John de Bourchier
John de Bourchier (alias Boussier, etc., d. c. 1329) was an English Judge of the
.Origins
There is no evidence which confirms this family to have originated in France, and it was possibly of ancient English origin. Its name was however
Early career
Bouchier is first mentioned as deputed by
In 1314–1315 his name is recorded as one of the
Judicial career
In 1322 Bouchier presided over the trial of certain persons charged with making forcible entry upon the manors of
In February 1326 Bouchier was placed at the head of a commission to try a charge of poaching brought by the Bishop of London and the dean and chapter of St Paul's against a number of persons alleged to have taken a large fish, qui dicitur cete,("which is called a tuna")[3] from the manor of Walton, in violation of a charter of King Henry III. The chapter claimed the exclusive right to all large fish found on their estates, the tongue only being reserved to the king.
In the same year of 1326 he was engaged in trying cases of extortion by legal officials in Suffolk, Nottinghamshire, and Derbyshire, and persons indicted before the conservators of the peace in Lincolnshire. In December of this year Bourchier was summoned to parliament for the last time. He was reappointed Justice of the Common Pleas shortly after the accession of King
Marriage and progeny
He married Helen of Colchester, daughter and heir of Walter of Colchester, by which means he inherited the estate of Stanstead, (not to be confused with the nearby parish and village of Stansted Mountfitchet) in the parish of Halstead, Essex, which adjoined an estate which he had purchased in 1312.[4] He made his seat here at Stanstead Hall, of which in 1848 only one wing was reported as surviving, then used as a farm house, situated 1 mile S.S.E. of the town of Halstead.[5] It is shown on the Ordnance Survey map as "Stanstead Hall Moated Site", with remains of an ancient chapel, adjacent to the surviving large 16th-century mansion called "Stanstead Hall", in the modern parish of Greenstead Green and Halstead Rural, lately the residence of the statesman Lord Butler of Saffron Walden(died 1982).[6] His progeny included:
- Robert Bourchier, 1st Baron Bourchier (died 1349), Lord Chancellor
Death and burial
He died shortly after
Sources
- Rigg, James McMullen, biography of Sir John de Bourchier published in Dictionary of National Biography, 1885–1900, Vol.6 (Text in public domain)
Further reading
- Morant's Essex, ii. 253
- Foss's Lives of the Judges
References
- ^ History of Parliament biography of Sir William Bourchier, 1st Count of Eu (c.1374–1420)
- ^ Burgus is a mediaeval Latin version of the Germanic burgs, a stronghold, castle, etc. (Larousse Dictionnaire de la Langue Francaise)
- ^ (or dolphin or whale)(Cassell's Latin Dictionary)
- ^ Rigg
- ^ White's Directory of Essex, 1848
- ^ "Stanstead Hall, Greenstead Green and Halstead Rural, Essex".
- ^ Chancellor, Frederic, The Ancient Sepulchral Monuments of Essex, Chelmsford, 1890
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: "Bourchier, John de". Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.