Family and Education

m. Elizabeth, da. and h. of John Lyttleton of Frankley, Worcs. esquire, by his w. Beatrice Freville, 1s.1

Offices Held

Bailiff, Worcester Mich. 1422-3, 1426-7 1431-2, 1442-3.2

Biography

Geoffrey was possibly the son of John Friar of Worcester. Early in the reign of Henry IV, he had interests in the local cloth industry, but subsequently his mercantile concerns became more diverse, and in March 1421 he secured a royal licence to ship 200 quarters of corn and a like quantity of beans from Bristol to Bordeaux. He evidently still found time to become involved in civic affairs, being four times chosen as a bailiff. By autumn 1420 he had been appointed by a fellow citizen, Robert Nelme*, as a feoffee of his Worcestershire lands. He attended the city elections to the Parliaments of 1422 and 1423, on both occasions finding mainprise for the appearance of the representatives, and in 1426 he was party to the electoral indentures for the shire. While holding office as bailiff in November 1431, Friar was a member of the jury giving evidence for the assessment of a royal aid.3 Friar’s marriage took him into the ranks of the local gentry, his wife being the heiress of John Lyttleton, the great-uncle of Thomas Lyttleton the jurist.

Ref Volumes: 1386-1421

Author: L. S. Woodger

Notes

• 1. T.R. Nash, Worcs. i. 492b; VCH Worcs. iii. 304.
• 2. Collectanea (Worcs. Hist. Soc. 1912), 32; Worcester Chs. (ibid. 1909), 20, 194.
• 3. E101/345/11; C76/104 m. 3; CP25(1)260/27/22; Collectanea, 31; C219/13/1, 2, 4; Feudal Aids, v. 325.