A Duchy Officer and a Gentleman: The Career and Connections of Avery Cornburgh (d.1487)

1 A Duchy officer and a gentleman The career and connections of Avery Cornburgh (d.1487) R. E. Stansfield The influential historian of late-medieval England, K. B. McFarlane, considered that the survival of some fifteenth-century gentry families’ correspondence, such as that of the Pastons and Stonors, had ‘suggested the consoling but possibly mistaken notion that while great lords were busy exterminating one another, lesser men … stood to some extent outside and below the conflict so that … they were able to survive’.1 Indeed, lesser men – gentlemen – were not aloof from civil conflict, but were often key participants. A case-study of the career and connections of Avery Cornburgh (d.1487) of Bere Ferrers (Devon) and Dovers (Essex), a Lancastrian, Yorkist, and Tudor household servant, illustrates this point, and also provides an insight into local and national politics in later fifteenth-century England. Cornburgh’s Duchy of Cornwall and royal service culminated with his appointments to the important national office of under-treasurer of England and to the notable household office of keeper of the king’s wardrobe. Cornburgh was a man of humble origins who rose to national prominence: he was one of the appreciable numbers of crown servants utilised in local government during the fifteenth century – serving in Cornwall and Essex as JP, MP, sheriff, and commissioner.2 The employment of non-noble men in government and as royal servants was not a new phenomenon: after 1478, Edward IV’s ‘most faithful servants’ were ‘distributed all over the kingdom as keepers of castles, manors, forests and parks’, which was a central facet of his restoration of royal authority.3 10 Cornish Studies: Nineteen By entrusting royal estates to non-noble servants – who were reliant upon the monarch’s patronage for their position – the sovereign was able to exert his personal control in the regions.4 Cornburgh was active in both central and local government yet was not constrained by partiality during the Wars of the Roses. His abilities were recognised by successive governments, and he was skilful enough to serve all monarchs during the later fifteenth century. Cornburgh had wide-ranging interests, only some of which can be considered here: this article’s principal concerns are with his career in the Duchy of Cornwall, local government, and royal service, and the context of his associations with south-western magnates and gentry. It does not purport to be a comprehensive study of Cornburgh’s life – his south-eastern connections and mercantile activities will not be explored in detail; instead, its more modest purpose is to show how he progressed by his abilities and his connections. In the absence of extant family archives, his career and connections have to be reconstructed from eclectic sources and traced from his associations with others.5 In order to understand Cornburgh’s rise to prominence, it is necessary to begin by considering what is known about his background and origins before examining his career as a Duchy of Cornwall administrator. Background and beginnings Avery Cornburgh emerges from a silence and – leaving no surviving issue – on his death, his name fades from view. Little is known about his parentage. The year of his birth is unknown, but his sister, Agnes, was aged around sixty in 1487.6 Cornburgh’s first step onto history’s stage appears to have been taken in 1454 when, on 6 November, he was elected escheator of Kent and Middlesex. He was replaced, however, seven days later.7 A statute of 1368 stipulated that escheators should receive an income of at least £20 p.a. from land.8 At this point in his life, Cornburgh might not have possessed sufficient property to qualify for office; yet his selection suggests that he was of some standing, and his family may have originated from those shires. In January 1459, Cornburgh was a London resident, when he was pardoned for not appearing before the Justices of Common Pleas concerning a debt; in November, he was recorded as residing in St Helen’s parish.9 Traces of his family connections appear elusive, but from his inquisition post mortem we know that he had at least two sisters, Agnes Chambre and Alice Crafford.10 It is not possible to identify Agnes’s husband, but merely to suggest likely candidates, such as the London mercer William Chambre or the page of the chamber Roland Chambre.11 If Avery’s in-laws numbered either of these or their close relatives then this connection might have proved beneficial A Duchy officer and a gentleman 11 in aiding his advancement. Alice married John Crafford (c.1450–1507) of Sandwich (Kent) who may have been related to the Craffords (or Crayfords) of Great Mongeham (Kent).12 Another sister, Elizabeth Hanys, was the first person to be interred in Cornburgh’s newly-completed tomb in 1480, and he had purchased his Essex manor of Gooshayes from John Hamme in 1465.13 Evidently, Cornburgh’s family was of reasonable local standing in order for his sisters to achieve alliances with lesser gentry families. Cornburgh’s inquisition post mortem details his landholdings: he held the manors of Dovers (or Newhall) and Gooshayes in Romford (Essex).14 In addition, he had bought the manor of Dagenham (Essex) from Henry, Earl of Northumberland in 1482, but had sold it some time before his death.15 Avery was therefore a gentleman of some significance in Essex as a result of these landed interests, but these were all purchased from the 1460s onwards. His other lands might not have been held in-chief, so it remains possible that he inherited some wealth and further, unidentified, properties in London and south-western England. The evidence that can be assembled of Cornburgh’s family and estates does not shine much light on his background: his name is neither recorded amongst those educated at Oxford or Cambridge nor amongst those trained at the Inns of Court. It is conceivable that Cornburgh was a self-made man, making his fortune from trading activities. Given his later career, he would have required financial and commercial acumen but there is no indication of where he would have learned these skills, though the London mercantile quarter seems to have been the most likely environment. Even though Cornburgh does not seem to have held extensive west-country estates, this does not diminish his importance: his Duchy and shire offices distinguished him as a figure of relevance in Cornwall and south-west England from the 1450s onwards. Royal servant and Duchy officer In 1454, Cornburgh may have already been a royal-household retainer; if so, he was a man of considerable means to secure such a prestigious position. In March 1455, Avery was described as one of the king’s yeomen of the crown when he was appointed to the Duchy of Cornwall office of controller of the coinage of the tin in Devon and Cornwall.16 The Duchy enjoyed rights and regalities in Cornwall (and Devon) which marked it as more than a mere landed estate, the more consequential of these was the entitlement to claim the profits of the eight tin-mining Stannary districts in Cornwall and Devon. The Duchy received dues from tin-mining and from the assaying of the tin – when it was weighed, the duty was paid, and it was ‘coined’ 12 Cornish Studies: Nineteen with the duke’s emblem.17 It was the controller of the coinage who was responsible for supervising this process of weighing, valuing, and stamping tin, and for safeguarding standards: it was a role of some importance since he was also the deputy of the Lords Warden of the Stannaries and kept the counter-roll or duplicate accounts thereby ensuring that the Lord Warden of each shire followed proper process. The Lord Wardens were also responsible for supervising the system of Stannary courts (which administered the laws promulgated by the Cornish or Devonian Stannary convocations) so, whilst bailiffs and stewards were employed at a local level, the position of controller of the coinage may have been of added importance given that the posts of Lord Warden could often be sinecures, being awarded to major nobles from the fifteenth century onwards.18 The privileges and administration of the Stannaries were two elements of the Duchy of Cornwall’s distinctive constitutional and political status in the English polity (the other privileges, such as those relating to escheats and to ports and customs, are discussed later in relation to their respective officers). As neither a miniature government nor a mere landed estate – the Duchy was, as Bernard Deacon has described, ‘quasi-palatine’ in nature.19 Whilst the Duchy enjoyed some of the prerogative rights associated with a palatinate, it was not the supreme authority in all matters relating to Cornwall. For example, royal justice circuits extended to Cornwall (in contrast to the county palatines of Cheshire, Lancashire, and Durham); the county enjoyed representation in parliament by returning knights of the shire and burgesses for each of its boroughs (unlike Cheshire, Lancashire, and Durham in this period); and although the Duchy retained the right to appoint the sheriff, this official presented his accounts at Westminster, and Cornish JPs were appointed by the king (unlike Durham).20 This hybridity was as much a result of evolution as it was of creation: Edward III’s establishment of the Duchy in 1337 owed much to the earlier post-Conquest earldoms (in which we might also find a residual regnal solidarity that can be traced to the tenth-century kings of Cornwall). As the successor to the kingdom and the earldoms, the Duchy therefore provided a central