Family and Education

m. 1s. d.v.p.

Offices Held

Coroner, Huntingdon bef. Sept. 1400-24 July 1405.

Biography

Prentice first comes to notice in unusually tragic circumstances, in August 1391, as a result of the murder of his son, Thomas, in Huntingdon by a local clerk named John Abbot, who was later pardoned his crime. His relations with the clergy do not, however, seem to have been soured by this incident, as in 1393 he and John Dunhead II* offered sureties in Chancery on behalf of the parson of Great Staughton. He was evidently associated with John Cutler*, who appeared with him, in 1404, as co-defendant in a case of debt brought against them by Sir John Howard*. They were fortunate enough to secure a writ of supersedeas, halting the proceedings and it is interesting to note that John Hawkin, Prentice’s colleague in the Parliaments of 1399 and 1406, then agreed to act as their mainpernor. Cutler, too, later undertook to guarantee his friend’s attendance at the Gloucester Parliament of 1407. We do not know exactly when Prentice became coroner of Huntingdon, but he was certainly in office by September 1400, and contrived to occupy the post, despite his evident lack of qualifications, until his removal five years later.

CPR, 1391-6, pp. 269, 645; CCR, 1402-5, pp. 319, 463; Add. Ch. 33519.

Ref Volumes: 1386-1421

Author: E.M. Wade

Notes