WENT, Thomas

Went was one of a number of Crown servants who lived in Southwark and came to represent the borough in Parliament in this period. He had joined the ranks of the yeomen of the royal household by March 1430, when he was retained for Henry VI’s coronation expedition to France at daily wages of 6d. a day,3 E404/46/302-3; PPC, vi. 213. and continued in his household office for more than 24 years, and probably until the end of the reign. Went served in the royal domus providencie, specifically the avenary and stables where in 1444-5 he assisted John Hampton II*, the master of the queen’s horses, and was involved in the purchase of horses for Queen Margaret on her arrival in England. Later, his superior was John Pury*.4 Letters and Pprs. Illust. Wars of English ed. Stevenson, i. 447-8; PPC, vi. 213.

There can be little doubt that it was Went’s membership of the Household that led to his return to the Parliament summoned to Coventry in the autumn of 1459. It is not known what contribution, if any, he made to the deliberations of the Commons, but his service was apparently deemed acceptable at court, since in June 1460, shortly before the Yorkist lords landed at Sandwich, he was granted custody of some of the duke of York’s forfeited lands, comprising a grange, a small wood and seven acres of land in Deptford, Kent, and 62 acres of meadow in various parts of Surrey, which he was to hold for 20 years at an annual farm of eight marks.5 CFR, xix. 275.

Despite the timing of Went’s appearance in Parliament it is clear that he was not simply foisted upon the borough of Southwark as an outsider. He was probably living there from at least January 1451 when, along with other local residents, he was a recipient of the gift of goods and chattels made by Thomas Cardiff, a brewer.6 CCR, 1447-54, p. 249. He regularly witnessed similar transactions for his neighbours, and was a popular choice as a feoffee, even if his activity in that capacity periodically resulted in litigation.7 CCR, 1447-54, p. 505; 1454-61, pp. 107-8, 256, 373-4; C1/16/159, 417; CAD, vi. C4310. One such dispute concerned some of the property of the fraternity of Our Lady and St. George in the Southwark parish church of St. George, which – as was customary for the holdings of such unincorporated bodies – was held by feoffees of local standing, of whom Went was one.8 C1/28/203.

It is unclear whether Went remained in post during the Yorkist ascendancy in the second half of 1460, but he certainly lost his household office after Edward IV’s accession in March 1461. He does not, however, seem to have suffered any other reprisals, and continued to play his part in Southwark life. In June 1463, he was party to a dispute with William Copley over the ownership of a tenement called The Cok which was submitted to the adjudication of local arbiters, who decided that Copley should give up his title to the messuage on payment of £40 by Went and the others.9 C1/27/256-7; CAD, i. C920. The same summer, he stood bail in the court of common pleas for his parliamentary colleague of 1459, Alexander Fayreford*, the former coroner of the marshalsea of Henry VI’s household. Nothing is known of Went’s career thereafter.10 CP40/809, rot. 353d.