"William Chichele. Brother of the Archbishop and of Robert Chicheley, his predecessor in the Aldermanry of Aldgate. He married a daughter of William Baret (Alderman, Sheriff 1379–80), and his son John, who was City Chamberlain, married a daughter of Thomas Knolles (Mayor 1399–1400, 1410–1)." [1][2]
Alderman
William Chicheley was a Master Grocer, of the Grocers of London Livery company. [3] He was elected Alderman of the Aldgate Ward in 1407, and served through 1420. [4] He was an Alderman who previously served in Parliament:
"The title of dignity, alderman, is of Saxon origin, answering to that of earl; and from hence we may account for the reason why the aldermen and commonalty of London were called barons after the conquest. These magistrates are properly the subordinate governors of their respective wards under the lord mayor's jurisdiction:" [6]
Court of Aldermen.
"The court of lord-mayor and aldermen is a court of record, wherein is lodged a great part of the executive power: all leases and other instruments that pass the city seal are executed by them; the assize of bread ascertained, contests relating to water-courses, lights, and party-walls, adjusted; and the city officers suspended or punished according to the notoriety of their offences. This court has not only a right of fixing their several taxes, with the approbation of the privy council; but also a power of disposing of most of the places belonging to the city officers: and of electing annually eleven overseers, or rulers of the fraternity of watermen." [6]
Sheriff of London
William Chicheley, son of Thomas Chicheley by his wife Agnes Pinchon, [7] was Sheriff of London in 1409. [8]
Sheriffs.; Sheriffs court.
The office of sheriff, i. e. shire reeve, governor of the shire or county, is an office of great antiquity, trust and authority. The lord-mayor and citizens of London have the shrievalty of London and Middlesex in fee by charter; and two sheriffs are annually elected by them, for whom they are to be answerable. According to Lord Coke, a sheriff is said to have triplicem custodiam, viz. vitæ justiciæ, vitæ legis, & vitæ reipublicæ. Vitæ justiciæ, to serve process, and to return indifferent juries for the trial of mens lives, liberties, lands and goods; vitæ legis to execute process and make execution, which is the life of the law; and vitæ reipublicæ to keep the peace. [6]
They hold a court at Guildhall every Wednesday and Friday, for actions entered at Wood-street compter; and on Thursdays and Saturdays for those entered at the Poultry compter; of which the sheriffs being judges, each has his assistant, or deputy, who are called the judges of those courts; before whom are tried actions of debt, trespass, covenant, &c. [6]
Birth
ABT 1364
Marriage
Beatrice Barret 1384 in Tytherton, Wiltshire, England.
He married Beatrice (or Beatrix) Barret, daughter of William Barret, and they had children: [9]
John Chichelely, Chamberlain of London
Florence Chichley, born about 1397, married John Darrell
Death
about 1424 or 1425 at Higham Ferrers, Northamptonshire, England. [10][11]
Tytherton
In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Tytherton like this:
KELLAWAYS, CALLOES, or TYTHERTON-KELWAYS, a parish in Chippenham district, Wilts; on the river Avon, and the Great Western railway, 3 miles NE of Chippenham. Post town, Chippenham. Acres, 140. Real property, £1, 747. Pop., 18. Houses, 4. The manor belongs to the Earl of Carnarvon. Freshets of the Avon used to overflow the land; and they occasioned the construction, in 1474, of a paved causeway "for the good of travellers." A Moravian settlement was established here in the time of Wesley and Whitfield. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Gloucester and Bristol. Value, £82. [12]
Alfred P Beaven, Chronological list of aldermen: 1400-1500, in The Aldermen of the City of London Temp. Henry III - 1912 (London, 1908), pp. 1-20 Chronological list of aldermen: 1400-1500 [accessed 19 September 2015].
Alfred P Beaven, Notes on the aldermen, 1240-1500, in The Aldermen of the City of London Temp. Henry III - 1912 (London, 1908), pp. 159-168 Notes on the aldermen, 1240-1500 [accessed 16 September 2015].
Alfred P Beaven, Aldermen in Parliament, in The Aldermen of the City of London Temp. Henry III - 1912 (London, 1908), pp. 261-297 Aldermen in Parliament [accessed 19 September 2015].
John Noorthouck, Book 2, Ch. 2: Summary of civil government, in A New History of London Including Westminster and Southwark (London, 1773), pp. 533-541 Book 2, Ch. 2: Summary of civil government [accessed 16 September 2015]
Our Royal, Titled, Noble and Commoner Ancestors & Cousins database online, compiled by Mr. Marlyn Lewis, follows Douglas Richardson's Magna Carta Ancestry. It includes Magna Carta Surety Barons and many of their descendants. William Chicheley Sheriff of London, citing Wallop Family, p. 664; Stemmata Robertson, p. 105, Douglas Richardson, Magna Carta Ancestry, 2nd Edition, Vol. II, p. 263, Douglas Richardson, Royal Ancestry, Vol. III, p. 115.
GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of Tytherton in North Wiltshire | Map and description, A Vision of Britain through Time. History of Tytherton in North Wiltshire, (Date accessed: 21st September 2015)
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