WITHIFORD, John, of Shrewsbury, Salop.

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

Offices Held

Assessor, Shrewsbury Sept. 1409-10, 1413-14; coroner 1412-13.1

Biography

Members of Withiford’s family resided in or near Shrewsbury from the early 14th century onwards. William, son of Roger Withiford the sometime bailiff, represented the borough in the Parliament of 1377 (Jan.), and in 1393 his widow, Petronilla, was in possession of at least one messuage, ten shops and 16 acres of land in Shrewsbury and Castle Foregate.2 John may have been their son. In September 1390 he witnessed a conveyance at Hardwicke just outside Shrewsbury, and in June 1408 he appeared as a juror at the sessions of the peace held in the town. But, apart from these activities, his two annual terms as an assessor and one as a coroner for the borough, and his jury service in June 1413 at an inquest post mortem held there, Withiford’s involvement in local affairs was of little consequence.3 Moreover, his parliamentary service in 1411 met with the insignificant reimbursement of just 6s.7d.4 John’s brother, Hugh, with whom, in 1414, he was party to a recognizance under the Shrewsbury statute merchant, made much more of a mark, for, having set up in business in Bristol as a merchant, he was to be elected mayor there in 1438.5

Ref Volumes: 1386-1421

Author: L. S. Woodger

Notes

  • 1. Shrewsbury Guildhall, box II, 67, ff. 12d, 13; JUST 2/145 mm. 9, 13.
  • 2. C143/419/23; CPR, 1391-6, p. 155; Shrewsbury Guildhall, box II, 67, f. 40.
  • 3. Salop Peace Roll ed. Kimball, 83; Trans. Salop Arch. Soc. (ser. 3), viii. 371; Shrewsbury Lib. deed 5428.
  • 4. Shrewsbury Guildhall, box VIII, 356.
  • 5. The Bristol Withifords were still in possession of property in Shrewsbury in 1456. Trans. Salop Arch. Soc. liv. 93; C1/16/330; PCC 16 Rous; Gt. Red Bk. (Bristol Rec. Soc. viii), 206-7.