Family and Education

m. by May 1394, Maud.1

Offices Held

Bailiff, Grimsby Mich. 1380-1; mayor 1388-9.2

Coroner of the liberty of Grimsby by 3 Apr. 1385-aft. 6 Dec. 1395.

Biography

Slotheby is first mentioned in December 1374, when he conveyed a messuage in Grimsby to a local mason and his wife. He was already by then trading as a skinner and is again described as such in a deed of May 1394 whereby he and his wife acquired premises at the east end of Grimsby market-place. Little is otherwise known about him before he became bailiff of Grimsby in 1380. Two years later he served as a juror at an inquisition ad quod damnum, held to determine if certain land in the borough could be granted to the church of St. James. All in all, he is known to have performed jury service on at least four other occasions, the last being in about 1402 when he was required to assess the value of property for taxation purposes.3 He had already been in office as one of the coroners of the liberty of Grimsby for at least three years when, in March 1388, he was included on the list of leading local burgesses who were to take the general oath in support of the Lords Appellant. Not long afterwards he and John Hesilden* became involved in a violent affray with Sir Edmund Pierrepont; and in February 1390 the parties were bound over in mutual securities of £100 to keep the peace. This quarrel may well have led to a more protracted dispute between Sir Edmund and the municipal authorities which entailed a considerable outlay on their part in legal fees and expenses over the year ending at Michaelmas 1393.4

Slotheby’s position was such that he often found himself in demand as a mainpernor, notably for other MPs returned for Grimsby. He stood surety for Robert Burton on his election in both 1393 and 1397 (Jan.), and for William Elmsall when he sat in 1395. Moreover, in April 1399 he acted as a guarantor for Thomas Fyssher and John Kelby*, who had been accused (but not found guilty) of attempting to murder Geoffrey Askeby* during the previous summer while he was in office as mayor.5

Ref Volumes: 1386-1421

Author: C.R.

Notes

• 1. South Humberside RO, 1/560/28.
• 2. E368/154; HMC 14th Rep. VIII, 288.
• 3. South Humberside RO, 1/560/18, 28; C143/401/13; C145/233/16; Lincoln Rec. Soc. lvi. 37, 45-46; Feudal Aids, iii. 249.
• 4. RP, iii. 403; CCR, 1389-92, p. 151; South Humberside RO, 1/600.
• 5. C219/9/9, 11, 12; CCR, 1396-9, p. 499.