CONINGSBY, Thomas (d.1425), of Shepperton, Mdx.

Thomas Coningsby’s father, a Middlesex landowner whose estates were centred upon the manors of Lower and Upper Halliford in Shepperton, was probably the John Coningsby who acted as a purveyor for the royal household almost continuously during the 1360s, and who, in December 1365, received a royal grant for life from Edward III of property in Great Yarmouth.CPR, 1361-4, pp. 26, 32, 273, 321-2, 462; 1364-7, pp. 94, 192, 230, 297, 378. John acquired most of his land in Middlesex through his marriage to Margaret Halliford, and it was thus not until her death, as a widow aged at least 80, that Thomas Coningsby came into the bulk of his inheritance. Part of this comprised the manor and advowson of Littleton, which he appears to have sold in, or before, January 1424 — perhaps because of pressing financial circumstances — to the London fishmonger, Guy Porkeley.CP25(1)151/71/466; Guildhall Lib. 9171/3, f. 31; CCR, 1422-9, pp. 130-2, 134-5.

Although he did not gain possession of the family estates until the end of his life, Coningsby was none the less a man of some influence in Middlesex, which he represented in five Parliaments over a period of almost 30 years. He was also present at the election of the shire knights in 1417 and 1421 (for the May Parliament), and possibly attended other county elections before he died.C219/12/2, 5. Coningsby’s activities as a tax collector and commissioner further show him to have played a significant — if not continuous — part in local government, but comparatively little is now known about his more personal affairs. He acted as a feoffee-to-uses on a number of occasions from June 1395 to March 1422, most notably for Godfrey atte Perry, and his own brother-in-law, the London draper, Thomas Ayston; his name also appears among the witnesses to various Middlesex and Buckinghamshire deeds drawn up during this period.Add. Ch. 272008; CP25(1)151/81/151; CAD, iii. B4095; CCR, 1413-19, p. 72; 1419-22, p. 229.

Coningsby died between 18 Oct. and 10 Nov. 1425, only six years after being made the sole executor of his mother’s will. He was buried at the hospital of the Blessed Virgin without Bishopsgate, London, where his last days were spent as a member of the community.Guildhall Lib. 9171/3, ff. 31, 149.