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LANGEPORT, John, of Rye, Suss.
Available from Boydell and Brewer
Constituency
Dates
Family and Education
m. ?1s.
Offices Held
Mayor, Rye Aug. 1412-15.1
Biography
Langeport witnessed deeds at Rye between August 1397 and April 1416. In 1399 he was one of those who leased the lands in the neighbourhood belonging to St. Mary’s church, and in 1410 himself acted as one of the churchwardens. While mayor in 1414 he was assessed to the town scot at 13s.4d. Between 1404 and 1421 he owned land in east Sussex at Telham, Udimore, Knelle, Wivelridge and Hope, on which as a Portsman he claimed exemption from parliamentary fifteenths.2
In July 1404 Langeport had been among those accused of sharing in the spoils landed at Rye from a ship of Biscay captured near the Channel Islands two months earlier by a fleet from the Cinque Ports. His own ability as a seaman led to his acting subsequently as master of a vessel which Rye provided for Henry V’s service.3