Hugh Fastolf came from a prolific family of merchant shipowners established at Yarmouth. By 1350 the Fastolfs were already leading figures in the local community: Hugh’s father had served several terms as bailiff, and four other members of the family had been elected as parliamentary representatives for the borough. Yet it was Hugh himself who was to lay the firm foundation for the family’s prosperity in the 15th century, at the same time forging a place for himself and his descendants in the ranks of the landed gentry. Fastolf’s career, so full of varied and interesting incident, may be loosely divided into three periods: his early life as a burgess and merchant of Yarmouth, during which he played an increasingly important part in the organization of naval convoys for the defence of the east coast; the period when, as a citizen of London, he became entangled with other merchant capitalists in major political events; and the last few years of his life, when his activities were those of a typical member of the East Anglian gentry. The many strands of his career were, however, interwoven, by no means following a strictly chronological pattern.
At first Fastolf’s property was for the most part limited to Yarmouth itself, but over the years he acquired substantial landed holdings not only in the neighbourhood of the port in whose trade his wealth originated, but also near Lowestoft and Ipswich. Thus, in 1363 he purchased the manor of ‘Vaux Hall’ in Caister, just outside Yarmouth, to which he and his brother, John (d.1383), subsequently added other premises to create a sizeable estate; and he later acquired the manor of Beighton and other properties in south-east Norfolk at Tunstall and Wheatacre, and, over the border in Suffolk, lands at Carleton, Kirkley, Kessingland and elsewhere.
Fastolf was enabled to achieve all this through successful trading ventures and astute investment of earnings as a naval commander. He had already made his mark in the merchant community by 1351 when he secured appointment as controller of customs in his home port; and three years later his fellow burgesses elected him bailiff for the first of nine terms. Yet even at this early stage in his career Fastolf excited enmity, and he was to prove unpopular with the lower orders in Yarmouth. During that first bailiffship he and his brother John were indicted for causing the death of a local goldsmith; they obtained royal pardons in May 1355, but four years later they were again in trouble and brought to trial for an assault.
On one occasion it was remarked that Fastolf was ‘constantly attendant ... upon divers of the King’s affairs’, not only at sea but in the execution of numerous royal commissions. Such service sometimes earned him perquisites over and above the normal remuneration. In 1363 he had been granted custody of the bailiwick of two hundreds of Suffolk, which he retained for 20 years, no doubt making a profit after the fixed farm had been paid into the Exchequer. There were considerable trading concessions too, both indirect and direct aids to his mercantile ventures: thus, in 1356 he had been authorized to supply the Black Prince’s family, then living in Norfolk, with fish; and in 1364 he was issued with licences first to take £80 in gold in his ship La Cristofre to purchase wine and salt in Brittany, secondly to ship cloth to Calais where he could procure wine for re-sale in England, and thirdly to export ale, wheat, peas and oats from Yarmouth to Flanders. Then, in 1372 he was permitted to ship 130 sacks of wool to the Low Countries, paying the lower rate of subsidy usually reserved for aliens. In addition, he secured at the Exchequer the farm of the estates of the alien priory of Panfield (Essex) with its cell at Well Hall (Norfolk), an important acquisition which he probably held from 1373 until his death nearly 20 years later.
Despite his employment by the Crown and his concern for his own business affairs, Fastolf nevertheless continued to be actively involved in the administration of the town of Yarmouth. Besides serving as parliamentary burgess on five occasions, he had also acted as one of the delegates sent in 1367 to discuss before the King’s Council how best to resolve the disputes between the merchants of Yarmouth and those of the Cinque Ports as to whether the latter should continue to have trading privileges at Yarmouth fair. In Yarmouth itself there was considerable unrest, and in 1376, during Fastolf’s last term as bailiff, this erupted in a storm of resentment. The Good Parliament, which sat from April to July, heard petitions from the ‘poor men’ of the town against their ‘great and powerful’ masters, complaining of many oppressions, wrongs and hardships, the principal bone of contention being that the merchant oligarchy had taken control over the herring trade, thus enriching itself and impoverishing the less privileged townsmen. William Ellis was the main target of complaint, but, towards the end of the session, Fastolf was also impeached both ‘by various bills put forward and by clamour, for various extortions, misprisions, champerties, maintenance and oppression done by him’. Edward III yielded to the Commons’ demands; Yarmouth’s charter was revoked; and in October Fastolf and his fellows were required to provide substantial securities that they would not harm the ‘poor men’ of the town. But in the event their regime did not collapse. Judicial inquiries held on 11 Jan. 1377 established that two years earlier a number of townsmen had ‘conspired’ against Fastolf and the bailiffs, fixing the price of corn and other victuals sold in the market, and in the Parliament which assembled the same month (with Fastolf again representing the borough), assertions were made on his behalf that it was ‘by malice of his enemies’ that he had been impeached in the previous Parliament, and his good name was restored.