focus for Cornish identity, albeit within the context of loyalty to the Crown.21 Tin-mining made an important contribution to the economy of Cornwall and Devon: it employed a significant portion of the population as well as providing a lucrative source of income for the crown. Cornburgh’s position as the Duchy’s controller of tin coinage may have proved a fruitful one since knowledge of the tin trade cannot have hindered his mercantile interests, especially during a boom in tin-production in the Dartmoor Stannaries between 1450 and 1470.22 If Cornburgh resided mostly in London, then it is unclear how he administered the Stannaries personally. He would have relied on deputies in order to manage its affairs to some degree, but the extant A Duchy officer and a gentleman 13 archives record only official appointments – not details of further delegation. In July 1454, Richard, Duke of York was granted custody of the king’s Cornwall and Devon mines and this was confirmed, in 1456, when he was granted custody of all mines of gold, silver, and other metals.23 Whether this appointment meant that York was effectively Lord Warden in both Cornwall and Devon remains unclear; however, it does seem highly likely that some degree of cooperation was necessary between the duke and Cornburgh. In January 1460, York was replaced as keeper of mines by Henry VI’s esquire of the body, John Butler.24 A few months earlier, Butler – on the mainprize of Cornburgh and Thomas Oxeney – was given the farm of all metalliferous mines in Cornwall and Devon, and all three men were awarded the considerable privilege to prospect for metals.25 Butler was the brother of Queen Margaret’s favourite, James, Earl of Ormond and Wiltshire (1420–61), who had been appointed as one of the Prince of Wales’s councillors in 1457; thus, it seems likely that Wiltshire had some influence in administering the prince’s estates, including the Duchy.26 During the later 1450s, the earl was allowed to develop a regional sphere of influence throughout the western shires, meaning that Cornburgh may therefore have been indirectly connected with a key Lancastrian courtier and leading south-western magnate during the later 1450s.27 In November 1460, the Act of Accord ensured that the Duchy of Cornwall was secured by the Duke of York, as heir apparent.28 It is unclear whether he took possession of the estates immediately or whether he made significant alterations in personnel, but a number of appointments was made which might indicate broader changes. On 19 November, Cornburgh was appointed as the Duchy’s feodary in Cornwall and Devon. At the same time, he became constable of Launceston Castle (and keeper of the small deer park there) and also bailiff of the waters of Plymouth (or ‘Sutton Water’), and the other ports in Devon. He was to hold all these offices for life (or appoint a deputy to fulfil his duties).29 His office of water-bailiff was an important one since Plymouth was the most profitable of the Duchy’s ports. With a significant number of vessels harbouring there being involved in the wine trade, it is likely that Cornburgh may have aided the havener in collecting the prisage of wines as well as supervising the maritime courts.30 Whilst the office of water-bailiff was significant, Cornburgh’s office of feodary was of even greater import within Duchy administration and local society in general. Since the Duchy possessed the rights to feudal incidents over its estates, such as escheat and wardship, the feodary or escheator (not to be confused with the county-government officer, the escheator of Cornwall/Devon) was appointed with responsibility to protect these privileges and investigate the forfeited or escheated lands accruing to the Duchy.31 These appointments were made during the period when the Yorkist party directed government 14 Cornish Studies: Nineteen and, earlier the same month, Cornburgh had been granted a salary for his role as a yeoman of the crown.32 After the Yorkist victory in 1461, Cornburgh was re-appointed as a yeoman of the crown in Edward IV’s household.33 He was not reappointed as controller of the coinage of the tin but, in April 1461 (and again in December), he was confirmed as feodary, as constable of Launceston Castle, and as water-bailiff of Plymouth and other ports.34 In addition, in December 1461, Cornburgh and Thomas Grayson were awarded joint custody of the Duchy’s Carrybullock Park and other estates.35 The keeping of this park (which was some three leagues in circumference and had contained around 150 deer in 1337) also included the supervision of the woods of Heregard, Northwood, and Grendescombe, and warrens relating to the manors of Carrybullock, Calstoke, and Rillington. In a contract concluded in 1462, Cornburgh agreed to maintain the enclosures of the park at his own expense and was granted the right to underwood for this purpose.36 These appointments were by no means the sum of Cornburgh’s access to lucrative patronage. By January 1463, when he was granted three Cornish manors, he had been elevated to become the king’s esquire and usher of the chamber.37 These manors were not the entirety of Avery’s south-western landholding, since he also possessed Bere Ferrers (Devon). In January 1466, Cornburgh was appointed constable of Restormel Castle (and keeper of the deer park there) as well as keeper of the ‘fishery of the king’s water of Fowey’.38 The Duchy’s custody of the river’s waters (with its jurisdiction stretching from Polruan to Respryn in Lanhydrock) was attached to the Honour of Restormel, and Cornburgh’s supervision of these waters appears to have extended only to that of the – not especially profitable – estuarine fishery.39 Furthermore, Cornburgh managed to secure exemptions for all these awards from the Acts of Resumption of 1461, 1465, and 1467.40 Such was Cornburgh’s successful career in Cornwall and at the royal court during the 1450s and 1460s, but how might his personal relationships, associations, and connections have aided his advancement? Family and south-western associations In February 1461, Cornburgh may have been uncertain about the outcome of the dynastic rivalry when he made a gift of all his goods to Beatrice (the widow of his associate Thomas Oxeney), her son Thomas, and the justice of common pleas, Sir Walter Moyle (d.1471) of Stevenston (Devon) and Eastwell (Kent).41 Cornburgh’s later marriage to Beatrice Oxeney (c.1417–1501) – the daughter of the wealthy London wool merchant and grocer William Lynne (d.1421) – opened up opportunities for establishing connections which might A Duchy officer and a gentleman 15 prove providential in later years.42 Beatrice’s sister, Margaret, was the second wife of the literary enthusiast John Shirley (d.1456).43 Shirley inscribed at least one book for Avery, which shows his familiarity with the family several years prior to his marriage.44 It may have been through Shirley that Cornburgh became acquainted – if he were not already – with customs officials in London and elsewhere. Beatrice’s sister, Alice, married John Knyvett whose son, William Knyvett (d.1515) of Buckenham and Wymondham (Norfolk), later became an important figure in East Anglian society.45 Initially, William may have been able to profit from Avery’s knowledge and connections; once having established his own position in society, later (as we shall see) he may have been able to reciprocate by advancing his uncle’s interests. Cornburgh enjoyed a series of key positions within the Duchy of Cornwall, and he may have been able to exert some influence on behalf of his own associates. His stepson – Beatrice’s son from her first marriage – Thomas Oxeney had not before been the recipient of Duchy patronage; but, in March 1462, he became controller of the ‘Coket’ (the custom levied on wools, woolfells, and hides) and of the wreck of the sea in Cornwall and Devon and, one year later, he was appointed as controller of the havenary (being still employed as such in 1476–77).46 The controller was the deputy havener, and acted as a check on any possible malpractice by ensuring that the havener had followed appropriate procedures. The havener was the keeper of ports in Cornwall, and Plymouth (Devon) being responsible for collecting and administering the revenues from these ports. The regalian rights regarding the profits and administration of ports, customs, and other perquisites – like the Duchy’s rights concerning the Stannaries and their organisation – had been attached to earlier earldoms and pre-dated the Duchy’s foundation. These rights included the entitlement to claim rents on ports, customs (such as tonnage and poundage, ‘Cocket’, ‘Maltot’ [levied on alien merchants], as well as the prisage of wines), fines on merchants, the profits of the maritime courts, and the prerogative rights of wreck of the sea and royal fish.47 Oxeney’s appointment to this important post may indicate both how Cornburgh was able to aid his associates and also how his judgement was valued by his colleagues. In addition to these familial relationships, it is only to be expected that Cornburgh – Duchy officer, royal servant, merchant, and member of the south-western political elites – was associated with significant regional figures and involved in local government. The combination of Cornburgh’s royal-household role with his south-western interests meant that he became a crucial connection between region and crown. It was through loyal servants, such as Cornburgh, that the monarch might learn ‘the disposition of the countries’.48 The associations that Cornburgh established in the region therefore highlight his rising prominence, and his involvement in land 16 Cornish