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CHAMBERLAIN, John, of Arundel, Suss.
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Family and Education
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Biography
It was probably this John Chamberlain who in 1378 acted as mainpernor for Sir Edmund Fitzherbert*, on the occasion of the latter’s election as knight of the shire for Sussex. He is mentioned in the court roll of the borough of Arundel for 1387-8, as being fined for minor transgressions. In the town he held premises by ‘Marie Gate’, two tofts next to the cemetery and the house in which he lived, all as a tenant of Richard, earl of Arundel. Following the latter’s execution in September 1397 Chamberlain served as a member of the local jury required to provide evidence to the Crown about his possessions, now declared forfeit, and it was doubtless because of his association with the late earl that he saw fit to take out a royal pardon a few months later.1
After Chamberlain’s death, and at his behest, the trustees of his property conveyed a tenement to the almshouse at Arundel, a foundation much favoured by Earl Richard; and in 1423-4 extensive renovations were carried out on the building.2