Family and Education

?1s. Thomas^†.

Offices Held

Tax collector, Bucks. Aug. 1430.

Biography

Despite his eight elections to Parliament, comparatively little is known about More. In September 1420, along with Andrew Sperlyng* and other burgesses of Wycombe, he was granted four marks rent from a hostelry called The Newe Inn, adjoining the close of the rectory of Wycombe. He witnessed the borough elections to the Parliaments of 1421 (Dec.), 1422, 1425, 1426 and 1429. Meanwhile, in 1423, he had appeared as a pledge for William Marchaunt III* in the manor court of Bassetbury. In this manor More himself held land which was further consolidated in 1425 when he leased one-and-a-half virgates formerly rented by Marchaunt. On 31 Aug. 1429, he was one of the 129 persons known to have been present at the county elections at Aylesbury, where John Hampden^† of Hampden and Andrew Sperlyng were returned as knights of the shire, only for their election to be illegally quashed by the sheriff, (Sir) Thomas Waweton*, who substituted men of his own choice.1

More’s name once again appeared on the indenture of return for the county in 1432, apparently after a similarly contested election. During the session of this, his own last Parliament, he appeared in the Exchequer as surety for John Barton II*, the Buckinghamshire apprentice-at-law then awarded custody of part of the Moleyns estate. In the following year More was once again party to the Wycombe election to Parliament, and in May 1434 he was considered important enough to be included among those required to take the general oath not to maintain breakers of the peace. Subsequently, he was recorded as attending both shire and borough elections in 1435, 1437 and 1442.2

Ref Volumes: 1386-1421

Author: Charles Kightly

Notes

• 1. HMC 5th Rep. 562-3; C219/12/6, 13/1, 3, 4, 14/1; St. George’s Chapel, Windsor, recs. XV/15/1 mm. 3, 4, 9.
• 2. C219/14/3-5, 15/1, 2; CFR, xvi. 94; CFR, 1429-36, p. 397.