Studies: Nineteen transactions reveal the circles in which he mixed. Whilst such citations are not definitive evidence of retainer, they are indicative of some level of familiarity.49 Arguably, association itself was significant, and Cornburgh’s connection with the Hungerford family between at least 1463 and 1470 (as evinced in his citation as a witness, grantor, or recipient in land transactions) is particularly interesting, especially since he was a royal retainer during this period.50 The Hungerfords had, for many years, been influential in Somerset and Wiltshire (and also to some extent in Dorset and Cornwall). Sir Walter Hungerford (1378–1449) had been a royal councillor, lord steward of the household, and treasurer of England and was ennobled in 1426.51 Walter and his son, Robert (d.1459) were notable figures in Henry VI’s regime, and were associated with another royal councillor, John, Lord Stourton (d.1462), who was treasurer of the household from 1446. It appears that members of these peers’ affinities overlapped to a certain extent, which is clearly indicative of cooperation.52 The attainder and death of Walter’s grandson, the Lancastrian Robert, Lord Hungerford and Moleyns (d.1462) may have meant that his son, Thomas (d.1469), assumed the leadership of the affinity during the 1460s. Spurning his father’s political leanings, Thomas appears to have fought against the Lancastrians (and therefore against his father) in northern England during the early 1460s.53 The Hungerfords and their affinity (along with the Stourtons and their clients), even though they were originally Lancastrian in disposition, therefore seem to have become ambivalent in their political allegiances during Edward IV’s reign. Families still had to cooperate with the Yorkist government, despite their Lancastrian loyalties: it was in their best interests to do so – and the Hungerfords were no exception. Might Cornburgh’s connection with the Hungerfords have been formed earlier than 1463? With both Lords Hungerford and Stourton as former royal household officers, could Stourton or Hungerford patronage account for Cornburgh’s career at court? Though the Hungerfords and their circle may have been associated with the Beauforts during the previous reign, the family – perhaps aided by Thomas’s Yorkist leanings – seem to have become associated with Edward’s favourite, Humphrey, Lord Stafford of Southwick (d.1469) during the 1460s.54 Through these Stourton-Hungerford associations, it is possible that Cornburgh may have been connected – albeit indirectly – with this immensely important courtier. Royal favour conferred status and authority on its recipients therefore it constituted real political power: the award of estates could expand a magnate’s sphere of lordship and provide him with local legitimacy. The foundation of Lord Stafford’s authority in the West Country rested on his region-wide landholdings, on his associations with prominent figures in each western shire (such as his relatives, the Stourtons), A Duchy officer and a gentleman 17 and on his personal relationship with the king. The combination of each of these factors meant that Lord Stafford became, in effect, a core of royal authority in south-west England.55 Just as the award of lands supplemented a magnate’s local standing, so the award of local or regional office-holding gave an individual greater influence by granting him jurisdiction over others’ men in the king’s name.56 Through its direct relationship with the Crown, the Duchy of Cornwall radiated royal authority throughout most of south-west England – it was a potent political core. Lord Stafford became steward of the Duchy’s estates and Stannaries in Cornwall from 1461 and steward of the Duchy’s lands and stannaries in Devon from 1465, meaning that, in effect, he became lord steward of the Duchy.57 Through this role as lord steward – combined with his landholdings and associations in Cornwall and south-west England – Lord Stafford became the king’s principal representative in Cornwall, Devon, and the wider south-west during the 1460s. Lord Stafford’s quasi-regal role as Edward IV’s regional governor meant that he was a figure of immense influence, so it is potentially of some significance that Cornburgh may have been associated with him.58 If Cornburgh and Lord Stafford were not acquainted through their involvement in Duchy administration, they may have also become familiar via their Stourton-Hungerford associations. Cornburgh’s likely links with such figures as the Hungerfords and Lord Stafford are noteworthy in showing the extent of his participation in west-country affairs. His local government career blossomed in the 1460s and he was returned to parliament numerous times – notably in 1467–68 as Cornwall’s knight of the shire. He was returned as sheriff of Cornwall in 1464–65 and 1468–69, and was JP for the county from July 1463.59 However, were Cornburgh’s appointments on account of his abilities, his status as a royal retainer, or because of his connection with the Stourton-Hungerford nexus and therefore with Humphrey, Lord Stafford? During the troubled period of rebellion and Readeption from 1469 to 1471, Cornburgh was one of those on whom Edward IV was relying: in February 1470, he was commissioned to arrest rioters in the south-west.60 Avery’s support for the Yorkist cause was in contrast to the ambivalence of the Hungerford nexus, which, as seen, may have harboured Lancastrian sympathies below a veneer of Yorkist acquiescence. Even the loyalty of the previously Yorkist Thomas Hungerford could not be guaranteed: he was implicated in Lancastrian plots and executed for treason in 1469. At the time, many attributed Hungerford’s death to the designs of the king’s brother, Richard, Duke of Gloucester, who had received a portion of the family’s estates. Simultaneously, the death of Hungerford’s fellow conspirator, Henry Courtenay (the heir to the earldom of Devon), was ascribed to Lord Stafford’s desire for the Courtenay estates. Partly influenced by these rumours, Lord 18 Cornish Studies: Nineteen Stafford – only recently elevated to become earl of Devon – was executed ‘by the commons’ at Bridgwater during the 1469 rebellions.61 During this time, the Hungerfords may have gradually moved towards the patronage of the king’s brother, George, Duke of Clarence (1449–78), and their clientele appears to have been supportive of the Readeption.62 Thus, through his Hungerford associations, Cornburgh may have been indirectly connected with the duke and Richard, Earl of Warwick (d.1471).63 Clarence had also been one of the feoffees of John Knyvett – the husband of Beatrice Cornburgh’s sister – concerning Buckenham (Norfolk) in 1464.64 In itself this need not indicate the existence of a relationship between the duke and Knyvett; but it is also interesting that John’s son, William, later joined Clarence and Warwick’s uprising in 1469–70 and supported Warwick’s government.65 Evidently, Avery’s associations incorporated powerful men from a broad spectrum of political opinion, meaning that he was supremely well-placed during these uncertain years: he had the benefits of being a key Edwardian courtier, yet he also harboured links with Lancastrian loyalists (such as the Hungerfords), and also – through the Knyvetts – enjoyed a potentially valuable connection with Clarence and the ‘kingmaker’. The Hungerfords were not the only important Lancastrian family in the west with whom Cornburgh was associated. Another family who were Lancastrian sympathisers – yet appear to have been ambivalent – were the Arundells of Lanherne (Cornwall). As Cornwall was dominated by the Duchy and had no resident peers, the Arundells were the most affluent family and had been the most influential figures in Cornish society since John Arundell (c.1466–1435) became steward of the Duchy of Cornwall’s estates and Stannaries in Cornwall in 1400.66 By the late fifteenth century, the family and its clientele was led by John Arundell (d.1473), the stepfather of Edward IV’s courtier, Lord Stafford. Arundell served as sheriff of Devon in 1464–65 and sheriff of Cornwall in 1469–70.67 However, the Arundell affinity was also, to some extent, ambivalent in its political sympathies, and, despite his stepson’s Yorkism and his own local-government career during recent years, Arundell supported the Readeption government and fought on the Lancastrian side at Tewkesbury. It was for his presence at Tewkesbury that John Arundell’s son, Thomas (d.1485), was heavily fined, and it may have been because of this that he undertook a transaction concerning the Surrey manor of Ravenbury. Alternatively, this deed may have been occasioned by the need to make provision concerning his mother’s estates on Thomas’s marriage to Katherine, the sister of John, Lord Dinham. In November 1471, Avery enfeoffed this manor to the Cornishmen Thomas Tregarthyn (d.1475) of Tregarthyn,68 William Menwyneck (d.1478) of Menwyneck,69 and Richard Reynold.70 Cornburgh’s feoffees – former members of parliament and a former escheator A Duchy officer and a gentleman 19 of Cornwall – were major figures in shire administration and were all Arundell associates. Likewise, two witnesses to this transaction – John Trenowith (d.1497) of Bodmin and Fentengollan,71 and John Carminow of Carminow72 – were also Arundell affiliates and influential figures in the shire. The other witnesses included Sir Walter Moyle (mentioned above), John Glyn (d.1472) of Morval,73 and the former royal servant, John Trevelyan.74 The last of these witnesses, John Trevelyan of Nettlecombe (Somerset) and Restormel (Cornwall), had been a prominent courtier under Henry