COLDON, John, of Northampton.

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

May 1421

Family and Education

Offices Held

Alnager, Northants. and Rutland 12 Mar. 1412-13 Oct. 1426, 4 Feb. 1428-12 Nov. 1431.

Biography

This Member first appears in the spring of 1394, when, as John Coldon the younger, he and several other people who seem to have been the trustees of Roger and Alice Bermere were arraigned at the Northampton assizes by Fremdoun de la Porte. The latter claimed, successfully, to have been disseised by them of a rent of 13s.4d. from a property in Northampton, and the defendants were duly fined for their offence. Coldon must have been a figure of some consequence in the area, for in 1412 he was made alnager of Northamptonshire and Rutland. Shortly after his election to Parliament, this post was confirmed to him and a colleague named Thomas Russell for a further period of ten years, and in return the pair agreed to pay a basic farm of £4 p.a. with annual increments of 6s.8d. They continued in office until October 1426, the date of new letters patent issued in favour of William Rushden* and Thomas Lodyngton, whose title they immediately questioned. The new appointees made no attempt to defend themselves, and after an examination of the relevant documents in the court of Chancery Coldon and his friend were reinstated. Although little else is known about him, it is clear that he was a resident of Northampton, where he enjoyed the life tenancy of a dwelling for which, in 1419, he was paying an annual rent of 2s.6d. He took part in the borough elections of 1421 (Dec.), 1422, 1425 and 1427, acting on each occasion as a mainpernor for the attendance in Parliament of one or other of the successful candidates.

JUST 1/1501 rot. 24; CFR, xiii. 224; xiv. 9, 394; CPR, 1422-9, pp. 459-60; E142/84/2.

Ref Volumes: 1386-1421

Author: C.R.

Notes