CHILTON, William

William’s origins are obscure. He may have been a descendent of the Nicholas de Chylton who was made a freeman of Canterbury in 1345 and was possibly a kinsman of two other Nicholas Chiltons, one the vicar of St. Cross, Westgate, who died in 1400, the other a chantry chaplain in Christ Church cathedral in the 1440s.3 R. Virgoe, ‘Ancient Indictments in K.B.’, in Med. Kentish Soc. (Kent Rec. Ser. xviii), 201; CPR, 1446-52, p. 335; W. Somner, Antiqs. Canterbury, 71. His first appearance in connexion with the city was in May 1399 when, along with the bailiffs of Canterbury and other members of the city’s elite, he witnessed a deed at nearby Petham.4 CCR, 1396-9, p. 505. A spicer by trade, he purchased the freedom of Canterbury later that same year, on 22 Dec., for 13s. 4d.5 CCA-CC-F/A/1, f. 43. Soon afterwards he began to take an active role in the government of the city, being chosen as cofferer at Michaelmas 1404 and serving for the first time as jurat seven years later. By 1418 he was alderman of Riding Gate ward; this may not have been an office linked to his property holdings in the city because by 1443 he was alderman of Worgate ward.6 C145/311/1. Early in his career in civic government Chilton seems to have seldom, if ever, been involved in the frequent trips to London on the city’s business which occupied the time of his colleagues trained in the law, although he may have ridden to London in 1411 to deliver money to William Ickham†, then engaged in obtaining an exemplification of a judgement at Westminster concerning the city. Seven years later he presented a gift of spices on behalf of the city to the royal justice, Richard Norton, when the latter visited Canterbury to deliver its gaol.7 CCA-CC-F/A/1, ff. 102, 123v. It was as a relatively junior and inexperienced member of the civic elite that Chilton was elected to sit in the 1422 Parliament. This may explain why he spent only 19 days at Westminster, compared to the 42 days of his more experienced colleague, Robert Bartelot*, although both were apparent newcomers to the Commons.8 Ibid. f. 157v. He took the opportunity of being in Westminster, however, to bring a case of debt against two husbandmen of Petham in the court of common pleas.9 CP40/647, rot. 142.

Soon afterwards, at Michaelmas 1424, Chilton was elected to the first of seven terms as one of Canterbury’s bailiffs. His involvement in civic affairs began to increase from this time onwards, as did his status within the city itself. Early in 1426 he played a leading role in the invasion of the cathedral during high mass by a group of citizens, led by the bailiffs William Billyngton* and Richard Cutler, in search of a foreign goldsmith who had sought sanctuary there after escaping imprisonment in the city prison on a charge of theft. Although Chilton was spared the public penance enforced upon the bailiffs, he was bound in a recognizance for his part in the affair.10 Literae Cantuarienses ed. Sheppard, iii. 150; Chron. John Stone ed. Searle, 20. During his third term as bailiff (1427-8), he was again involved in a dispute with the prior of Christ Church, this time over the right of the priory to buy victuals in the city. He rode to London to seek the counsel of John Fortescue*, the city’s attorney, and was eventually bound in £200, with his fellow bailiff John Bray and on behalf of the city, to abide by the arbitration award made by Geoffrey Lowther*. From about this time Chilton also became increasingly involved in the city’s affairs in London and Westminster. In 1437-8, for instance, he visited Cardinal Beaufort in London to seek his arbitration in a dispute between the city and the abbot of St. Augustine over the manor of Langport in the suburbs of Canterbury. Four years later he was again engaged at Westminster over the charter of the butchers of Burgate.11 CCA-CC-F/A/1, ff. 250, 285v, 311v. By the early 1440s Chilton was one of the most experienced members of the city’s ruling elite: it was natural therefore that when the bailiff, William Billyngton, died in office on 29 Dec. 1444 it was Chilton who stepped into the breach, being elected at a special session of the burghmote a week later.12 Ibid. f. 302; Chron. John Stone, 36.

