PRESTON, William I

Preston was one of the leading burgesses of Stafford, as witnessed by his (no fewer than) five terms as bailiff in less than 20 years. He also had connexions among the county gentry, at least with those from the near vicinity of Stafford. On the admittedly unreliable testimony of a proof of age, he was present at the baptism of Robert*, son and heir-apparent of Sir Thomas Harcourt, at the church of Ellenhall on 20 Sept. 1410. Much closer and more certain were his links with Philip Chetwynd of Ingestre. Early in 1427 Chetwynd named him among his feoffees in property in Stafford and as his attorney to deliver seisin on another feoffment, and their association continued probably until Chetwynd’s death in 1444.2 CIPM, xxiii. 720; Staffs. RO, Hand, Morgan and Owen mss, D1798/HM Chetwynd/7; CCR, 1422-9, pp. 326, 328. His place in Chetwynd’s service may help to explain why he attested three county elections in the 1430s, being described as ‘gentleman’ in that of 1433.3 C219/14/2, 4; 15/1.

Yet, although there can be no doubt that Preston was a man of some substance, little else is known of him. Early in his career, on 9 Jan. 1413 he was indicted before the county j.p.s for the felonious theft of a bull and cow, an offence of which he was acquitted when the court of King’s bench was at Wolverhampton in June 1414. With respect to his election to Parliament in 1426, it is worth observing that in the indenture the names of the borough MPs, including his, have been added in blanks left in the original draft, which already included the names of the sureties. Clearly the sheriff identified the latter before he knew who had been returned, an indication that, by this date, sureties were named for mere form.4 KB27/613, rex rot. 19d; C219/13/4.

Late in his life, Preston conveyed his lands in London and Staffordshire (these holdings are undocumented) to the dean of Stafford, William Wore, and others unknown for the performance of his last will, that is (according to a later Chancery petition), to make estate to his son, William II, in tail, with remainders over to his other sons. He was dead by Hilary term 1443 when Wore and our MP’s widow, Isabel, as his executors, filed an action of debt for £10 each against a Coventry butcher and others.5 C1/25/97; CP40/728, rot. 397d.