VI, and had been named by Cade’s rebels in 1450 as one of the malign councillors who should be removed from the royal presence.75 He had been one of the king’s esquires of the body – as well as MP, JP, under-sheriff of Cornwall, bailiff-itinerant of the Duchy in Cornwall and Devon, steward of the Duchy estates and Stannaries in Cornwall, and custodian of Restormel and Trematon castles; but Trevelyan had lost these offices following the Yorkist victory.76 It appears most likely that Trevelyan and Cornburgh would have become acquainted through Duchy administration and household service. Had their relationship dated from the 1450s, it may well have been Trevelyan who had recognised promise in young Cornburgh and aided him in attaining a position in the royal household. In summary, it seems that almost all Cornburgh’s associates in this 1471 transaction were connected with the Arundells and their circle. Cornburgh was clearly at the centre of Cornish society: he was connected with leading shire figures, many of whom were former Lancastrian servants and may still have harboured such sympathies. Whilst Cornburgh’s associations appear to have had a Lancastrian tinge, these seem not to have dimmed the Yorkist government’s view of him. Individuals’ associations clearly blurred the Lancastrian-Yorkist divide, and this may have facilitated ambivalence and perhaps encouraged, in some, an inclination for inaction (at least until outcomes were certain). Therefore, could a Yorkist monarch – or even a Lancastrian one – be sure of the loyalty of all his adherents? From Cornish to Essex affairs At the beginning of Edward IV’s second reign, Cornburgh was presumably still in occupation of, or was restored to, those offices that he had held before the Readeption (as were other Duchy of Cornwall officers). The 1473 Act of Resumption included all Duchy offices, so that officers could be appointed by Edward, Prince of Wales’s letters patent.77 But was Cornburgh reappointed to his previous posts? Following the appointment of Queen Elizabeth’s brother, Anthony Woodville, Earl Rivers (d.1483), as lord steward and receiver-general of the Duchy in early 1473, several changes were made.78 20 Cornish Studies: Nineteen Numerous Woodville associates were appointed to Duchy offices, replacing some long-serving officials; for example, Cornburgh’s offices of feodary and constable of Launceston Castle were granted to the queen’s cousin Sir John Fogge of Ashford (Kent), and his son, John (d.1525).79 However, Cornburgh does appear to have been re-appointed as constable of Restormel Castle and as bailiff of Plymouth and other ports (being still employed as such in 1477–78).80 Might Cornburgh’s loss of these offices have been the outcome of an amicable arrangement? Did he wish to concentrate on other concerns, such as his Essex estates? This is possible; yet he had already managed to balance, successfully, his involvement in Cornwall and Essex politics since the early 1460s. So, was his loss of these offices far from amicable? While this would not – in itself – have alienated him from the Edwardian regime, was this a wound that might later be remedied by restoration to these offices by another regime? Cornburgh’s involvement in local government in the west effectively ended with his removal from the Cornish bench in November 1475 and his election as burgess in parliament for Plymouth in 1478.81 Emancipated from most of his western interests, thenceforth he appears, increasingly, to have concentrated his activities in south-eastern England. Having purchased the Essex manor of Gooshayes in 1465, Cornburgh eventually accumulated an estate of c.1200 acres.82 In buying his way into the ranks of the county gentry, he was not unlike other contemporary figures desirous of a degree of social cache and status. Cornburgh and his neighbouring landholders, the Londoners Thomas Urswick,83 and Sir Thomas Cook,84 collectively, came to hold eleven of the twenty-five manors of Havering (Essex).85 During the late 1460s, Cornburgh involved himself extensively in Essex shire affairs: he regularly attended sessions of Havering’s manor court, and he became a JP in July 1468 (being reappointed from 1473). His service in Essex county government culminated with his election to the shrievalty of Essex and Hertfordshire in 1472–73 and 1477–78.86 However, even though the focus of Cornburgh’s affairs appears to have shifted from Cornwall and his Duchy roles to Essex and his shire offices, his interest in mercantile and maritime issues seems to have endured. Maritime connections Cornburgh appears to have been regarded as an able administrator, and as a reliable source of knowledge on wider governmental matters: for instance, Edward IV employed him as his representative in Irish affairs in 1477.87 However, it was Cornburgh’s accumulated nautical and mercantile expertise that was also highly valued. He had been the subject of notable favour by A Duchy officer and a gentleman 21 the new Yorkist government in 1460 (as mentioned earlier): it is possible that this patronage arose from his personal connection with Richard, Duke of York; but – as a successful merchant – it also seems likely that Cornburgh may have rendered his service in other ways. He may have volunteered, or been required, to fund Yorkist campaigns: indeed, other figures – such as John, Lord Dinham – had provided money for Edward IV early in his reign.88 In Cornburgh’s case, this is merely a supposition but – given his trading activities – he could have proved a vital ingredient in the Yorkist cause, especially since he had cultivated connections with merchants at home and abroad (such as the Cologne merchant Gerhard von Wesel with whom he corresponded in 1474).89 Indeed, these possibilities become likelihoods when we consider that Cornburgh may have been responsible for gathering finances for the Scottish campaign of 1481, and also for the French Expedition of 1475.90 Cornburgh’s position as one of Edward IV’s trusted allies is also illustrated by the fact that in 1463, Cornburgh was entreated by the king to pay for ‘the b[u]ying of fyve p[ar]ts of a ship called the John Ev[a]ngelist of Dertmouth’ and for the ‘vitelling, takeing, and manning of the same’, later being reimbursed for these expenses.91 Therefore, it is also possible that Cornburgh may have advised on maritime matters during the first years of Edward’s reign: even if he provided neither monies nor mariners, his nautical knowledge may have proved useful.92 Such a role in aiding the Yorkist cause might partly explain the extent of Cornburgh’s rewards and the nature of his service under Edward IV. In 1474, Avery was appointed as a sea captain, and he was also employed more generally by the government in dealing with various maritime crimes.93 It was for the French Expedition of 1475 that Cornburgh was commissioned to seize ships in the havens of Cornwall, Devon, and Bristol to transport the king’s army.94 Furthermore, in April 1480 (and again in February 1481), Cornburgh made certain indentures with John, Lord Howard (c.1425–85) to do ‘the king’s servisse’ on his voyage to Scotland.95 Lord Howard and Cornburgh had a prior personal connection, which seems to have dated from the early 1460s: it was in 1464–65 that he had given Avery the gift of a ‘rynge’.96 Lord Howard was an influential figure in Essex and East Anglia but, more importantly, he was also involved in trading activities as a ship-owner, so the two men clearly enjoyed common interests.97 Moreover, their paths were further entwined because of Cornburgh’s position as an esquire of the body when Lord Howard was treasurer of the royal household from 1468 until 1474.98 It may have been this association that proved especially invaluable to Cornburgh during the turbulent events of 1483. 22 Cornish Studies: Nineteen Under-Treasurer of England As one of Richard, Duke of Gloucester’s key adherents, Lord Howard was created duke of Norfolk and earl marshal in June 1483, and was granted extensive estates, including certain manors in Cornwall.99 So, was it as a result of Lord Howard’s intervention that Cornburgh was favoured by Richard during his protectorate? This is a possibility; alternatively, Cornburgh may have managed to find patronage through an acquaintance with John, Lord Dinham (d.1501) who later became Richard’s key supporter in Devon. The two men may have become familiar through Duchy administration, since Lord Dinham was a long-serving master forester of Dartmoor, and they were also both closely linked with the Arundell family.100 Cornburgh might have also found favour through his wife’s connections: Beatrice’s nephew, William Knyvett – who had become a notable Norfolk figure – had married Joan, former wife of William, Viscount Beaumont (1438–1507) and daughter of Humphrey, Duke of Buckingham (1402–60) some time before 1477.101 As the husband of Henry, Duke of Buckingham’s aunt, as well as being – on at least one occasion – his feoffee, Knyvett was well-placed when the duke became Richard’s leading supporter.102 Indeed, in May 1483, Knyvett’s local standing in East Anglia was ameliorated when he was appointed constable of the Duchy of Cornwall citadel of Castle Rising (Norfolk).103 It may have been through any, or perhaps a combination of all, of these routes that Cornburgh was able to find favour at a Ricardian court. During Richard’s protectorate, Cornburgh was reappointed as an esquire of the king’s body, and in May 1483 (being subsequently confirmed in September), he was appointed as controller of the coinage of the tin in the Devon and Cornwall stannaries (the office that he had lost in 1461).104 In addition, an undated