BUTLER, William, of Nottingham.

Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1386-1421, ed. J.S. Roskell, L. Clark, C. Rawcliffe., 1993
Available from Boydell and Brewer

Constituency

Dates

Sept. 1388
Jan. 1390

Family and Education

m. by Nov. 1396, Alice.

Offices Held

Biography

Butler was engaged in the production of woollen cloth in Nottingham by 1380.1 At the time of his first return to Parliament he owned a house in Goose Gate, and in 1390 he charged a tenant of his with breach of contract regarding a 20-year lease on another property.2 Although never an office holder, Butler was often called upon to witness the enrolment of deeds in the borough court, and in the spring of 1389 he was chosen by a prominent wool merchant, John Tansley*, to act as his feoffee.3 On 15 Nov. 1396, on behalf of his wife, Butler brought a plaint in the local court against William Blanch. The latter’s wife had been placed by the ecclesiastical authorities at St. Peter’s church in Alice Butler’s care the previous Saturday, pending divorce proceedings, and Butler alleged that Blanch had assaulted Alice in the churchyard on Sunday and, having covered her head with his cloak, ‘so did with her that she could not see’. The Butlers received damages of £5.4 William died before 1404.5

Ref Volumes: 1386-1421

Author: L. S. Woodger

Notes

To be distinguished from a butcher of this name, also living in Nottingham in the 1390s: Nottingham Recs. ed. Stevenson, i. 323, 305, 315.

  • 1. Nottingham Archs. ct. roll 1293 m. 14d; E101/343/21 (erroneously dated in VCH Notts. ii. 346 as 1398).
  • 2. Nottingham ct. roll 1286 m. 6d, 1291 m. 1.
  • 3. Nottingham Recs. i. 248, 258, 265; Nottingham ct. roll 1288 m. 16d.
  • 4. Nottingham Recs. i. 327-8.
  • 5. JUST 1/1514 m. 77.