GOLDE, Richard, of Devon.

It may have been this Richard Golde who in 1358 acquired from the duchy of Cornwall a lease of lands between ‘Walla Brook’ and ‘Renewyth’ on Dartmoor, for which he was still paying rent in 1380.S.A. Moore, Dartmoor Forest, 23, 27, 37. In July 1383 Golde took out royal letters of protection to last for one year while he was in Ireland in Sir Philip Courtenay’s retinue; and it was perhaps through Courtenay’s influence that he came to sit for Plympton in the Parliaments of 1385 and 1386, for Sir Philip’s nephew, Edward, earl of Devon, was then lord of the borough. It is more difficult to find an explanation for his return for Exeter, a city which usually chose its representatives from its own merchant community or from a small group of up-and-coming Devonshire lawyers, although kinship with Adam Golde, then a member of the council of 12, may have been a factor. Exeter paid John Grey I and ‘his colleague’ (Golde) £1 6s.8d. for their expenses in attending the Parliament.CPR, 1381-5, p. 293; Trans. Devon Assoc. lx. 188-9.