire ; and, in that of Ed- 1 Abbrev. Rot. Orig. ii. 179. 2 Dugdale's Orig. 45. s State Trials, ii. 1024. 4 Controversy between Sir Richard Scrope and Sir Robert Grosvenor in the court of Chivalry, 1385 — 1390; by Sir Harris Nicolas. 494 GEOFFREY LE SCROPE. Edw. II] ward I., large estates in Yorkshire also ; comprehending, in the latter county, lands in East Boulton, Little Boulton, Fencotes, and Yarnewick. Geoffrey le Scrope was the second son of Sir William le Scrope, a knight distinguished both in tournaments and the field, by his wife Constance, who is presumed to have been the daughter and heiress of Thomas, the son of Gillo de Newsom upon Tyne. Their eldest son was Henry, the sub- ject of the next notice. The earliest reference we have to Geoffrey is in a deed dated July 27, 1310, 4 Edward II., by which William de Brakenbury granted him part of a certain rent out of the mill of Thirsk, in Yorkshire. In the ninth year of that reign, March, 1316, he certified as possessing property in various townships of that county. In the parliament held in January of the latter year he is mentioned as suing for the king ; and a grant was made to him of 207. for his expenses, in the liberate of which, accord- ing to Dugdale, he is called serjeant. In that character he was evidently summoned to the councils and parliaments of the seven subsequent years; and was also occasionally added to some judicial commissions for the trial of offenders. Dugdale has inadvertently inserted his name in the list of judges of the King's Bench in 9 Edward II., though he has taken no notice of such a fact in his sketch of him in the Baronage. There is no doubt, however, that this is an error, as he is described as one of the king's Serjeants in 14 and 16 Edward II., and as attornatus Regis in the former year1, in the wardrobe account of which, also, there is an entry of the payment of 137. 6s. 8d. " To Geoffry le Scrop, king's serjeant, staying near the person of the king by his order, when journeying through divers parts of England in the Abbrev. Placit. 351. 1327—1377. GEOFFREY LE SCROPE. 495 months of April, May, and June, in the present fourteenth year, of the king's gift, for his expenses in so staying." l In 14 and 16 Edward II. he was employed in negotiating with the Scots.2 It was not till September 27, 1323, 17 Edward II., that he was raised to the bench, when he was constituted a judge of the Common Pleas, and fines were levied before him till the following Hilary Term.a On March 21, 1324, he was promoted to the chief justiceship of the King's Bench 4 in the room of Hervey de Staunton ; and he presided in that court till the end of the reign. He was certainly removed from the office on the accession of Edward III., which not improbably arose from a suspicion of his being a partisan of the Despencers and Baldock, the chancellor. This seems likely, from the fact that his murder, as well as theirs, was one of the alleged objects of the con- spiracy of Roger Mortimer and others in the beginning of the year 1324.5 Whatever was the reason of his non-appoint- ment, he soon succeeded in clearing himself by the testimony of the peers, and was reinstated on February 28, 1328, 2 Ed- ward III. His services were so highly appreciated by his sovereign, that they were frequently employed in diplomatic engagements, which obliged him for a time to resign his place in the court. Thus, when Edward went to France in May, 1329, 3 Edward III., Robert de Malberthorpe and his brother, Henry le Scrope, were successively substituted for him till December 19, 1330, when he was re-appointed. Again, Richard de Wilughby held his place from March 28 till September 20, 1332, 6 Edward III. ; and, on a third oc- casion, Richard de Wilughby took his seat on September 10, 1333, in consequence of Geoffrey le Scrope being about 1 Archaeologia, xxvi. 345. 2 N. Foedera, ii. 434 — 524. 8 Dugdale's Orig. 45. 4 Rot. Claus. 17 Edw. II., m. 20. 5 Pari. Writs, ii. P. ii. 244. 496 GEOFFREY LE SCROPE. Edw. III. to go on a foreign embassy. But in February, 1334, the King's Bench was ordered by the parliament at York to stay in Warwickshire after Easter next; "for that Sir Geoffrey le Scroop, chief justice, is busie in the king's weighty affairs, whose place to supply Sir Richard Wi- lughby is appointed." 1 Dugdale quotes a patent of July 16, 1334, 8 Edward III., by which Scrope was constituted second justice of the Common Pleas, in the place of John de Stonore, with an exemption annexed from being called upon to go out of the kingdom against the king's enemies against his will.2 As no fines appear to have been levied before him, he probably did not long re- main in that court, and certainly was not one of its eight judges enumerated by Dugdale in 1 1 Edward III.3 It was perhaps about this time that he resumed his place as chief justice of the King's Bench, which he certainly held on April 4, 1338, 12 Edward III., when the nomination of two new judges was directed to him in that character.4 He is mentioned in the Book of Assizes in the same year ; and ultimately resigned his office before the following October, a payment being then made to him as " nuper capitalis justiciarius." 5 He was employed by both his sovereigns to treat with the Scots, and by Edward III. to assist in the negotiations re- lative to the marriages between his sister Eleanor and the French king's eldest son, and between John, the son of the Earl of Kent, and a daughter of one of the French nobles. After his retirement from the King's Bench he was engaged in many other diplomatic missions on behalf of the king, in one of which he is styled " Secret arius noster." 6 But it was not only as a lawyer and negotiator that he was distinguished ; he made himself equally prominent as a knight 1 Rot. Pari. ii. 377. 2 Cal. Rot. Pat. 118. 3 Dugdale's Orig. 39. * Rot. Claus. 12 Edw. III., p. 1. m. 11 3 Liber. 12 Edw. III., m. 4. 6 Nicolas's Scrope Controversy, ii. 102. 1327—1377. GEOFFREY LE SCHOPE. 497 and a soldier. At the tournaments held at Northampton, Guilford, and Newmarket, at the first of which lie was knighted, he gained great distinction. He accompanied the king in the invasion of Scotland, and displayed his banner and pennon at the affair of Stannow Park. He was one of the royal retinue several times in Flanders and France, with a train of two knights and forty men-at-arms ; and he served at the siege of Tournay in July 1340, 14 Edward III. The explanation of his presence on that occasion, given by Sir Ralph Ferrers, one of the witnesses examined on the Scrope and Grosvenor controversy in 1385-90, is clearly a miscon- ception. He says that " it was the custom in early times in royal expeditions made by the king, in places where he claimed prerogative, to take with him his chief justice of the King's Bench, to execute his office as others perform theirs, so that Sir Geoffrey Scrope, the king's chief justice, was there ; and the king ordered him to raise his banner at the said siege ; and he had beneath his banner, in his retinue, forty lances," one of whom was his eldest son, Sir Henry. Certainly the practice was not sufficiently common to war- rant the assertion ; and the fact was clearly not as stated ; for, so far from Geoffrey le Scrope being then chief justice, in that very month Robert Parning was substituted for Richard de Wilughby, who had succeeded Geoffrey in that office six years before. An anecdote is related of a ch