FORD, John III (d.1426), of Colchester, Essex.

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

Mar. 1416

Family and Education

Offices Held

Claviger, Colchester Sept. 1398-9; bailiff 1399-1400, 1402-3, 1405-6, 1410-11, 1412-13, 1414-15, 1416-17, 1418-19; alderman 1400-1, 1404-5, 1406-7, 1411-12, 1413-14, 1419-20; mace-bearer 1400-1, 1406-7, 1411-12, 1413-14, 1419-20.1

Biography

A tailor by trade, Ford first appears in the local records in 1395, when he asserted a claim to a rent of 10s. for a house a house he let in Dilbridge, Colchester. Over the years he had dealings regarding other properties in the town, but he also acquired interests elsewhere: for example, he shared with Thomas Godstone* (who had married his kinswoman, Christine) 230 acres of land in Ramsey, a few miles away. In 1406 he was holding a tenement in St Nicholas’s parish, Colchester, jointly with Thomas Francis*, only for them to mortgage it for 50 marks to John Seaburgh*. By 1411 he had acquired an inn called Le Falcon, and that same year he granted rents of 13s.4d. to the local priory of St. Botolph. Having, in 1419, obtained a tenement in East Street, he was subsequently involved in a dispute over the construction of a lead gutter between the eaves of two adjoining houses in the vicinity.2

Ford was active in local government for more than 20 years. When Henry IV claimed the full fee farm from the borough he was among those delegated in May 1400 to conduct proceedings at the Exchequer on the town’s behalf. By 1402 a co-patron with fellow burgesses of St. Helen’s chapel, he was one of those empowered by royal letters patent in 1407 to refound the guild of St. Helen. At the parliamentary elections of 1406 and 1413 (May) he was mainpernor for Henry Boss and Thomas Godstone, respectively.3

Ford died shortly before October 1426.4

Ref Volumes: 1386-1421

Author: K.N. Houghton

Notes

  • 1. Colchester Moot Hall, ct. rolls 30-41.
  • 2. Ibid. 29 m. 5, 31 m. 13, 35 m. 20, 38 m. 3, 41 mm. 1, 33v; Essex Feet of Fines, iii. 245; CPR, 1408-13, p. 355.
  • 3. Colchester Oath Bk. ed. Benham, 21; CPR, 1405-8, p. 392; HMC Verulam, 2; C219/10/3, 11/1.
  • 4. Ct. roll 47 m. 4v.