WHITHAM, William, of Tavistock, Devon.

In September 1389 Whitham issued to Richard atte Barne and Sarah his wife a lease of two houses and a garden in Tavistock, which he had inherited from his father, for an annual rent of 12s., but he later quarrelled with his tenants, who brought an action for trespass against him, so that he was obliged to find sureties in Chancery. His mainpernors, as named in court in July 1401, included a skinner and a tailor from London, which may suggest that he was a merchant of sorts, perhaps trading in cloth produced locally at Tavistock.1Devon RO, 482A/PF30; CCR, 1399-1402, p. 406.