grant survives (perhaps from May 1483 or early in the reign) reappointing and confirming Cornburgh as constable of Restormel Castle, keeper of the River Fowey, bailiff of Plymouth and other ports, and keeper of Carrybullock Park (which he had held in 1468, and perhaps until 1473).105 Richard, during his time as lord protector and during his first months as king, obviously needed to win the support of key figures through whom it would be possible to govern: the support of Edward IV’s household officers and others had to gauged and then gained. The fact that Richard confirmed and awarded offices to Cornburgh during his first month as lord protector is perhaps indicative of both Richard’s desire to secure his support in order to ensure continuity, and Cornburgh’s eagerness to find favour with the new regime. Furthermore, Cornburgh’s appointments might be seen within the context of Richard’s arrest of Earl Rivers, Richard Grey, and other Woodville adherents, and his general intention to restrain the influence of the queen’s A Duchy officer and a gentleman 23 kindred in government.106 Richard III’s anti-Woodville stance, and his patronage of those who had reason to be disappointed by his brother’s regime, might also be borne in mind. After all, Cornburgh appears to have lost his Duchy offices at the same time as Earl Rivers became lord steward and receiver-general and when other Woodville appointees were taking command of numerous castles and parks. It may appear far-fetched to link Cornburgh’s loss of offices with events ten years later, but did he petition the lord protector for restitution of these offices or were these a means by which Richard gained Cornburgh’s support? Had Cornburgh been disappointed by these losses or had he willingly relinquished the responsibilities? Had he been compelled to associate, perhaps reluctantly, with Woodville associates during the 1470s in order to maintain his position and standing in society and at court, or had he been a fervent adherent of the queen’s family all along? Cornburgh had certainly been involved in land transactions with the Hautes of Ightham Mote (Kent), who were relatives of the Fogges and of the queen herself. The fact that Cornburgh was included indicates that he was on familiar terms with the Hautes; but does this serve as merely confirmation of the regard in which he was held, more generally, as a loyal crown servant?107 Perhaps all that Cornburgh’s appointments show is that he was prepared to serve whoever was monarch; however, the fact that he was restored to offices that he had lost ten years before by a king who identified himself as anti-Woodville certainly raises tantalising questions. In light of these questions, it is interesting to note that two of Cornburgh’s 1471 feoffees both served in Cornish county government under the Ricardian regime: John Carminow,108 and John Trenowith.109 Whilst Cornburgh and some of his associates served the government, the usurpation may have divided the Arundell affinity. Thomas Arundell was a participant in the October Rebellion of 1483, yet other Arundell clients remained loyal – presumably attaching themselves to the patronage of Richard’s master of the henchman, Sir James Tyrell (d.1502) of Gipping (Suffolk), who was the husband of Arundell’s half-sister and the claimant of the Arundell estates.110 Cornburgh was one of the few retainers of Edward IV who did not participate in the revolt and he will have been familiar with many of the household men who rebelled; indeed, one of the intrigants was his wife’s nephew, William Knyvett.111 It remains unclear exactly when Cornburgh was appointed under-treasurer of England, but if he assumed this post at the same time as the treasurer, John, Lord Audley (d.1490), then his appointment dated from December 1483.112 The degree to which the position of treasurer was honorific is also unclear, but the under-treasurer was the working head of the exchequer and he was entitled to attend the king’s council. It is certain that Cornburgh was under-treasurer by April 1485, when he was commissioned, alongside 24 Cornish Studies: Nineteen his nephew John Crafford (and his son Thomas), to muster men to take to the seas to resist the king’s enemies.113 This commission may have meant that Cornburgh was unable to fight at Bosworth. Despite his Ricardian service, he managed – remarkably soon after the battle – to come to terms with the Tudor regime. Like his predecessor, Henry VII needed to preserve continuity, so he had a clear need to exploit the talents of former Yorkist servants: judging from his awards, Cornburgh’s service was well-recommended. After the Tudor triumph in October 1485, Cornburgh received 50 marks and, a few months later, he received a general pardon.114 Moreover, Cornburgh’s tenure was confirmed of both offices of constable of Restormel Castle and keeper of the River Fowey.115 Further to these posts, in March 1486, Cornburgh and Reginald Bray were honoured by receiving a licence to export lead and tin.116 Again, Cornburgh may have found favour through a variety of routes: his Duchy colleague, Lord Dinham, became Henry VII’s treasurer, and his Exchequer colleague, Lord Audley, became a royal councillor.117 Alternatively, Cornburgh’s rehabilitation may have been occasioned by the intervention of William Knyvett who became a royal councillor and was also connected with the king’s mother, Lady Margaret Beaufort (1443–1509).118 Knyvett’s position as Cornburgh’s valued associate is also indicated by the fact that Avery appointed him as one of the executors of his will, alongside the new king’s attorney-general, Sir William Hody (c.1434–1524) of Gothelney (Somerset),119 and Henry VII’s trusted knight of the body Sir Reginald Bray (1440–1503).120 Cornburgh and Hody may have become acquainted – if they were not already through their West-Country interests – because of their involvement in Exchequer business and the royal household. Hody had been a feoffee of Lady Margaret Beaufort in 1472.121 Moreover, Bray was the receiver of Lady Margaret’s estates. Therefore, it was through all of his executors that Cornburgh was connected, indirectly, with the Tudor king’s mother. Cornburgh’s association with Reginald Bray may have arisen from their cooperation regarding exchequer business when Cornburgh was reappointed as under-treasurer. Lord Audley had been removed as treasurer after Bosworth to be replaced by Thomas Rotherham, Archbishop of York.122 By February 1486, Rotherham had also been replaced, but his successor, Lord Dinham, was not formally appointed until 14 July 1486.123 During this interim period, Henry’s omni-competent adviser Bray may have fulfilled duties alongside Dinham.124 Hence Bray was described as ‘under-treasurer’ in October 1485. By Easter 1486, William Kelly and others were to pay certain outstanding monies jointly to Bray and Cornburgh; evidently, both men were equally responsible, yet their roles remained unexplained.125 Given Henry VII’s suspicious nature, it seems entirely possible that Bray was appointed informally to keep an eye on A Duchy officer and a gentleman 25 Cornburgh and on the business of the exchequer. Even if this was the case, Cornburgh was also entrusted with further responsibilities: in September 1486, he was appointed as keeper of the king’s great wardrobe, a post which he may have held since the very start of the reign.126 However, Cornburgh enjoyed these prestigious offices for only a short time before his death on 2 February 1487.127 He was interred in the chantry he had founded at Romford, Essex, and his only heirs were his widow, Beatrice, his sister Agnes Chambre, and his great-nephew, Thomas Crafford.128 Conclusions Avery Cornburgh’s example shows how a relatively low-born individual could rise to prominence through royal service in medieval England. By examining how his Duchy, household, and local government careers progressed – alongside the context of his associations with influential figures – it has been possible to highlight the means by which he may have been able to advance. Cornburgh was a man with multifarious interests, ranging from his mercantile business to establishing himself as a Cornish shire officer and as an Essex gentleman. Cornburgh’s associations and sustained service, from the reign of Henry VI to that of Henry VII, illustrate significant aspects of governance during this period, such as the employment of royal retainers in shire administration. His office-holding enables us to glimpse the patronage, politics, and power of the Duchy of Cornwall: his career highlights continuities, whilst his loss of offices also shines an intriguing light on Edward IV’s governance.129 Cornburgh could not avoid politics: as a gentleman and shire official, he was involved in local affairs; neither could he avoid politics because of his court connections. The associations that he cultivated – in Cornwall and south-west England in particular – provide an insight into patron-client relationships, revealing the broader trends of Cornish and west-country politics, such as the ambivalent loyalties of the 1460s. Cornburgh was not a major figure in fifteenth-century politics, and yet each gentleman’s story ameliorates our understanding of the Wars of the Roses: the knowledge of his broader context makes possible the painting of a more rounded portrait of an astute and successful crown servant. McFarlane acknowledged that the notion that lesser men stood aloof from civil strife may have been mistaken: on the contrary, it seems that they were active in maintaining and cultivating connections with all factions, thereby ensuring that they emerged unscathed from such troubled and tumultuous times. 