By this time, Fastolf had established many influential connexions. In the 1360s he had had business dealings with Mary de St. Pol, the dowager countess of Pembroke, and in later years he occasionally appeared on behalf of Margaret Marshal, countess of Norfolk, serving, for instance, as a mainpernor for her and her daughter Anne, another countess of Pembroke, and, in 1380, assisting in the financial arrangements necessary for her purchase of a ward’s marriage. He was also acquainted with a number of the former retainers of the Black Prince: he acted as a feoffee of the estates of Sir Thomas Felton KG, and had dealings with Sir Lewis Clifford and Sir Richard Stury.
Fastolf did not lack for important contacts at Richard II’s court, and with their help he had recently secured the sinecure post of King’s bailiff of Framsden in Suffolk. He had had financial dealings with Richard’s tutor and friend, Sir Simon Burley, in 1382, and not long afterwards had been appointed by him as his deputy constable of Dover castle and warden of the Cinque Ports. From February to April 1385 he was engaged on a diplomatic mission to the Low Countries, no doubt for negotiations touching trade between the Dutch and the English, and his absence overseas, coupled with his preoccupation with duties at Dover, led to his resignation as an alderman of London in August. He was again sent as an envoy to the Netherlands early in 1387, his principal assignment being to treat for safe conducts for English merchants to trade at Middleburg, although there was also some ‘secret business’ of the King’s to be done. That July Fastolf secured custody at the Exchequer of the important lordship of Lowestoft and the hundred of Lothingland (Suffolk), previously held by the earl of Suffolk, for which he agreed to pay £70 a year. Exactly how long he remained as Burley’s lieutenant is not known, although it seems likely that he left his service before October 1387 when, following disputes with Ralph Ramsey and other of Burley’s retainers, he was required under a penalty of £1,000 to do them no harm. A month earlier he had been elected sheriff of London. This was to prove an extremely difficult term of office, coinciding as it did with the political crisis in which not only Burley but also Fastolf’s associate Sir Nicholas Brembre was executed. It was probably to the Merciless Parliament of February 1388 that the cutlers of London sent their petition asking that the mayor, Nicholas Exton, the recorder, William Cheyne, and the sheriff, Fastolf, should be ousted from civic office for ever as erstwhile accomplices of the despised Brembre. Although in July Fastolf obtained from the government, now controlled by the Lords Appellant, confirmation of his custody of Lowestoft, only a month later there was a rumour circulating in the City to the effect that he and an alderman named John Churchman had been arrested and taken to the Tower by order of the Council, and that Churchman ‘had had his head broken’ by the duke of Gloucester. While the report proved false, it does indicate that Fastolf was considered to be out of favour with the Appellants, and also that he had become unpopular, at least in certain sectors of the community of London.
In 1389 the centre of Fastolf’s interests moved away from the capital back to East Anglia. Following Richard II’s re-assertion of his authority over the government, he was appointed as a j.p. in Suffolk and, four months later, as sheriff of the joint bailiwick of Norfolk and Suffolk. He was, therefore, responsible for making the return which recorded his own election as a shire knight to the Parliament of 1390 (Nov.), although no longer in office when the Commons actually met. In the following February the King authorized a gift to Fastolf of 50 marks, perhaps as a token of appreciation for his services over the previous 40 years. It was now that the aged merchant turned his attention to the disposition of his property. In 1385 he had formally leased his lands out to feoffees; now, in August 1391, he placed his goods and chattels in the hands of friends for safe-keeping, and finally, on 11 May 1392 he made arrangements for the disposal of his estates after his death. Those party to the transactions included John Hadley, the London grocer, and Sir Miles Stapleton, the Norfolk landowner, thus reflecting Fastolf’s major interests. He died intestate not long afterwards,