Chilton’s status in Canterbury and east Kent generally can be measured by the number of occasions he was asked to act either as a feoffee or executor of wills. He acted as feoffee for other important Canterbury citizens, such as Henry Lynde*, William Lane† and members of the Ickham family. The last of these duties, in which he was enfeoffed with William Benet*, involved him in extensive litigation in Chancery. He was alleged to have failed to make a settlement of property as feoffee of Joan, widow of Thomas Ickham†. Moreover, he and Benet were accused of failing to carry out the instructions of Thomas’s son, William, to deliver his lands, on the decease of his wife Margaret, to his kinswoman and heir, Cecily.13 C146/10349; C1/7/320; 9/444. Around the same time, another enfoeffment led to him being a plaintiff in Chancery. He, along with John Sheldwich* and two other local men, had been enfeoffed by Thomas Godneston with certain lands in Wingham and Goodnestone to the use of one Thomas Keleras, which, despite an arbitration award, Godnestone’s heir and Thomas Tropham had refused to deliver to the feoffees.14 C1/7/87, 252. Previously, in 1420, Chilton had also acted as feoffee with Keleras for the lands of one Thomas Broke in east Kent, which they were to deliver to his three sons when they reached 15 years of age.15 Canterbury city recs. burghmote reg. 1298-1503, CCA-CC-O/A/1, f. 34. In 1427, he was one of a group of 11 individuals, including Sheldwich and Lynde of Canterbury and John Dreylond* of Faversham, to whom were conveyed lands in Newchurch,16 CP25(1)/114/301/175. while shortly afterwards and in the same capacity as feoffee he conveyed premises called ‘Googy Hall’ in Newchurch, as well as lands in Hope All Saints, Ivychurch and Brenzett, to Archbishop Chichele.17 Cat. Archs. All Souls’ Coll.. ed. Martin, 48, 49. Also as a feoffee, possibly of the prominent Canterbury lawyer, Roger Rye† (d.1425), he was party to transactions whereby the manor of Eythorne, acquired by Thomas Brown II*, was placed in the hands of trustees, including the treasurer, Walter, Lord Hungerford†, in December 1428.18 CCR, 1422-29, pp. 445-6, 451. Chilton had been named as one of Rye’s executors,19 Reg. Chichele, ii. 323. and this duty involved him in debt litigation in the court of common pleas, some of it relating to Rye’s office of steward of the liberties of the archbishop of Canterbury in Kent, which dragged on into the early 1430s.20 CP40/663, rot. 324; 680, rots. 67d, 186. He and his fellow executors were also accused of failing to execute Rye’s will properly. Rye’s predecessor as the archbishop’s steward alleged in Chancery that they had failed to deliver to him £49, outstanding on a debt of £68 5d; while Rye’s widow claimed that his executors and feoffees had failed to make over certain lands in order to fulfill his testamentary provisions, thus endangering her husband’s soul.21 C1/7/59; 69/310. In 1433 Chilton stood surety for the appearance in Parliament of the city’s two MPs, John Sheldwich and William Bonnington*,22 C219/14/4. and in the following year he was one of the leading citizens of Canterbury who swore the oath against maintenance.23 CPR, 1429-36, p. 389.

Chilton’s lands appear to have been concentrated in and around Canterbury. Possibly originating in Petham, four miles away, by December 1431 he could be assessed for taxation on property in the city itself worth £5 p.a.24 Feudal Aids, iii. 57. As his associations with and importance in Canterbury and east Kent increased, he may have sought to consolidate his holdings in the east of the county: in 1425, along with John Oxenbridge, he sold lands in Yalding and Brenchley,25 CP25(1)/114/297/81. and like many other leading Canterbury citizens, he also acquired property in the Cinque Ports, gaining the freedom of the Ports which allowed him to enjoy the tax privileges of the confederation. By 1431 he owned property in Sandwich and was thus exempted from contributing towards the fifteenth and tenth in Canterbury.26 E179/124/97; 227/106/152.

Chilton’s final term as bailiff of Canterbury ended at Michaelmas 1445 and there are no subsequent references to his involvement in city affairs. Still alive in 1447-8, when he paid rent for property in Canterbury, he died before May 1450.27 Chamberlains’ accts. 1445-1506, CCA-CC-F/A/2, f. 17v; burghmote reg. CCA-CC-O/A/1, f. 54.