26 Cornish Studies: Nineteen Notes and references 1. K. B. MacFarlane, England in the Fifteenth Century: Collected Essays, ed. G. L. Harriss (London, 1981), p. 231. All manuscript references refer to The National Archives, Public Record Office, London, unless otherwise stated. 2. M. H. Keen, England in the Later Middle Ages (2nd edn, London, 2003), pp. 407–8; in general: S. J. Payling, ‘Social mobility, demographic change, and landed society in late-medieval England’, Economic History Review, 2nd ser. 45 (1992), pp. 51–73. 3. Crowland Chronicle Continuations, 1459–86, ed. J. Cox and N. Pronay (Gloucester, 1986), p. 147. 4. D. A. L. Morgan, ‘The king’s affinity in the polity of Yorkist England’, Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, 5th ser. 23 (1973), pp. 1–25; D. A. L. Morgan, ‘The house of policy’, in D. R. Starkey, et al. (eds), The English Court: From the Wars of the Roses to the Civil War (London, 1987), pp. 25–70. For the use of royal-household servants in local government: R. M. Jeffs, ‘The later medieval sheriff and the royal household’, unpublished DPhil thesis, University of Oxford, 1960; C. J. Given-Wilson, The Royal Household and the King’s Affinity: Service, Politics, and Finance in England, 1360–1413 (New Haven, 1986); C. J. Given-Wilson, ‘The king and the gentry in fourteenth-century England’, Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, 5th ser. 37 (1987), pp. 87–102; D. A. S. Luckett, ‘Henry VII and the south-western escheators’, in B. J. Thompson (ed.), The Reign of Henry VII (Stamford, 1995), pp. 54–64; R. E. Stansfield, Political Elites in South-West England, 1450–1500: Politics, Governance, and the Wars of the Roses (Lampeter, 2009), pp. 66–7, 351–66. 5. In the absence of a revised History of Parliament, I have had to rely on the potentially inaccurate J. C. Wedgwood, History of Parliament: Biographies of Members of the Commons House, 1439–1509 (London, 1936), pp. 223–4 (hereafter HPB). C. J. Whitwood, ‘Avery Cornburgh: An Old Romfordian’, Romford Record 9 (1977), pp. 8–13. 6. Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem, Henry VII (London, 1898–1955), vol. i, no. 237 (hereafter CIPM). 7. List of Escheators for England and Wales, ed. A. C. Wood, List and Index Society, 72 (1971), p. 71; Calendar of the Fine Rolls, 1452–61 (London, 1935–61), p. 102 (hereafter CFR). 8. The Parliament Rolls of Medieval England, 1275–1504, ed. C. J. Given-Wilson (Woodbridge, 2005), vol. v, p. 247 (hereafter PR); The Statutes of the Realm (London, 1816), vol. i, p. 388. 9. Calendar of the Patent Rolls, 1452–61 (London, 1899–1963), p. 451 (hereafter CPR); CFR 1452–61, p. 250. 10. CIPM, vol. i, no. 237. Cornburgh had friends amongst London’s citizens and aldermen; he helped a former sheriff’s widow to clear her husband’s debts, and she described him as ‘of gentill a[nd] good disposicion’: C1/87/61; The Great Chronicle of London, ed. A. H. Thomas and I. D. Thornley (London, 1938), p. 204; S. L. Thrupp, The Merchant Class of Medieval London (Chicago, 1948), p. 261. 11. CPR 1452–61, pp. 319, 449, 530. 12. HPB, p. 234; A Visitation of Kent Taken in the Years 1619–21, ed. R. Hovenden, Harleian Society 42 (1898), p. 34; E. Hasted, History and Topographical Survey of A Duchy officer and a gentleman 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 27 the County of Kent (Canterbury, 1797–1801, reprinted 1972), vol. ix, pp. 575–6. He may have been related to other prominent Craffords: CPR 1461–7, p. 80; CPR 1476–85, p. 512; C. M. Barron and A. F. Sutton (eds), Medieval London Widows, 1300–1500 (London, 1994), pp. 211, 233. Whitwood, ‘Avery Cornburgh’, pp. 9–12; CIPM, vol. i, no. 237; Essex Record Office, D/DU102/47, m. 3d; The Victoria History of the Counties of England: Essex, vol. vii (London, 1978), p. 70 (hereafter VCH: Essex). Also Henry Hammes, Junior, formerly of London, Branfield (Herts.), Mile End (Middlesex), and Gooshayes (Essex): PSO1/37/16. CIPM, vol. i, no. 237; VCH: Essex, vol. vii, pp. 33–4, 70. CIPM, vol. i, no. 515; VCH: Essex, vol. vii, p. 66. CPR 1452–61, p. 217. J. A. Hatcher, Rural Economy and Society in the Duchy of Cornwall, 1300–1500 (Cambridge, 1970), pp. 5–6; G. Haslam, ‘An administrative study of the Duchy of Cornwall, 1500–1650’, unpublished PhD thesis, Louisiana State University, 1980, pp. xii–xiv, 19–20; G. Haslam, ‘Evolution’, in C. Gill (ed.), The Duchy of Cornwall (Newton Abbot, 1987), pp. 27–8. G. R. Lewis, The Stannaries: A Study of the English Tin Miner (London, 1924); R. R. Pennington, Stannary Law: A History of Mining Law of Cornwall and Devon (Newton Abbot, 1973), pp. 15–16, 29–33; J. P. D. Cooper, Propaganda and the Tudor State: Political Culture in the West Country (Oxford, 2003), pp. 171–209; Stansfield, Political Elites in South-West England, pp. 88–9. B. Deacon, Cornwall: A Concise History (Cardiff, 2007), p. 37; for the Duchy as semi-independent: P. Payton, The Making of Modern Cornwall (Redruth, 1992), p. 48. For the Duchy as a government in miniature: A. L. Rowse, Tudor Cornwall (London, 1941), pp. 9, 82; ‘more an aristocratic estate than a “miniature government”’: Cooper, Propaganda and the Tudor State, pp. 172–3. I hope to discuss the administration and officers of the Duchy during the later Middle Ages in greater detail elsewhere. R. Lomas, North-East England in the Middle Ages (Edinburgh, 1992); T. Thornton, ‘Fifteenth-century Durham and the problem of provincial liberties in England and the wider territories of the English crown’, Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, 6th ser. 11 (2001), pp. 83–100; D. J. Clayton, The Administration of the County Palatine of Chester, Chetham Society, 3rd ser. 35 (1990). Deacon, Cornwall, pp. 31–8. For the relevance of regnal solidarities in the formation of identities: Sir R. R. Davies, ‘The peoples of Britain and Ireland, 1100–1400: II. Names, boundaries, and regnal solidarities’, Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, 6th ser. 5 (1995), pp. 9–10, 12–13, 25–6; and for the reciprocal relationship between the princes and their territories: T. Thornton, ‘Dynasty and territory in the early modern period: the princes of Wales and their western British inheritance’, Welsh History Review 20 (2000), pp. 1–33. For the tin industry during this era: J. A. Hatcher, ‘A diversified economy: later-medieval Cornwall’, Economic History Review, 2nd ser. 22 (1969), pp. 208–27, 675–85; J. A. Hatcher, English Tin Production and Trade before 1500 (London, 1973). CPR 1452–61, pp. 158, 291; J. L. Watts, ‘Richard of York, third duke of York’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, ed. H. C. G. Matthew (Oxford, 2004) (hereafter ODNB). 28 Cornish Studies: Nineteen 24. CPR 1452–61, pp. 573, 553. 25. CFR 1452–61, p. 250. 26. CPR 1452–61, pp. 338, 359; The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, and the United Kingdom, ed. G. E. Cockayne, et al. (London, 1910–59), vol. x, pp. 126–9 (hereafter CP); J. L. Watts, ‘Butler, James, first earl of Wiltshire’, ODNB. 27. R. A. Griffiths, The Reign of Henry VI: The Exercise of Royal Authority, 1422–61 (London, 1981), pp. 775–90; H. E. Maurer, Margaret of Anjou: Queenship and Power in Late-Medieval England (Woodbridge, 2003), pp. 101, 127–202; Stansfield, Political Elites in South-West England, pp. 150–1, 159–61, 164–5, 172–3, 182–9. 28. PR, vol. v, pp. 373–8, 380–1; T. B. Pugh, ‘The estates, finances, and regal aspirations of Richard Plantagenet (1411–60), Duke of York’, in M. A. Hicks (ed.), Revolution and Consumption in Late-Medieval England: The Fifteenth Century II (Woodbridge, 2001), pp. 82–3. 29. C81/779/10918; SC6/816/6, mm. 1, 9; SC6/816/7, mm. 2, 10; SC6/816/8, mm. 2, 7; Duchy of Cornwall Office, London, DCO207, mm. 2, 5; DCO208, m. 2; CPR 1452–61, p. 630. 30. The Haveners’ Accounts of the Earldom and Duchy of Cornwall, 1287–1356, ed. M. Kowaleski, Devon and Cornwall Record Society, new ser. 44 (2001), pp. 5, 50–2; The Caption of Seisin of the Duchy of Cornwall (1337), ed. P. L. Hull, Devon and Cornwall Record Society, new ser. 17 (1971), p. 137. For the wider context of trade in Devon (and south-western England) during this era: M. Kowaleski, Local Markets and Regional Trade in Medieval Exeter (Cambridge, 1995). 31. Haslam, ‘An administrative study of the Duchy of Cornwall, 1500–1650’, pp. 19–20. 32. C81/779/10933; CPR 1452–61, p. 629; Calendar of the Close Rolls, 1454–61 (London, 1939–63), p. 464 (hereafter CCR). 33. C81/786/600; CPR 1461–7, p. 16; CCR 1461–8, pp. 12, 114. 34. C81/782/19; CPR 1461–7, pp. 19, 64; CCR 1461–8, p. 123. 35. This office was granted only to Grayson on 20 June: SC6/816/7, mm. 12–13; SC6/816/8, m. 7; CPR 1461–7, p. 78; CCR 1461–8, p. 215. Cornburgh was the sole post-holder by 1468, and he appears to have lost this office by 1473: DCO207, m. 7; Hatcher, Rural Economy and Society, p. 184. It is unclear whether Grayson was a royal retainer at this time, though by 1476 he was groom of the chamber: CPR 1467–77, pp. 595, 525. Also see CPR 1476–85, pp. 97, 168, 177, 325, 415; E122/41/6; E122/41/7; E159/261, m. 164r. Some time after 1465, Grayson was also Cornburgh’s feoffee: CIPM, vol. i, no. 237. 36. Hatcher, Rural Economy and Society, pp. 179–84; Caption of Seisin (1337), ed. Hull, p. 141. 37. CPR 1461–7, p. 220. 38. CPR 1461–7, p. 447. 39. Haveners’ Accounts, 1287–1356, ed. Kowaleski, pp. 5, 7, 53–5; Caption of Seisin (1337), ed. Hull, pp. xlvii, 136. For the wider context of fishing and the fisheries in south-west England during this period: M. Kowaleski, ‘Fishing and fisheries in the middle ages: the western fisheries’, in D. J. Starkey, C. Reid and N. Ashcroft (eds), England’s Seafisheries: The Commercial Sea Fisheries of England and Wales since 1300 (London, 2000), pp. 23–8, 243–5; M. Kowaleski, ‘The expansion of the A Duchy officer and a gentleman 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48. 