SHILBOTTLE, Robert, of Scarborough, Yorks.

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

m. by Aug. 1386, Margaret.1

Offices Held

Controller of customs, Scarborough 28 Oct. 1393-30 Nov. 1400.

Commr. of array, Scarborough May 1398.

Bailiff, Scarborough Mich. 1398-1400, 1405-6.2

Biography

Shilbottle is first mentioned in August 1386, when he and his wife, Margaret, took up the lease of a plot of waste-ground in Scarborough which was owned by the corporation. A local deed of 1390 refers to other land of his in the borough, although it was not until 1393 that he first undertook any administrative duties as a controller of customs in the area. He twice represented Scarborough in Parliament while holding that office, his three terms as bailiff being discharged at a later stage in his career. One of his duties was to choose a suitable priest for the chantry of St. James, which he did in April 1399, on behalf of his fellow burgesses. Shilbottle was evidently on close terms with William Marche, a Scarborough merchant who had been one of the leaders of the rebels in the town during the Peasants’ Revolt of 1381. He was not only made an executor of Marche’s will, drawn up in June 1402, but was also given the right to veto any building projects which Marche’s son and heir might have had in mind. Shilbottle acquired more land in Scarborough in February 1403, and lived on for at least another three years to serve a third term as bailiff. The Peter Shilbottle who died in September 1429 may well have been his son, since he, too, was a notable figure in the town.3

Ref Volumes: 1386-1421

Author: L. S. Woodger

Notes

Variants: Chilbotill, Schilbotyll, Shibbotill.

  • 1. White Vellum Bk. Scarborough ed. Jeayes, no. 27C.
  • 2. A. Rowntree, Hist. Scarborough, 99; C219/10/1, 3; E368/172 m. 121, 173 m. 185v; E159/176 m. 1, 178 m. 138, 179 m. 116v.
  • 3. White Vellum Bk. Scarborough, nos. 27C, 30A; Rowntree, 99; CPR, 1401-5, p. 202; Borthwick Inst. York, York registry wills, ii. ff. 80v, 563v.