BOVY, William

At the time of his return for Taunton in 1433 William Bovy (or possibly Bony) may have been an inhabitant of the town. Few details of his career have come to light, but he was almost certainly the man who early in 1437 was named among the feoffees of the property belonging to Walter Portman* in the borough.3 Som. Archs., Portman mss, DD\PM/5/2/8. His trade or profession is uncertain, although he may have possessed some legal training for in 1451 he was alleged to have served as clerk to John Austell* and William Carent*, successively sheriffs of Somerset and Dorset, in breach of the statute of 1368 limiting the term of sheriffs’ clerks to one year only, although Carent denied ever having employed him in that fashion.4 KB145/6/30. It is probable that it was the former sheriff’s clerk who attested the Somerset election indenture of 1455, and it may also have been he whom Hugh Malet of Enmore chose to be a feoffee of his estates.5 C219/16/3; C140/16/8.

By early 1449 Bovy had married the twice-widowed Lucy Everard who brought him property at Montacute in eastern Somerset. In addition, she led him into conflict with Philip Leweston*, one of the filacers of the court of common pleas. In January 1449, so Leweston claimed, the Bovys and a servant, Robert Sherard, had taken silver plate worth £40 from him in the London parish of St. Clement Danes, while Bovy and his wife for their part accused the filacer of breaking into their house at Montacute and physically attacking and maltreating Lucy. In August 1450 the dispute was submitted to the arbitration of one Philip Bedyk, but in the immediate term no settlement was achieved, and Leweston seems to have played a part in having Bovy charged with the unlawful tenure of the office of sheriff’s clerk. It took further litigation, in the course of which Sherard was found guilty of the theft, before the Bovys were cleared of all charges.6 CP40/754, rot. 50d; 757, rot. 424; 758, rots. 16, 279d, 287d; 759, rot. 120.