BUTLER, William, of Nottingham.

Butler was engaged in the production of woollen cloth in Nottingham by 1380.1Nottingham Archs. ct. roll 1293 m. 14d; E101/343/21 (erroneously dated in VCH Notts. ii. 346 as 1398). At the time of his first return to Parliament he owned a house in Goose Gate, and in 1390 he charged a tenant of his with breach of contract regarding a 20-year lease on another property.2Nottingham ct. roll 1286 m. 6d, 1291 m. 1. Although never an office holder, Butler was often called upon to witness the enrolment of deeds in the borough court, and in the spring of 1389 he was chosen by a prominent wool merchant, John Tansley, to act as his feoffee.3Nottingham Recs. i. 248, 258, 265; Nottingham ct. roll 1288 m. 16d. On 15 Nov. 1396, on behalf of his wife, Butler brought a plaint in the local court against William Blanch. The latter’s wife had been placed by the ecclesiastical authorities at St. Peter’s church in Alice Butler’s care the previous Saturday, pending divorce proceedings, and Butler alleged that Blanch had assaulted Alice in the churchyard on Sunday and, having covered her head with his cloak, ‘so did with her that she could not see’. The Butlers received damages of £5.4Nottingham Recs. i. 327-8. William died before 1404.5JUST 1/1514 m. 77.