HORDE, Thomas, of Northwood, Newton by Wem and Bridgnorth, Salop.

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

Family and Education

s. of John Horde.1 m. Alice, da. and coh. of John Palmer of Bridgnorth, 1s. Thomas*.

Offices Held

Bailiff, Bridgnorth Sept. 1386-7, 1392-3, 1398-9.2

Commr. to make arrests, Salop, Staffs. Dec. 1400.

Biography

Described as ‘of Northwood’, Horde was indicted before the King’s bench in 1372 for having abducted two years earlier a royal ward, Juliana Rous, heir to estates in Herefordshire, Berkshire and Gloucestershire. Allegedly an inquiry held the previous November had found that Horde had also stolen a horse, two books and other goods from Juliana’s guardian, Sir Robert Kendale, but since this inquiry was supervised by Kendale himself, in his capacity as sheriff of Shropshire, it may well have been prejudiced. Horde had already come up against the Kendale family, for in April 1371 he had obtained a royal pardon of outlawry for failing to appear in the court of common pleas to answer John Kendale, parson of Fleggburgh, Norfolk, for debts of £10 4s. Now, he pleaded not guilty to the charge of abduction, but, having secured bail, he defaulted again, was outlawed a second time, and as a consequence forfeited lands in Newton near Wem to the Crown. By June 1374 Juliana had married Andrew Herle, but it was not until December 1386 that her alleged ravisher, now referred to as Thomas Horde ‘esquire’, secured another pardon, specifically for the abduction, thefts and his escape, at some stage of the proceedings, from the Fleet prison.3

At about this time Horde acquired by marriage premises, afterwards known as Horde’s Park, on the north side of Bridgnorth, and settled in the town he was later to represent in Parliament. During his first term as bailiff of Bridgnorth he and his colleague, William Goldsmith*, allegedly confiscated to their own use 80 ewes, 20 lambs, a waggon and household utensils which ought to have escheated to the Crown. As a burgess of Bridgnorth in October 1388 Horde joined with some of his fellows in providing property for the support of three chaplains serving St. Leonard’s church. In 1398 he was renting a house in Listley Street from the chantry of St. Thomas the Martyr. However, he had continued to lay claim to holdings near Wem, at Newton and Loppington, for in 1400 he asserted at the Shrewsbury assizes that he had been unlawfully disseised of them.4 Possibly it was this Thomas Horde who in the meantime, before July 1397, had served as constable of Clun castle, on behalf of Richard Fitzalan, earl of Arundel.5 He probably died several years before 1419 when property in Shropshire of which he had been a feoffee was no longer in his possession.6

Ref Volumes: 1386-1421

Author: L. S. Woodger

Notes

  • 1. CCR, 1377-81, pp. 67-68, although it has been generally accepted that he was the s. of Roger Horde of Walford, sheriff of Salop in 1380-1 (e.g. in Trans. Salop Arch. Soc. (ser. 3), iv. 209), and elsewhere he is stated to have been the s. of Richard Horde by Margaret, da. and coh. of Sir Robert Francis (ibid. (ser. 2), vi. 183).
  • 2. CIMisc. iv. 380; Add. 28371, ff. 5, 5d; E372/238 m. 44d. In addition, in 1414 Horde was described as ‘late bailiff’ in conjunction with John Peole: KB27/613 rex m. 1. The year of this bailiffship is not known, but it may have been as late as 1412-13 when Peole, certainly, held the post: E372/258 m. 37d.
  • 3. Wm. Salt Arch. Soc. xiv. 129; CFR, viii. 119, 129; CPR, 1370-4, p. 68; CCR, 1369-74, p. 507; 1374-7, p. 159; 1377-81, pp. 67-68; 1385-9, p. 250; CIMisc. iii. 880; CIPM, xiv. 52.
  • 4. CIMisc. iv. 380; CPR, 1385-9, p. 516; Trans. Salop Arch. Soc. (ser. 4), viii. 210; JUST 1/750 m. 1.
  • 5. CIMisc. vi. 234.
  • 6. Shrewsbury Lib. deed 12871.