SALKELD, Hugh II (d.c.1440), of Rosgill, Westmld.

Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1386-1421, ed. J.S. Roskell, L. Clark, C. Rawcliffe., 1993
Available from Boydell and Brewer

Constituency

Dates

Family and Education

s. and h. of Hugh Salkeld I*. m. by 1389, Margaret, da. of John Tymparon of Airey and Ullock, Cumb. by Christine, da. of Sir John Derwentwater (d.1366) of Castlerigg, at least 2s. 2da.1

Offices Held

J.p. Westmld. 14 May 1398-July 1432, Cumb. 12 Feb. 1422-July 1424.

Commr. of gaol delivery, Appleby, Westmld. Jan. 1399;2 array, Westmld. Dec. 1399, Sept. 1403, May 1415, Apr. 1418, Mar. 1430; inquiry June 1406 (evasions and concealments), Cumb. June 1415 (mining works at Carlisle), Cumb., Westmld. Mar. 1417 (treasons and felonies), Westmld. Aug. 1419 (same), Sept. 1429 (breach by (Sir) Christopher Moresby* of the statute regarding parliamentary elections), Dec. 1429 (wastes on the manor of Kirkby), Apr. 1431 (persons liable to pay taxes) Cumb., Northumb., Westmld. Feb. 1433 (concealments); to raise royal loans, Westmld. June 1406.

Escheator, Cumb. and Westmld. 14 Dec. 1415-8 Dec. 1416.

Biography

Hugh Salkeld II came of age in, or before, 1389, when he and his wife, Margaret Tymparon, secured a firm legal title to estates in Newbiggin, Stainton and Greystoke in Cumberland. Five years later, their feudal overlord, Ralph, Lord Greystoke, likewise confirmed their title to this land, which had probably once belonged to Margaret’s maternal grandfather, Sir John Derwentwater. Furthermore, in 1392, Salkeld gained possession of various properties in Appleby and half the manor of Helton, so even during his father’s lifetime he was a landowner of some consequence. He and Hugh Salkeld I were closely involved in each other’s affairs; and, indeed, they shared various leasehold properties in Knipe and Bampton at this time. Hugh II was a party to, and a beneficiary of, a somewhat dubious arrangement whereby Thomas Curwen of Shap allowed the Salkelds to have the use of all his estates in return for his upkeep and support at their manor-house of Rosgill. He seems also to have had a hand in the negotiation of his sister’s marriage, in 1392, to John Cliburn, for he and his father together witnessed all the necessary deeds. Not surprisingly, then, Hugh became drawn into his father’s bitter quarrel with the abbot of Shap, which led, in December 1395, to the setting up of a special royal commission for their arrest, along with all the other local gentry who had joined in armed raids on the abbey. Whereas Hugh I was removed from the three most important royal offices which he then held in Westmorland, his son escaped fairly lightly. No attempt was made to confiscate his property on the death of his father, and in March 1398 he succeeded to the lands in Rosgill which had belonged to the Salkelds for generations. His widowed mother, Christine, retained certain dower properties there, as well as her own inheritance in the manor, but she does not appear to have outlived her husband for more than a few years. The award of a royal pardon to Hugh a few months later followed close on his appointment to the Westmorland bench, which marked the beginning of a long career in local government.3

So far as we know, Salkeld served in only one Parliament, in 1401, but he maintained an active interest in administrative affairs for almost 35 years. Less is known about his personal life, which, in marked contrast to his father’s, from now onwards proved fairly uneventful. It seems that his daughter, Margaret, was preparing in 1403 to make a second marriage, and she used him as a trustee of her dower lands in Bampton. Her intended husband, William Lawesite, received a modest rent of 26s.8d. from Salkeld for life, secured on the revenues of Thomas Curwen’s estates, which the family still retained. Salkeld’s standing in the local community was considerably increased in 1412 by a reconciliation between him and his former adversary, the abbot of Shap, who must also have seen the advantages of peaceful co-existence: in September of that year, he and (Sir) Robert Lowther* secured the lease of pasture land in Rosgill from the abbey, and thus ended their old quarrel. Salkeld had always enjoyed friendly relations with John, Lord Clifford, who obtained permission from Henry V, in 1415, to appoint him as one of his principal feoffees in Yorkshire and Westmorland. Ever on the alert for opportunities to extend his own estates, Salkeld acquired the tenancy in 1417 of land in Askham, paying ten marks a year for the property. He offered a similar rent for the manor of Pardshaw and other holdings in Dean, Cumberland, but it is possible that the owner, Alice Pardshaw, was his own daughter, upon whom he wished to settle a permanent annuity.4 Although he never again sat in the Lower House, Salkeld witnessed the returns for Westmorland to the Parliaments of 1411, 1414 (Nov.), 1415, 1419, 1421 (May) and 1421 (Dec.). He was joined on at least two of these occasions by his son, Hugh, with whom he was often associated from about 1414 onwards. Salkeld had a particular interest in the elections to the second 1421 Parliament, as a petition was then presented by (Sir) John Lancaster I* against various members of the Thornburgh family, accusing them of attempted murder. Salkeld had himself been forcibly prevented, as a j.p., from indicting the gang at the Appleby sessions in the previous September, and he thus had strong personal reasons for helping Lancaster to gain a seat.5

Still anxious to retain his grazing rights in Shap, Salkeld reached an agreement in 1429 with (Sir) Christopher Curwen*, one of his neighbours, who advanced a similar claim to pasture land there. He and Curwen came to terms amicably enough, having but recently appeared together as defendants in a collusive suit over land in Lancashire of which they were joint trustees. Salkeld also acted as a feoffee-to-uses for (Sir) Christopher Moresby, who paid a fine of 20 marks to the Crown in 1431 for making an illegal conveyance of his manor of Culgaith to him and others. It is not always easy to distinguish Salkeld from his son and namesake, especially after his virtual retirement from public life in about 1433. Hugh Salkeld the younger already enjoyed an independent income of £5 a year from land settled upon him by his father, and his younger brother, Thomas, now received a life interest in other estates at Bampton. According to the tax assessments made for Westmorland in 1436, their father could still rely upon a landed income of £40 a year, which placed him among the wealthier members of the county gentry. By now an old man, he survived beyond October 1439, when he was accused by one Thomas Baly of Brougham in Westmorland of conspiring to rob him and then forcing him to accept a fraudulent arbitration award.6

Ref Volumes: 1386-1421

Author: C.R.

Notes

  • 1. Cumb. and Westmld. Antiq. and Arch. Soc. n.s. vii. 243; xiv. 25-26, 44-46, 48, 51-53, ped. facing p. 62.
  • 2. C66/351 m. 16v.
  • 3. Cumb. and Westmld. Antiq. and Arch. Soc. n.s. vii. 243 (bis ); xiv. 25-26, 40-47, ped. facing p. 62; xix. 127; xxviii. 250-2; CPR, 1391-6, pp. 654, 731-2; CCR, 1392-6, p. 439; C67/30 m. 7; CP25(1)249/8/8.
  • 4. CPR, 1413-16, p. 320; CCR, 1422-9, p. 5; Cumb. and Westmld. Antiq. and Arch. Soc. n.s. xiv. 25, 48-52; xxii. 182.
  • 5. C219/10/6, 11/5, 6, 12/3, 5, 6; RP, iv. 163.
  • 6. Cumb. and Westmld. Antiq. and Arch. Soc. v. 198; n.s. viii. 330; xiv. 52-53, ped. facing p. 62; DKR, xl. 533; CPR, 1429-36, p. 116; C1/10/291.