CUTTE, John (by 1487-1546), of Wells, Som.

Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1509-1558, ed. S.T. Bindoff, 1982
Available from Boydell and Brewer

Constituency

Dates

1529

Family and Education

b. by 1487, ?s. of John Cutte of Wells.1

Offices Held

Keeper, altar of Jesus’s name, Wells 1508-9, of St. Anne 1515-16, 1519-21, rent collector 1509-10, 1522-3, subsidy collector 1512, member of the Twenty-Four 1518-d., constable 1519-22, auditor 1519-43, master 1525-6, 1530-1, 1536-7.2

Biography

John Cutte’s family had lived in Wells since 1400 when a namesake was admitted to the freedom by fine. There is no known connexion with the Essex family which produced Sir John Cutte, under treasurer of Henry VII and Henry VIII.3

Cutte became a freeman of Wells by patrimony on 18 Apr. 1508. During the next two years he held various civic offices, and some of these he was to retain after his promotion to the Twenty-Four in September 1518. For the subsidy of 1523 he was assessed in Cuthbert Street on goods worth £13. His occupation is not known, but he was perhaps a clothman: his fellow-Member, John Mawdley II, was the son of a wealthy clothier who was to make Cutte an overseer of his will in 1540. Both Cutte and Mawdley were listed by Cromwell among Members who are thought to have been opposed, either on religious or economic grounds, to the bill in restraint of appeals which was enacted during the fifth session of the Parliament early in 1533. Cutte was probably returned again to the Parliament of 1536 in compliance with the King’s request for the return of the previous Members, but unlike Mawdley he was not re-elected thereafter. In 1541 he was named among the 13 leading freemen instructed to give counsel to the master during audit and in other matters, including the making of ordinances.4

Cutte undertook no civic duties after November 1543, and his death was reported to the Twenty-Four on 13 July 1546. No will has been found, nor any reference in the city records to a son either during Cutte’s lifetime or in subsequent years. Perhaps the John Cutte who became mayor of Bristol and died there in 1575 was a son or kinsman, but his will throws no light on the matter.5

Ref Volumes: 1509-1558

Author: M. K. Dale

Notes

  • 1. Date of birth estimated from admission as freeman. Wells act bk. 2, pp. 98, 112, 114.
  • 2. Wells act bk. 2, pp. 257-453 passim.
  • 3. Wells act bk. 1, 2 passim; Wells City Chs. (Som. Rec. Soc. xlvi), 132 et passim; HMC Wells, ii. ch. 587.
  • 4. Wells act bk. 2, pp. 251-477 passim; PCC 17 Alenger; E179/169/156; LP Hen. VII, ix. 1077 citing SP1/99, p. 234.
  • 5. Wells act bk. 2, pp. 453, 477; PCC 24 Pyckering.