BUSHELL, Roger (by 1478-1538/39), of Kingston-upon-Hull, Yorks.

Roger Bushell was, like his father, a merchant of the staple who dealt in other things besides wool; his interest in the Danzig trade is reflected in his testimony of 1499 against the Easterlings, and in 1518 he is found importing herrings and figs into Hull. After his second mayoralty a merchant from Suffolk who sued Bushell in the Star Chamber for impounding a cargo of fish at Hull for non-payment of port dues described him as ‘one of the most substantial men and [a] great ruler’ of that town, a status which was reflected in his choice with two others in 1527 to defend the town in certain matters of controversy heard before the Duke of Richmond. In 1538 he and the mayor reported to Cromwell on their inquiry into the conveyance of victuals overseas. Bushell must by then have been an old man, and it is perhaps not surprising that he did not sit in Parliament again after 1510—unless he did so in 1523, when the names of the Members are lost.4Stanewell, D461, 488A, 531, M479(32) et passim; VCH Yorks. (E. Riding), i. 63, 66; CPR, 1494-1509, p. 448; Bronnen tot de Geschiedenis van den Handel met Engeland, Schotland en Ierland, ed. Smit, i. 263; Yorks. St. Ch. Procs. ii (Yorks. Arch. Soc. rec. ser. xlv), 40-41; LP Hen. VIII, xiii.

Bushell died between 23 Dec. 1538, the date of his will, and 24 Mar. 1539 when it was proved.5York wills 11, f. 352.