49. 29 south-western fisheries in late-medieval England’, Economic History Review, 2nd ser. 53 (2000), pp. 429–54. PR, vol. xiii, pp. 37, 174; B. P. Wolffe, The Royal Demesne in English History: The Crown Estate in the Governance of the Realm from the Conquest to 1509 (London, 1971), pp. 143–58; M. A. Hicks, Richard III and his Rivals: Magnates and their Motives in the Wars of the Roses (London, 1991), pp. 61–77. Cornburgh’s grants were not affected until the 1467 Act in which only his 1463 grant of Cornish manors was exempted. Cornburgh lost all offices in 1467; but regained his offices in 1468–9: PR, xiii, pp. 286–7; DCO207, m.7. CCR 1454–61, p. 495; HPB, p. 617; N. Doe, ‘Moyle, Walter’, ODNB. PROB11/12, f. 52; M. Connolly, ‘Another medieval London widow: the story of Beatrice Cornburgh’, The Ricardian 13 (2003), pp. 148–58. For the Lynnes: Visitation of Cambridgeshire, ed. J. W. Clay, Harleian Society 41 (1897), p. 102; Visitation of Northamptonshire, 1564, ed. W. Metcalfe (London, 1887), p. 35. From 1432, Shirley was a customs official: CPR 1429–36, pp. 183, 188; M. C. Erler, ‘Three fifteenth-century vowesses’, in Barron and Sutton (eds), London Widows, pp. 167–70; also A. I. Doyle, ‘More light on John Shirley’, Medium Aevum 30 (1961), pp. 96–7; J. Griffiths, ‘John Shirley’, ODNB. M. K. McIntosh, Autonomy and Community (Cambridge, 1986), pp. 224–5; M. L. Kekewich, C. F. Richmond, A. F. Sutton, L. Visser-Fuchs, and J. L. Watts (eds), The Politics of Fifteenth-Century England: John Vale’s Book (Stroud, 1995), p. 87 (hereafter John Vale’s Book). I am grateful to Dr A. F. Sutton for these references. Erler, ‘Vowesses’, pp. 170–1; R. L. Virgoe, ‘The earlier Knyvetts; Part I’, Norfolk Archaeology 41 (1990), pp. 1–14; R. L. Virgoe, ‘The earlier Knyvetts; Part II’, Norfolk Archaeology 42 (1992), pp. 249–77. SC6/816/7, m. 13; SC6/816/8, m. 7; DCO207, m. 7; CPR 1461–7, p. 217; DCO209, m. 6; DCO210, mm. 6–7; S. M. Campbell, ‘The Haveners of the medieval dukes of Cornwall and the organisation of the Duchy ports’, Journal of the Royal Institution of Cornwall 4 (1962), pp. 119–20, 144. Campbell, ‘The Haveners of the medieval dukes of Cornwall’, pp. 123, 129–30, 136–7, 139; The Haveners’ Accounts of the Earldom and Duchy of Cornwall, 1287–1356, ed. M. Kowaleski, Devon and Cornwall Record Society, new ser. 44 (2001), pp. 3–10, 11–60, 316–17. Household of Edward IV: The Black Book and the Ordinance of 1478, ed. A. R. Myers (Manchester, 1959), p. 127. For further explanation on using land transactions to ascertain patron-client relationships: S. J. Bailey, ‘Thirteenth-century conveyancing from the Charter Rolls’, Cambridge Law Journal 19 (1961), pp. 200–22; G. W. S. Barrow, ‘Witnesses and attestation of formal documents in Scotland, twelfth–thirteenth centuries’, Journal of Legal History 16 (1995), pp. 1–20; K. J. Stringer, ‘The charters of David, Earl of Huntingdon and Lord of Garioch: a study in Anglo-Scottish diplomatic’, in K. J. Stringer (ed.), Essays on the Nobility of Medieval Scotland (Edinburgh, 1985), pp. 72–101; A. Grant, ‘Acts of lordship: the records of Archibald, fourth Earl of Douglas’, in T. Brotherstone and D. Ditchburn (eds), Freedom and Authority: Scotland c.1050–c.1650 (East Linton, 2000), pp. 235–74; also Stansfield, Political Elites in South-West England, pp. 70–84. For an example of the value of wills in reconstructing relationships: R. E. Stansfield, ‘Family, faith, and 30 50. 51. 52. 53. 54. 55. 56. 57. 58. 59. 60. 61. 62. 63. Cornish Studies: Nineteen farming in early-modern Lancashire: the wills and inventories of the Stansfields of Inchfield, Walsden, c.1633–1763’, Transactions of the Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire, forthcoming. CCR 1461–8, p. 271; CCR 1468–76, no. 552; The Hungerford Cartulary, ed. J. L. Kirby, Wiltshire Record Society 49 (1994), nos 666, 667. CP, vol. vi, pp. 613–20; C. Kightly, ‘Hungerford, Walter, first Baron Hungerford’, ODNB; Hicks, Richard III, pp. 79–98, 99–118, 119–32, 165–84, 185–208. Stansfield, Political Elites in South-West England, pp. 149–65, 183–9; M. Mercer, ‘Lancastrian loyalism in the South-West’, Southern History 19 (1997), pp. 42–60; CP, vol. xii(1), pp. 301–2; G. L. Harriss, ‘Stourton family’, ODNB. CP, vi, pp. 618–21; M. A. Hicks, ‘Hungerford, Robert, Baron Hungerford and Moleyns’, ODNB. For the regional politics of south-west England during the 1450s: Stansfield, Political Elites in South-West England, pp. 149–89; for Humphrey, Lord Stafford’s involvement in a Hungerford charter, 1463: CCR 1468–76, no. 245. For Lord Stafford’s estates and associations during the 1460s: CPR 1461–7, pp. 116, 124, 129, 323, 438–9, 532; CCR 1461–8, pp. 18–19, 21; CPR 1467–77, pp. 17, 22–3, 85, 112, 156; CP, vol. iv, pp. 327–8; HPB, pp. 793–4; M. A. Hicks, ‘Stafford, Humphrey, Earl of Devon’, ODNB; Stansfield, Political Elites in South-West England, pp. 191–8, 200–4, 206–18, 220–5. G. L. Harriss, ‘Introduction: the exemplar of kingship’, in G. L. Harriss (ed.), Henry V: The Practice of Kingship (Oxford, 1985), p. 18; R. E. Horrox, ‘Local and national politics in fifteenth century England’, Journal of Medieval History 17 (1992), pp. 391–403. SC6/816/7, mm. 2, 9; SC6/816/8, mm. 1, 6; DCO207, m. 5; CPR 1461–7, pp. 25, 120, 360, 439; Hicks, ‘Stafford, Humphrey’, ODNB; Stansfield, Political Elites in South-West England, pp. 206–11, 213–18. Moving outwards from the focus of power to the fringe, attachment to the centre becomes attenuated, but ‘those who are closely and positively connected with authority … possess a vital relationship to the center [sic]’: E. Shils, ‘Center and periphery’, in E. Shils, Center and Periphery: Essays in Macrosociology (London, 1975), pp. 3–16. For further discussion of the Duchy of Cornwall as a political core: Stansfield, Political Elites in South-West England, pp. 56, 93–6, 353–4; for discussion of regional governors as political cores: pp. 1–26, 183–9, 220–5, 260–5, 351–66. List of Sheriffs for England and Wales, ed. A. Hughes, List and Index Society 9 (1898), p. 22; CFR 1461–71, pp. 128, 221, 239; CPR 1461–7, pp. 102, 204, 220, 233, 276, 284, 529, 553, 561, 562–3, 561, 571; CPR 1467–77, pp. 57, 128, 609–10. CPR 1467–77, p. 200. J. Warkworth, A Chronicle of the First Thirteen Years of the Reign of King Edward the Fourth, ed. J. O. Halliwell, Camden Society, 1st ser. 10 (1839), pp. 6–7; CPR 1467–77, p. 156; M. A. Hicks, False, Fleeting, Purjur’d Clarence: George, Duke of Clarence, 1449–78 (2nd edn, London, 1992), p. 37; Mercer, ‘Lancastrian loyalism in the South-West’, p. 49. For example, John Twynho (d.1475) of Keyford-by-Frome (Somerset) was both a Hungerford client and a Clarence associate: HPB, p. 887; Stansfield, Political Elites in South-West England, pp. 200, 205–6. Richard, Earl of Warwick was Cornburgh’s feoffee: CIPM, vol. i, no, 237. A Duchy officer and a gentleman 31 64. CFR 1461–71, p. 323; CPR 1476–85, p. 171. 65. R. L. Virgoe, ‘Inheritance and litigation in the fifteenth century: The Buckenham Disputes’, Journal of Legal History 15 (1994), pp. 23–40. 66. CPR 1401–5, p. 42; CPR 1422–9, p. 84. 67. P. Y. Stanton, ‘Arundell Family’, ODNB; Stansfield, Political Elites in South-West England, pp. 134–41, 146–7, 175–7, 214–16, 256–7, 295–6, 333–8. 68. He was burgess in parliament for Liskeard in 1449, and perhaps also in 1470–71: HPB, p. 866. He was involved in land transactions with the Arundells (as either a grantor, recipient, or witness) between 1465 and 1475: National Register of Archives, NRA22502(Arundell) calendar of Cornwall Record Office, AR1/270; CCR 1468–76, no. 1009, 1384; Stansfield, Political Elites in South-West England, pp. 136–8, 219–20, 427. 69. He was escheator of Devon/Cornwall in 1443–44, burgess for Helston in 1447, mayor of Lostwithiel from 1467, and a JP for Cornwall from 1466: HPB, p. 584; CPR 1461–7, p. 561; CPR 1467–77, pp. 246, 609–10; CPR 1476–85, p. 556. He was involved in Arundell land transactions from 1459 to 1477: NRA22502(Arundell), AR4/1259; AR20/28; CCR 1468–76, no. 1009, 1384; Stansfield, Political Elites in South-West England, pp. 137–8, 175, 215, 257, 426. 70. He was involved in Arundell land transactions between 1457 and 1472: NRA22502(Arundell), AR1/995/1, 105/1; AR4/528, 726; CCR 1468–76, no. 1009; Stansfield, Political Elites in South-West England, pp. 138, 426. 71. He was knight of the shire for Cornwall in 1449–50 and also perhaps in 1470–1: HPB, p. 869. He was involved in Arundell land transactions from 1460 to 1475: NRA22502(Arundell), AR20/24, 25, 26; AR1/361; CCR 1468–76, no. 1384; Stansfield, Political Elites in South-West England, pp. 138, 220, 296, 335, 427. 72. He was JP for Cornwall from 1474: CPR 1467–77, pp. 246, 609–10. He was involved in Arundell land transactions between 1466 and 1477: NRA22502(Arundell), AR1/361; AR20/28, 29; CCR 1468–76, no. 1384; Stansfield, Political Elites in South-West England, pp. 137–8, 257, 296, 333, 335, 424. 73. He was deputy steward of the Duchy’s Cornwall estates, and JP for Cornwall until his murder by the servants of the Duchy official and royal retainer Thomas Clemens (d.1473) of Liskeard (Cornwall): CPR 1467–77, pp. 609–10; PR, vol. xiv, pp. 78–83; C1/43/58; C1/48/121; C1/59/107. 74. NRA22502(Arundell), AR19/13; CCR 1468–76, no. 797. Cornburgh was also a co-feoffee in other transactions: NRA22502(Arundell), AR19/14, 15, 16. 