BERWICK, Thomas, of Berwick by Attingham, and Shrewsbury, Salop.

As of Berwick by Attingham (some four miles from Shrewsbury), Thomas was admitted as a burgess of Shrewsbury in 1372. He was unusual among the parliamentary burgesses of the town in never holding municipal office, and his interests seem to have lain elsewhere. He witnessed conveyances in 1376 and 1379 at Sugden, Lilieshall and Rodington, and when, in 1383, his son John took out a royal pardon, Thomas was described as a resident of Shropshire, not more simply as of Shrewsbury.Trans. Salop Arch. Soc. (ser. 3), iii. 76; iv. 232; Add. 30318, ff. 13, 23, 71; Shrewsbury Lib. deeds, 4413, 4415; C67/29 m. 5. In April 1397 Berwick found mainprise in Chancery for James Dyer of Shrewsbury, who shortly afterwards nominated him to act as one of his attorneys in Ireland for a period of two years. He evidently returned earlier, however, for in July 1398 he provided securities in Chancery for Thomas Stones, and on 13 Jan. 1399 he secured a royal grant of £20 accruing from broken sureties for the peace made by certain Shropshire men. In the feud then being waged in Shrewsbury between Nicholas Gerard and the Thornes and Biriton families, Berwick appears to have supported the former: he stood surety for him in a bond for £100 the following week, and it was in fact with Gerard that he was to be returned to Parliament later that year. In October 1401 Berwick was party to the foundation of the ‘tailors’ chantry’ at the altar of St. John the Baptist in St. Chad’s church, Shrewsbury, and paid the six marks required for the royal licence. He is not recorded thereafter.CCR, 1396-9, pp. 119, 387, 430; CPR, 1396-9, pp. 145, 463; 1401-5, p. 4; Trans. Salop Arch. Soc. (ser. 4), i. 141. His son predeceased him: Trans. Salop Arch. Soc. (ser. 3), iii. 76.