SHETFORD, Peter

Shetford’s origins are obscure, but he was established in the county of Somerset, perhaps even at Wells, by early 1435, when he found sureties at the Exchequer for John, Lord Tiptoft†.3 CFR, xvi. 235. A year later, he became a freeman of the city of Wells, with Henry Selwood* and William Hunt acting as his pledges.4 Wells City Chs. (Som. Rec. Soc. xlvi), 144. He may have practised the law and had probably trained at Strand Inn, as in 1453, styled a ‘gentleman’, he was named alongside a group of members of Strand Inn (all but him given the parish of St. Mary le Strand as their address) who were sued by the principal of the inn, Walter Parys*, for a sum of 40s. each.5 CP40/768, rot. 476; Baker, i. 143; ii. 1397. Even so, he chose to focus on his affairs at Wells and soon became established among the city elite. By 1444 he is found serving as an arbiter for the prominent Thomas Horewood*. The details of Shetford’s own dispute with William Folyet, which was put to arbitration at the same time, are obscure, but it evidently did not affect his standing in Wells, for that autumn he was among the men nominated to form the newly-established council of 24, and secured election as one of the two constables of the peace.6 Wells convocation act bk. 1378-1450, pp. 314, 315. In addition, he maintained contacts among the Wells cathedral clergy: in 1447 the precentor, William Stevenes, left him a bequest of 100s., as well as a gilt bowl and one of his best gowns.7 Som. Med. Wills (Som. Rec. Soc. xvi), 158. Shetford’s motivation in seeking election to the Commons in February 1449 is uncertain, but in view of his position in Wells society it is likely that his candidature was agreeable to the city’s ruling oligarchy.

It is not clear whether Shetford owned any property in Wells, and the style of an esquire which he had adopted by the time of his election to the Commons may have been based on holdings outside the county of Somerset. Even so, his title to these was complicated, and it is not clear when, or indeed whether, he actually had possession of the land in question. In October 1473, a few years after Shetford’s death, his son, William, successfully petitioned Parliament for confirmation of his right to a share of the estates of the ancient Cornish family of de Brune. According to his petition, the last of the de Brunes, Sir William†, had died without legitimate issue, and the family estates had consequently been partitioned between his two sisters, Joan and Alice. Although Joan’s direct heir, Edward Dallyng, had surrendered his interest to Alice’s grand-daughter and her husband, Stephen Bodulgate, in return for an annuity, William Shetford laid claim to Joan’s share of the estates as her ‘cousin and heir’, and asserted that his father Peter had been unjustly disseised by the influential Thomas Bodulgate*. If, however, Peter himself ever formally staked a claim to a share of the de Brune inheritance, no evidence of it has been discovered, and it is certainly suspicious that William only petitioned Parliament after Thomas Bodulgate had died in disgrace at the battle of Barnet. Nor was this the end of the matter, for Bodulgate’s widow and his two sisters proved tenacious opponents, and litigation between their descendants and the Shetfords continued into the reign of Henry VIII.8 SC8/29/1448; C49/37/11; PROME, xiv. 141-3; CPR, 1467-77, pp. 444-5; C1/480/28-34; 564/38; 568/19-30; STAC10/1/51.

Nevertheless, Peter Shetford was certainly active in Cornwall: in June 1459 he headed a list of 30 men (including a number of prominent Cornish gentry like John Trelawny*, William Trethewy* and Thomas Clemens*) whose offences a powerful commission of inquiry was ordered to investigate. Central to the commission’s mandates were the crimes of the Trelawnys, which had for some years given the Crown cause for concern, and there can be little doubt that it was in their interest that Shetford had become involved.9 CPR, 1452-61, p. 518. It is rather less certain how he came to forge this connexion: like him, John Trelawny had sat in the Parliament of 1449 (Feb.), but it is not clear whether they had been previously acquainted, and, indeed, whether Trelawny had prompted Shetford (who had up to that point avoided entering public life) to seek election. Nothing is heard of Shetford after Edward IV’s accession, but it is possible that he lived on quietly for some years. He was, however, dead by 1468, when his widow, Agnes, and one Richard Herteley were engaged in the execution of his will.10 CP40/826, rots. 106d, 164.