75. PR, vol. xii, p. 185; HPB, pp. 873–4; Trevelyan Papers, ed. W. C. and C. E. Trevelyan, Camden Society, 1st ser. 105 (1872), p. vi; Trevelyan Papers Prior to 1558, ed. J. Payne Collier, Camden Society, 1st ser. 67 (1857), pp. 60–2, 65, 67, 72; Stansfield, Political Elites in South-West England, pp. 179, 427. 76. DCO205, mm. 11, 12; SC6/815/15, mm. 5, 6; SC6/816/1, mm. 8, 10; SC6/816/2, m. 10; SC6/816/3, m. 10; SC6/816/4, m. 8; CPR 1441–6, pp. 24, 134, 238, 322; CPR 1446–52, pp. 60, 80, 87, 251, 267, 280, 513, 526; CPR 1452–61, p. 50; Trevelyan Papers Prior to 1558, ed. Payne Collier, pp. 28–32, 33–7, 63–4. 77. Cornburgh’s 1463 grant of Cornish manors was exempted: PR, vol. xiv, pp. 172–3. 78. CPR 1467–77, p. 366. 79. DCO209, mm. 2, 5; DCO210, mm. 2, 5. For the Woodvilles and their relatives: P. W. Fleming, ‘The Hautes and their “Circle”’, in D. Williams (ed.), England in 32 80. 81. 82. 83. 84. 85. 86. 87. 88. 89. 90. 91. 92. 93. 94. 95. 96. Cornish Studies: Nineteen the Fifteenth Century: Proceedings of the 1986 Harlaxton Symposium (Woodbridge, 1987), p. 87; HPB, p. 342. DCO210, m. 8. CPR 1467–77, pp. 609–10. McIntosh, Autonomy and Community, pp. 224–5; R. C. Stringer, ‘Essex political society during the reign of Richard III’, unpublished MA thesis, University of Lancaster, 1996, pp. 22–48. Recorder of London 1454–71, and Cook’s long-time associate and feoffee: HPB, pp. 897–8; for Urswick-Cook disputes: A. F. Sutton, ‘Sir Thomas Cook and his “troubles”’, Guildhall Studies in London History 3 (1978), pp. 105–6. John Vale’s Book, p. 96. For Cook: Sutton, ‘Cook and his “troubles”’, pp. 85–108, esp. 105–6; M. A. Hicks, ‘The case of Sir Thomas Cook, 1468’, English Historical Review 93 (1978), pp. 82–96; M. K. McIntosh, ‘Some new gentry in early Tudor Essex: The Cookes of Gidea Hall, 1480–1500’, Transactions of the Essex Archaeological Society, 3rd ser. 9 (1977), pp. 129–38; also HPB, pp. 217–18. CPR 1467–77, pp. 607–38; CPR 1476–85, pp. 553–80. Cook was also keeper of the king’s park of Havering: CPR 1461–7, p. 27. In 1465, Cook and Urswick (and perhaps Cornburgh) were influential in securing a royal charter creating the liberty of Havering, confirming its ancient privileges and authorising the appointment of its JPs: McIntosh, Autonomy and Community, pp. 241–3; John Vale’s Book, p. 87. McIntosh, Autonomy and Community, p. 237; CPR 1467–77, pp. 607–38; CPR 1476–85, pp. 22, 51, 344, 553–80; CFR 1471–85, pp. 132, 410. In June 1477, Cornburgh and Edmund Connesburgh, Archbishop of Armagh, were commissioned to ‘examine and determine certain strifes, discords, and controversies between certain magnates in Ireland’ and report on these matters to king and council: CPR 1476–85, p. 71; D. B. Quinn, ‘Aristocratic Autonomy, 1460–94’, in A. Cosgrove (ed.), Medieval Ireland, 1169–1534 (Oxford, 1993), pp. 604–5. E404/72/3/54; E404/72/4/9; E404/72/4/92; CCR 1461–8, p. 16; CPR 1461–7, p. 439; M. A. Hicks, ‘Dinham, John’, ODNB. C. Scofield, The Life and Reign of Edward the Fourth (London, 1923), vol. ii, p. 80. The Household Books of John Howard, Duke of Norfolk, 1462–71, 1481–3, ed. A. Crawford (Stroud, 1992), book II, p. 4 (hereafter Household Books); R. E. Horrox, Richard III (Cambridge, 1989), pp. 8–9. Cornburgh may have been an unnamed participant: Edward IV’s French Expedition of 1475, ed. F. P. Barnard (Oxford, 1925), p. 24. E404/72/3/29; E404/72/3/50; E404/72/4/26; Scofield, Edward the Fourth, vol. ii, pp. 412–13. C. F. Richmond, ‘The Earl of Warwick’s domination of the Channel and the naval dimension to the Wars of the Roses, 1456–60’, Southern History 20–1 (1998–99), pp. 1–19. CPR 1467–77, pp. 492, 493, 525. CPR 1467–77, p. 495. Household Books, book II, pp. 11, 245. Household Books, book I, p. 483; A. Crawford, ‘The career of John Howard, Duke of Norfolk, 1420–85’, unpublished MPhil thesis, University of London, 1975, A Duchy officer and a gentleman 97. 98. 99. 100. 101. 102. 103. 104. 105. 106. 107. 108. 109. 110. 111. 112. 113. 114. 115. 116. 117. 33 pp. 41–2, 111; Stringer, ‘Essex political society’, pp. 36–9. In 1464, Cornburgh and Lord Howard were both John Knyvett’s feoffees: CCR 1461–71, p. 323. CPR 1461–7, pp. 124, 563–4; CPR 1467–77, pp. 613–14; CPR 1476–85, pp. 559–60; Household Books, book I, pp. x, xxi–xxii, xix–xx. J. C. Wedgwood, History of Parliament: Register of Ministers and Members of Both Houses, 1439−1509 (London, 1938), p. xlii (hereafter HPR). British Library Harleian MS 433, ed. R. E. Horrox and P. W. Hammond (Upminster and London, 1979–83), vol. i, pp. 7, 72, 74, 80, 117, 155, 266 (hereafter HM); vol. ii, p. 111; CPR 1476–85, pp. 359, 363, 365, 497–8; Calendar of the Charter Rolls, 1427–1516 (London, 1920), p. 258; CP, vol. ix, pp. 610–12; HPB, pp. 473–4; A. Crawford, ‘Howard, John, first Duke of Norfolk’, ODNB. In May 1483, Lord Dinham became the Duchy’s ‘lord steward’: CPR 1461–7, p. 126; CCR 1461–8, pp. 111, 287; HM, vol. i, pp. 20, 130, 161, 265; CPR 1476–85, pp. 386, 430; CP, vol. iv, pp. 378–82; HPB, pp. 740–1. Knyvett was a knight of the shire, a JP, and sheriff of Norfolk/Suffolk in 1479–80: HPB, p. 520; Virgoe, ‘Earlier Knyvetts: Part I’, pp. 1–14; Virgoe, ‘Earlier Knyvetts: Part II’, pp. 249–78; CP, vol. ii, pp. 62–3; J. L. Watts, ‘Beaumont, John, Viscount Beaumont’, ODNB. CPR 1476–85, pp. 257, 371; Horrox, Richard III, pp. 106–8, 132–5. HM, vol. i, p. 71; vol. iii, pp. 4–5; CPR 1476–85, p. 362. HM, vol. i, pp. 41–2, 76; CPR 1476–85, p. 465. HM, vol. i, p. 204; CPR 1476–85, p. 461. C. D. Ross, Richard III (London, 1981), pp. 69–93; Horrox, Richard III, pp. 89–137. In October 1478, James Haute (d.1505/8) and others ordered Nicholas Colle to deliver lands to feoffees, including Cornburgh, Anthony, Earl Rivers, Thomas, Marquess of Dorset, William, Lord Hastings, and others: Herefordshire Archives and Local Studies, Hertford, DE/Si/41492. For the details of the Hastings-Woodville animosity: D. Mancini, The Usurpation of Richard III, ed. C. A. J. Armstrong (Gloucester, 1989), p. 69; E. W. Ives, ‘Andrew Dymmock and the papers of Antony, Earl Rivers, 1482–3’, Bulletin of the Institute of Historical Research 41 (1968), pp. 221–2; C. D. Ross, Edward IV (London, 1974), p. 98. JP for Cornwall until May 1483 and restored in July 1483: CPR 1467–77, pp. 609–10; CPR 1476–85, pp. 397–8, 488–90, 556. JP for Cornwall from December 1483 until September 1485: CPR 1476–85, pp. 397–8, 488–90, 556. Stanton, ‘Arundell Family’, ODNB; Stansfield, Political Elites in South-West England, pp. 290–8. He was steward of the Duchy’s lands and stannaries in Cornwall from August 1484: HM, vol. i, p. 125; CPR 1476–85, p. 474; R. E. Horrox, ‘Tyrell, Sir James’, ODNB. PR, vol. xv, pp. 25–9. For the October Rebellion: Horrox, Richard III, pp. 138–77. CPR 1476–85, p. 488; E159/261, mm. 64v, 77r. CPR 1476–85, p. 545. Materials for a History of the Reign of Henry VII, ed. W. Campbell (Rolls Series, 1873–77), vol. i, p. 233 (hereafter Materials). PR, vol. xv, pp. 248–9. Materials, vol. i, p. 368. PR, vol. xv, p. 264; CPR 1485–94, pp. 66, 337. 34 Cornish Studies: Nineteen 118. PR, vol. xv, pp. 102–3. Joan Knyvett’s brother, Henry Stafford (d.1471), had been Margaret’s second husband, and her links with the Staffords were consolidated by her wardship of the infant Edward, Duke of Buckingham (d.1521): PR, vol. xvi, pp. 105–8; M. K. Jones and M. G. Underwood, The King’s Mother: Lady Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Richmond and Derby (Cambridge, 1992), pp. 67, 101–2, 108; M. K. Jones and M. G. Underwood, ‘Beaufort, Margaret, Countess of Richmond and Derby’, ODNB. 119. PROB11/8, f. 20r. He was chief baron of the Exchequer from 1486 and a JP for Somerset: HPB, p. 461; J. H. Baker, ‘Hody, William’, ODNB. 120. M. M. Condon, ‘Bray, Reynold’, ODNB. 121. CPR 1467–77, p. 339; Jones and Underwood, The King’s Mother, pp. 144–5. 122. S. B. Chrimes, Henry VII (London, 1972), p. 107; R. E. Horrox, ‘Rotherham, Thomas’, ODNB. 123. Materials, vol. i, p. 226; CPR 1485–94, p. 118; R. L. Storey, The Reign of Henry VII (London, 1968), p. 223; T. B. Pugh, ‘Henry VII and the English nobility’, in G. W. Bernard (ed.), Tudor Nobility (Manchester, 1992), p. 53; Hicks ‘Dinham, John’, ODNB. 124. On 28 February, Reginald Bray was appointed by word of mouth: Condon, ‘Bray, Reynold’, ODNB; whilst in February, Lord Dinham was appointed by the king’s express command: Chrimes, Henry VII, p. 107. 125. E159/262, m. 47r; Chrimes, Henry VII, p. 121. 126. CPR 1485–94, p. 141. Sir Richard Croft had been keeper of the king’s great wardrobe since October 1485, not being replaced until 1488: HPR, p. xlii. On 26 November 1486, the king referred to Cornburgh explicitly as his keeper of the great wardrobe, and Cornburgh’s wardrobe account ran from August 1485 to January 1486: E361/8; E159/263, m. 75r; Materials, vol. ii, pp. 163–80; Chrimes, Henry VII, pp. 58–9; M. A. Hayward, Dress at the Court of Henry VIII (Leeds, 2007), p. 27. 127. PROB11/8, f. 20r; H. W. King, ‘Ancient wills (No. 5)’, Transactions of the Essex Archaeological Society 4 (1869), pp. 1–24. 128. John Vale’s Book, p. 111; McIntosh, Autonomy and Community, pp. 237, 253; J. Weaver, Ancient Funeral Monuments (London, 1631), pp. 648–9; repr. G. Terry, Memories of Old Romford (Romford, 1880), pp. 79–81: VCH: Essex, vol. vii, pp. 83–4. For the later disputes concerning Goosehayes between John Crafford and Thomas Grayson: C1/240/36; C1/240/38. 129. Ross, Edward IV, pp. 101–2. For an alternative view of the Woodvilles: J. R. Lander, Crown and Nobility, 1450–1509 (London, 1976), pp. 159–70; M. C. Carpenter, Locality and Polity: A Study of Warwickshire Landed Society, 1401–99 (Cambridge, 1992), pp. 516–47; M. C. Carpenter, The Wars of the Roses: Politics and the Constitution in England, c.1437–1509 (Cambridge, 1997), pp. 156–205.