BARKER, John

It is highly unlikely that John Barker is to be identified with his namesake of Dore (in the far north of Derbyshire) who was sworn to the peace among the county gentry in 1434.1 CPR, 1429-36, p. 411. There was, however, a Barker family resident in Derby. It may be speculatively suggested that our MP’s parents were Robert Barker, who, in 1409, was one of those who took a lease of a messuage in ‘le Waldewyke’, and Agnes Barker, who, described as a widow of Derby, was the defendant in a plea of debt pending in the court of common pleas in Hilary term 1422.2 E326/B10835; CP40/644, rot. 96. The only reference that has been traced to John himself is his election to Parliament.3 C219/13/1.