WELSBOURNE, John I

It is possible that the Welsbournes originated from one of the two villages of Wellesbourne in Warwickshire. They were certainly of obscure origin, in spite of their later claims of descent from Richard de Montfort alias Welsbourne, a fictitious son of Simon de Montfort. Richard was supposed to have settled at Hughenden, immediately to the north of Wycombe, and in Henry VIII’s reign those of the Welsbournes residing in that parish went to the length of erecting a fake tomb for their imaginary ancestor in the church there.2 Bucks. Recs. vii. 364-412. Fooled by this family myth, the VCH Bucks. refers to the MP as ‘Sir John Welsbourne’ and conflates him with his son and namesake: iii. 59.

The MP is frequently difficult to identify; partly because of the lack of a genuine Welsbourne pedigree and partly because he shared a name with other members of his family. He had probably reached adulthood by September 1404, when the Crown, reacting to reports of lawless behaviour by William atte Halle and his adherents, commissioned Sir Hugh Holes and other Buckinghamshire gentry to investigate. It was said that John Wyke alias Welsbourne, Jude Wyke and others had ambushed and assaulted William Saunderton at West Wycombe, and that they and many other members of atte Halle’s ‘affinity’ had risen against Saunderton and his friends, with the intention of killing them and burning their houses.3 CPR, 1401-5, p. 437. Given that the MP married atte Halle’s daughter, it is more than likely that he was the John Wyke or Welsbourne who took part in the mayor’s quarrel with Saunderton.

There is no information for any trade or profession Welsbourne may have pursued. Evidently one of the leading men of Wycombe, as his time as its mayor and his election to Parliament indicate, he was a tenant of both Bassetsbury, the duchy of Lancaster manor which encompassed most of the borough, and the Hospitallers’ manor of Temple Wycombe.4 St. George’s Chapel, Windsor, recs., XV/15/1; Centre for Bucks. Studies, Temple Wycombe ct. rolls, 1415-32, 1462-71, D176/4-5. Bassetsbury was among the estates assigned to Queen Katherine, widow of Henry V, and in March 1423 Welsbourne and other tenants came before her steward, Sir Walter Beauchamp†, in the manor court to swear fealty to her.5 St. George’s Chapel recs. XV/15/1, m. 35. The properties Welsbourne held of Bassetsbury included lands at Kingsmead, as well as other lands which had come to him in the right of his wife.6 Ibid. m. 33; DL29/653/10565, m. 17. From the Hospitallers, he held a tenement called ‘Aylewyns’ and a mill.7 Temple Wycombe ct. roll D176/4, mm. 4, 6. He also possessed tenements in Wycombe’s High Street and Crendon Lane.8 Centre for Bucks. Studies, CH1 T/6/5; HMC 5th Rep. 563. Outside Wycombe, he obtained an interest in lands in and around Chinnor in Oxfordshire and, apparently, properties at Hughenden, Little Missenden and Princes Risborough in Buckinghamshire.9 CAD, vi. C5012; CP25(1)/22/120/21. It is also likely that he was the John Welsbourne whose possession of lands at Chipping Marlow in the latter county was disputed in the Chancery.10 C1/38/226. This Chancery suit was initiated by Thomas Scalle of London, who claimed that he was wrongfully disseised of the lands by ‘John Welsbourne the elder’ of Chipping Wycombe. The bill could date from either 1433-43 or 1467-72 and the outcome of the suit is not known.

In September 1443 Welsbourne and his wife conveyed a close in Walton (near Aylesbury) to John Baldwyn the elder and others, although to what purpose is not known.11 Worcs. Archs., Hampton (Packington) mss, 705: 349/12946/494998. Over the years he was also involved in property transactions at Wycombe and elsewhere on behalf of others, both as a witness and feoffee.12 CP25(1)/22/118/17; 292/66/96; Centre for Bucks. Studies, CH1 T/6/1 (b), 2, T14; CCR, 1429-35, p. 43. It was from John Justicer*, probably one of his closest associates among his fellow burgesses, that he acquired an interest in the lands at Chinnor, by means of a conveyance of February 1437.13 CAD, vi. C5012. Justicer died shortly after this transaction took place, having appointed Welsbourne the overseer of his will.14 Centre for Bucks. Studies, CH1 T/14.

By the mid 1430s the MP was known as ‘John Welsbourne senior’, to distinguish him from his son, who sat for Wycombe in the Parliaments of 1447 and February 1449 and joined the King’s household. In 1443 the MP was in dispute with two of his debtors (both husbandmen from Buckinghamshire) in the court of common pleas, but it is unclear whether it was he or his younger namesake who sued Ralph Paselewe of Wycombe and his wife for trespass in the same court in the following year.15 CP40/730, rot. 403; 732, rot. 432d. It is similarly unclear which John Welsbourne acted on behalf of Thomas Merston* of Wycombe in a conveyance of late 1445.16 Centre for Bucks. Studies, CH1 T/6/5. The MP was certainly dead by the beginning of 1450, when the younger John conveyed away the lands his late father had held in and around Chinnor to his fellow Household man John Wykes (presumably a relative) and the latter’s wife.17 CAD, vi. C5012. Confusingly, a John Welsbourne ‘the elder’ was involved in a conveyance at Wycombe a few months later: presumably this was the younger John, who had adopted his father’s former sobriquet to distinguish him from another namesake: Centre for Bucks. Studies, CH1 T/6/10.