HAYWARD, George (by 1505-57), of Bridgnorth, Salop.

Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1509-1558, ed. S.T. Bindoff, 1982
Available from Boydell and Brewer

Constituency

Dates

Family and Education

b. by 1505, 1st s. of John Hayward of Brockton by Agnes, da. of one Glover. m. Margaret, da. of John Whitbrooke of Bridgnorth, 2s. inc. Sir Rowland 3da.1

Offices Held

Bailiff, Bridgnorth 1526-7, 1534-5, 1544-5, coroner 1537-8, alderman by 1543.2

Biography

George Hayward’s father had been coroner of Bridgnorth in 1489-90, but Hayward was evidently the first of his family to be prominent in the town, where he carried on the trade of shoemaker. His return to the Parliament of 1529 was an extension of his local career. He entered the House with another townsman, Humphrey Goldston, to whom, as the junior in municipal service, he yielded precedence. It is probable that he and Goldston served for Bridgnorth again in the Parliament of 1536, when the King asked for the re-election of the previous Members, and they may have done so in 1539, a Parliament for which the town’s Membership is not known.3

Serveral of Hayward’s kinsmen bore the same christian name and, since they lived in Bridgnorth or its neighbourhood, it is not safe to ascribe references to George Hayward, other than the official ones, to the Member. In 1543 his name stands fifth on a list of the borough’s aldermen, coming immediately after that of Goldston. He died in 1557 and was buried in St. Leonard’s. He died in 1557 and was buried in St. Leonard’s church, Bridgnorth: his will was probably one proved at Lichfield in 1560 but since lost.4

Ref Volumes: 1509-1558

Author: Alan Harding

Notes

  • 1. Date of birth estimated from first reference. Trans. Salop Arch. Soc. li. 127-8; Vis. Salop (Harl. Soc. xxviii), 235; Vis. London (Harl. Soc. cix, cx), 105.
  • 2. Bridgnorth mss 9(1), ff. 171v, 185, 191; 9(2), ff. 556.
  • 3. Trans. Salop Arch. Soc. (ser. 2), vi. 256; Trans. London and Mdx. Arch. Soc. n.s. vi. 509 n. 1; Bridgnorth ms 9(1), f. 14.
  • 4. Harl. 5848, f. 43; Shrewsbury lib., T/S, par. reg. St. Leonard’s Bridgnorth; Lichfield Wills (Brit. Rec. Soc. vii), 59.