Family and Education

m. Juliana, 1da.1

Offices Held

Keeper of the streets (vicorum), Wells Mich. 1378-9; churchwarden of St. Cuthbert’s 1381-2, 1383-4, 1386-7; keeper of the shambles 1382-3; rent collector 1387-9; constable of the peace 1393-4, 1396-7.2

Biography

Jay, who had become a freeman of Wells before 1378, provided pledges for the admission of eight other burgesses between then and 1397. In 1381, he, his wife and their daughter, Joan, were granted by the ‘president’ and chapter of Wells cathedral, a toft on the east side of an alley called ‘Mullelane’ at a yearly rent of 20d., payable for 14 years, after which period it was agreed the rent should be increased to 6s.8d. It was also stipulated that Jay was to rebuild the house there within two years. He was engaged in the manufacture of cloth, being assessed between 1395 and 1397 to pay alnage on 41 ‘dozens’ sold locally.3 Jay’s return to Parliament came right at the end of his career.

Ref Volumes: 1386-1421

Author: L. S. Woodger

Notes

• 1. HMC Wells, i. 291; ii. ch. 414.
• 2. Wells Town Clerk’s Office, convoc. bk. 1378-1450, ff. 2, 9, 15, 38, 65, 70, 76, 107, 122.
• 3. Wells City Chs. (Som. Rec. Soc. xlvi), 126-8, 130-1; HMC Wells, i. 291; ii. 17, ch. 414; E101/343/28, 30.