Family and Education

2nd s. of John Acclom I*, by his 1st w. Isabel; bro. of Robert*. m. Alice, s.p.1

Offices Held

Bailiff, Scarborough Mich. 1422-3, 1433-4, 1440-1.2

Commr. of sewers, Scarborough Nov. 1438; inquiry Jan. 1441 (goods of a Dutch merchant).

Biography

By the terms of his father’s will, which was made in May 1402, Acclom received a tenement in Barber Lane, Scarborough, and a modest bequest of rents and land lying just outside the town. He was also promised the reversion of two tenements, a croft and some meadow land on the death of his stepmother, Alice, who married John Smith of Whitby at some point over the next two years. John II must already have been of age, because he was named as an executor of his kinsman, Henry Acclom, at about this time. In, or shortly after, 1405, he and the latter’s widow, Margaret, began a suit in the court of Chancery against Sir Richard Redmayne*, the then escheator of Yorkshire, and his deputy for confiscating goods worth £240 from the deceased’s estate. The outcome of the dispute is not recorded, but John II was again involved in litigation seven years later, this time as a defendant in a case of alleged piracy. He and other Scarborough men stood accused of robbing a Danzig merchant of goods worth £196 at sea; and in July 1412 the town bailiffs were ordered to confiscate property to that value from them upon pain of their own forfeiture. Although he acted as a juror at a local inquisition ad quod damnum in September 1420, John II played surprisingly little part in the affairs of the community until 1421, when he was returned to the December Parliament. He again sat in the Lower House in 1426 (at Leicester), having by then served his first term as bailiff of Scarborough. Like his brother, Robert, before him, he took part in the defence of the border against the Scots; and in August 1427 he was accorded royal letters of protection for one year as a member of the earl of Northumberland’s retinue at Berwick-upon-Tweed, perhaps being involved in the supply of foodstuffs to the garrison.3

By 1429 John II had acquired more land in Scarborough; and although he did not evidently attend another Parliament, he continued to play an active part in municipal government, serving at least twice as a royal commissioner. In later life he became caught up in two lawsuits, both of which suggest that he had a close connexion with the London fishmonger, William Righthouse, who had died intestate in Scarborough. In February 1439 he attempted to recover certain farmland outside the town in which Righthouse had enjoyed an interest, and in the following November he persuaded one of the deceased’s associates to let him have access to a deed concerning two houses in Heydon, Yorkshire, held by Righthouse as a mortgagee at the time of his death. His refusal to return the evidence, which he retained along with a ‘dye of silver’, led to yet another action in the court of Chancery, but it is now impossible to determine whether or not Righthouse owed him money.4 John II lived in retirement for the best part of 17 years, during which little is known of his activities. He must have been near to death when his will was drawn up, on 7 July 1458, since it was proved a mere five days later. He wished to be buried at St. Mary’s church, Scarborough, to which he left a modest bequest for the saying of prayers, both for himself and his wife, Alice. The latter, who was named as an executrix, received an annuity of £4 in rents from his property in Scarborough. The couple do not appear to have left any children.5

Ref Volumes: 1386-1421

Author: C.R.

Notes

• 1. Borthwick Inst. York, York registry wills, ii. ff. 367-7v; iii. ff. 77-77v.
• 2. White Vellum Bk. Scarborough ed. Jeayes, 43; C219/13/1, 2; CPR, 1436-41, p. 505; 1441-6, p. 403.
• 3. York registry wills, iii. ff. 77-77v; C1/12/222; C143/447/19; CCR, 1409-13, pp. 283-4; Cal. Scots Docs. (supp.) v. no. 4750.
• 4. York registry wills, ii. f. 550; C1/9/245, 10/6.
• 5. York registry wills, ii. ff. 367-7v.