IVE, William (d.c.1387), of Sandwich, Kent.

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

May 1382

Family and Education

s. of William Ive of Sandwich. m. Alice, 3da.

Offices Held

Mayor, Sandwich Dec. 1376-8; jurat 1378-80, 1381-5.1

Biography

Ive’s father had been mayor of Sandwich in 1348-9 and collector of customs there in 1351-3. When himself mayor in 1377, he had to deal with a ship laden with wine which docked at Sandwich where its master failed to provide any documents to show whether it belonged to friend or foe. The government, seeing a possibility of confiscation,ordered Ive to arrest the ship and dispatch the merchants on board to explain their strange behaviour to the King’s Council. However, although their explanations proved satisfactory and the vessel was soon released, Ive himself was not so easily relieved of the pressure which the Exchequer stubbornly applied to any person suspected, however mistakenly, of concealing the King’s revenue, and he was ordered to account for the vessel. An inquest in 1386, though it confirmed the Council’s conclusions, was not accepted as sufficient to discharge him, and he had to obtain a special supersedeas from Chancery. This he acquired in December that year, shortly after the dissolution of his third Parliament. In the meantime, in September 1379, he and other prominent Portsmen had been called before the Council and imprisoned for a week. The reason for this action is not known.2

Ive owned lands in the east Kent hundreds of Downhamford, Wingham, Cornilo and Eastry, which were assessed for exemption from tax at almost £2. He died before March 1388, leaving three daughters (Constance, Margaret and Agnes) over whose wardship there was already a lively lawsuit in progress, begun by Sir John Falwesle against Thomas Ottley of London who was detaining the girls. The bulk of the MP’s property, situated in Deal, Woodnesborough and 11 other east Kentish villages, eventually passed to Agnes, who by 1425 had married John Palyng, a London goldsmith.3

Ref Volumes: 1386-1421

Author: A. P.M. Wright

Notes

  • 1. Kent AO, Sandwich deeds Sa/TB1/7, 9; St. John’s hosp. deeds Sa/QJt1/14, 16; W. Boys, Sandwich, i. 42-44, 46.
  • 2. E159/163, Mich. 10 Ric. II; CCR, 1377-81, pp. 325-6; 1385-9, p. 278.
  • 3. E179/225/4, 7, 11; CCR, 1385-9, pp. 476-7; 1422-9, p. 276.