TYLERD, John

The various Tylerds found in the south-west in Henry VI’s reign are not easy to disentangle. In about 1440 William Tylerd and his wife Emma held property in the area to the south-west of Exeter,2 Devon RO, Anstey mss, 1926B/W/ET/6/23. while Joan, said to be widow of this, or another William, was by 1459 able to stake a claim to the lands that had formerly belonged to the murdered recorder of Exeter, Nicholas Radford*. Along with Joan, one Elizabeth, wife of John Tylerd, also claimed a title to some of the lands, but it is not possible to show whether or not the latter was the Exeter MP.3 JUST1/199/14.

The man who represented the south-western cathedral city in Parliament was probably the baker of this name, who was admitted to the freedom of Exeter in September 1443, his fine being pardoned by the mayor and community.4 C253/34/288; Exeter Freemen ed. Rowe and Jackson, 50. The reasons for this generosity on the part of the city fathers are obscure, but Tylerd soon took his place among their ranks.5 There appears to have been a second John Tylerd, perhaps a kinsman of the MP, who served as an officer of Bp. Lacy and in this capacity fell foul of the citizens in the course of their great dispute with the cathedral authorities, by protecting a supposed felon from arrest: Letters and Pprs. Shillingford (Cam. Soc. ser. 2, ii), 83-84. At Michaelmas 1444 he was among the citizens electing the mayor, senior city officers and council, and at the same time he was chosen as one of the city’s stewards. Within four months, writs for a Parliament were issued, and the choice of Tylerd, one of the serving officers, as one of the city’s representatives may indicate that the citizens were experiencing difficulties in finding men willing to act as their MPs.6 The election return for the 1445 Parliament is lost, and no payment of parlty. wages is recorded for Tylerd’s colleague, but a payment of 18s. 6d. ‘for the city’s business’ to Tylerd and John Clerk I* may suggest that Clerk, who had been one of the stewards in 1443-4 and served as receiver in 1445-6 was the other MP: Devon RO, Exeter receiver’s acct. 23-24 Hen. VI. Certainly, Tylerd’s services came cheaply, for he was paid a mere 40s. in wages for a Parliament which extended over four sessions and lasted some 26 weeks.7 Ibid. 25-26 Hen. VI, dorse.

Nothing is known of Tylerd’s activities in the Commons, but he seems to have discharged his duties to the citizens’ satisfaction, for he was re-elected three years later, in January 1449, on this occasion receiving 26s. 8d. for his expenses in a far shorter Parliament of just over 16 weeks.8 Ibid. 27-28 Hen. VI, m. 1d. In the intervening and subsequent years, he continued to play his part in city government. Although not elected to office again until his appointment as receiver in the autumn of 1453, he attended the mayoral elections of 1446, 1448, 1450 and 1453 as one of those choosing the senior city officers. Following his term as receiver, he was chosen to the membership of the council of 24, and continued to serve on this body almost without interruption until the end of Henry VI’s reign. Tylerd regularly found sureties for men newly admitted to the freedom of Exeter,9 Exeter mayor’s tourn roll 22-37 Hen. VI, rot. 6d. and in June 1456 was among the prominent citizens who formally agreed at the guildhall that the £20 to be presented to the duchess of Exeter as the city’s gift should be borrowed from the receiver, Richard Druell*.10 Exeter receiver’s acct. 34-35 Hen VI, attached schedule. This document presents some problems, for Tylerd’s name appears twice in the list, in one instance as a correction to that of a ‘John Barsall’.

There were, however, also occasional disagreements between Tylerd and his neighbours. In 1455 the council sought the advice of the prominent lawyers William Boef* and John More over various sacks of grain belonging to Tylerd which had been seized because he had sought to have the grain ground at his own mill at Exwick.11 Ibid. 33-34 Hen. VI, m. 2. Later that year, on 20 Dec., the citizens chose More to succeed the murdered recorder Radford and charged Tylerd and the city’s clerk, William Speer, with the task of riding to Collumpton to inform him of his election. Speer showed himself willing to go, but for reasons of his own Tylerd ‘wold not ride for no thyng þt myght be’.12 Exeter mayor’s ct. roll, 34-35 Hen. VI, rot. 8d.

Little is known of Tylerd’s private affairs. In February 1453 he joined the ranks of the trustees of the Pytman chantry in the Exeter parish church of St. Mary Major,13 Devon RO, St. Mary Major parish recs., 51/1/2/12. and later that year he was sued in Chancery by no less a man than Richard Wydeville, Lord Rivers, in a now obscure matter. He made his appearance before the chancellor and was acquitted as Wydeville defaulted.14 C253/34/288. At another time, he sealed a bond for £40 as surety for a debt owed to the local gentleman Nicholas Prous by one Joan Tylard, probably his mother or stepmother, and on account of the lady’s failure to repay the debt on the set day, was reduced to suing her in Chancery.15 C1/45/387.

At Michaelmas 1461 Tylerd was not re-elected to the council of 24. It seems probable that this owed more to his unwillingness to serve any longer than to any political disgrace, for he continued to attend the mayoral elections, at which his presence was regularly recorded throughout the 1460s. Perhaps on account of his experience, he returned to the ranks of the council in 1470-1, but does not appear to have served for more than a year thereafter.16 Exeter mayor’s ct. rolls 1-11 Edw. IV. The date of his death is not known. He was apparently still alive in August 1472 when his apprentice Edward Huchyn was admitted to the freedom, but is not heard of thereafter.17 Exeter Freemen, 56.