SKELTON, Robert

A minor gentleman from the parish of Altarnon some miles to the west of Launceston,2 It is unlikely, although not impossible, that Skelton should be identified with the man who was appointed a customs collector at Bristol in June 1447, or with another namesake who was a servant of Queen Katherine: CFR, xviii. 52, 54, 56; C1/12/174; 19/160, 373, 402; 160/26; The Commons 1386-1421, ii. 294. Skelton probably trained in the law, for he is known to have appeared as an attorney in the Westminster law courts and stood surety at the Exchequer for important Cornishmen like Thomas Carminowe*, John Palmer* of Launceston and John Mayhew†.3 KB27/680, rots. 43, att. 1; 687, rot. 52; KB146/6/12/3; CP40/686, rot. 409d; 703, rot. 324; CFR, xvi. 117. Equally, he frequently found bail for south-westerners committed to the Marshalsea, and among his more disreputable clients was the notorious Richard Tregoose*, for whom he stood surety on several occasions.4 KB27/695, rex rot. 3d; 696, rex rots. 5d, 8d. It is likely that he owed his four elections to Parliament for the borough of Liskeard to his professional qualifications, and any other links he may have had within the town are now obscure. Certainly, by the time of Skelton’s third Parliament, he was active in the region of Launceston and was associated with Nicholas Hody of Trewynnek and Thomas Kendale* of Lostwithiel in a quarrel with the influential Sir John Trelawny†.5 KB27/679, rot. 60d; 680, rot. 47; 681, rot. 17. The same year (1431) saw Skelton, probably shortly after the dissolution of Parliament, act as an attorney for Sir John’s bastard kinsman John Trelawny* of Plympton and Thomas Lanoy II*, later mayor of Launceston, in a dispute with Simon Yurle*.6 KB27/680, rots. 43, att. 1.

In the following year, both Skelton and Lanoy were among a number of local men headed by the prior of Launceston who were said to have assaulted the servants of William, Lord Botreaux, at Launceston and unlawfully imprisoned them. On Botreaux’s complaints commissioners of oyer and terminer were appointed, but nothing is known of their findings.7 CPR, 1429-36, p. 272. It is however possible that the incident was connected with certain events which had taken place a few years earlier. In the spring of 1426 Sir Ralph Botreaux*, who had represented the shire of Cornwall in the 1425 Parliament (Skelton’s first), had hired a necromancer, John Neuport, to kill his nephew, Lord Botreaux, by his black arts. When Neuport’s incantations had failed to achieve the desired effect, Sir Ralph had taken recourse to more traditional methods and had had Neuport murdered by two hired thugs. At Lord Botreaux’s behest commissioners of inquiry had been appointed, and as a result of their findings a number of men, including Skelton, were arrested for aiding and abetting the murderers. As a result of an indictment taken before the Cornish j.p.s in January 1433 Skelton, Lanoy and several other men were committed to the Marshalsea, but their contacts allowed them to be acquitted by a jury within a few weeks.8 KB9/225/77, 78; KB27/688, rex rot. 1.

Like many of his neighbours Skelton may have had an interest in the Cornish mining industry, if only an indirect one. Thus, the autumn of 1440 saw him appearing in the stannary court of Foweymore to challenge one Roger Hamely for a debt.9 SC2/159/8, rot. 1. By this time Skelton was also embroiled in a dispute with Roger Treouran I*, which was to continue to occupy him for the remainder of the decade.10 KB27/722, rot. 103; 746, rot. 76. Nevertheless, the focus of his life in these years remained firmly at Launceston, the borough which returned him to his final Parliament in 1437. His professional services were drawn upon by the town authorities, who remunerated him in 1449-50, around the same time as he served as mayor’s steward to his old associate Thomas Lanoy.11 Launceston recs., B/Laus/139; 141, m. 1.

Nothing further is recorded of Skelton. The Thomas Skelton who served as mayor of Launceston in the 1480s and 1490s may have been his son or another relative.12 Ibid. B/Laus/166.