MARTON, John

Marton was the son of a York dyer who had purchased the freedom of the city in 1393-4. He himself was admitted by patrimony in 1427-8. In March 1429 he performed his first recorded duty as a freeman, when he sat on a jury at an inquisition post mortem.3 Freemen of York, 95, 141; CIPM, xxiii. 200. The identification of Marton at this early stage of his career is complicated by the existence of several namesakes in the city. One such individual, a cordwainer, had purchased the freedom in 1397 and in 1431 was appointed as one of the collectors of the parliamentary subsidy in the city, while another man of the same name was serving as clerk of the city’s sheriffs by March 1445.4 Freemen of York, 102; E179/217/35; York Memoranda Bk. iii (Surtees Soc. clxxxvi), 137. It was probably the cordwainer who served as one of the executors of the draper Thomas Karr and of William Girlington* in 1444: York registry wills, prob. reg. 2, ff. 82v-83v. The sheriffs’ clerk was almost certainly the man of that name admitted to the freedom as the son of William Marton, draper, in 1425, and who was serving as one of the custodians of the guild of Corpus Christi in 1440-1: Freemen of York, 138; CPR, 1441-6, p. 368; Reg. Guild Corpus Christi, York (Surtees Soc. lvii), 37.

The later MP, who by 1440 was renting property in Castlegate from the wardens of Ouse Bridge, had by 1444 joined the York Mercers’ Company.5 York Bridgemasters’ Accts. ed. Stell (York Arch. Trust, 2003), 202, 226, 239. He was elected to civic office in February 1447 as one of the chamberlains, but his career suffered a temporary setback when in July 1448 he was accused of uttering treasonable words against the King, and the mayor and aldermen were commissioned to investigate the affair.6 CPR, 1446-52, p. 191. The outcome of their investigation is unknown, as is the nature of Marton’s utterances, but in April 1449 John Kirkby, a York dyer, was rewarded with £20 at the Exchequer for his information about the alleged treason.7 E403/773, m. 16. By contrast, the civic elite of York seems to have closed ranks, and at Michaelmas 1449 Marton was chosen one of the sheriffs of York. In this capacity he was charged with the assessment of the alien subsidy in July of the following year, before joining the council of 24 on completion of his term of office, and it was as a member of this body that he attested the city’s parliamentary elections on 29 Oct. 1450.8 C219/16/1.

Little evidence survives of Marton’s career during the 1450s. He continued to serve as a member of the council of 24 throughout the decade (being recorded as present at council meetings in September 1455 and April 1457), but by 3 Feb. 1459 he had been elevated to the ranks of the aldermen.9 York Memoranda Bk. ii. 199, 200, 202. He was thus among the senior city fathers when the country erupted into open civil war in the early autumn. Even before the rout at Ludford Bridge which saw the lords allied with Richard, duke of York, driven into exile, a Parliament had been summoned to meet at Coventry on 20 Nov. Charged with holding an election, the York authorities evidently procrastinated for some time, and it was only on 26 Nov. that they finally returned two Members, who probably did not arrive at the Parliament until its more contentious business had been completed. Marton was among the aldermen who participated in the election and set their seal to the election indenture, but this was evidently a mere formality which did not preclude him from being himself returned to Parliament the following summer, when the Yorkists had returned in triumph, and prepared to overturn the measures taken by their opponents during their temporary eclipse.10 C219/16/5, 6.

Marton’s personal affairs are similarly obscure. His involvement in the mercery trade appears to have been restricted to domestic commerce. In Hilary term 1445 he sued the Scarborough merchant William Helperby* for a debt of 100s. in the court of common pleas, and in November 1448 he was one of four men who were bound by recognizances of £20 each that the York mercer Robert Collynson should satisfy the King of the customs due on lead seized at Newcastle-upon-Tyne by the searcher of ships there.11 CP40/736, rot. 64d; E159/225, recogniciones Mich. rot. 1. By 1450, however, he had apparently made enough money through trade to invest in property outside of the city and aspire to gentility, if he is to be identified with the John Marton, ‘gentleman’, assessed at £10 in the parliamentary subsidy of that year.12 E179/217/56.

Marton made his will on 13 June 1463. He asked to be buried in his parish church of St. Andrew, York, providing for his funeral there according to local custom. He left 21 marks for masses to be sung on the anniversary of his death for three years, and made further bequests to the clergy of the Minster, the mendicant orders and the guild of St. Christopher. He also gave 6s. 8d. for the fabric of the church of Holy Saviour, York, and 12d. to Knaresborough priory. His widow, Margaret, received certain jewels and £20 in cash, while his brother, William, a chaplain, was given a gradual. The testator’s only son, also called William, received a robe, while gifts of cash and clothing were made to several named servants. After these bequests had been made and his debts settled, the remainder of his estate was to be disposed of at the discretion of his widow for the benefit of his soul. Margaret, the merchant John Ince, and John Shirwood, clerk, were entrusted with the execution of his will and probate was granted on 18 Aug. that year.13 York registry wills, prob. reg. 2, f. 589.