ELKYNGTON, Simon, of Grimsby, Lincs.

The Elkyngton family was well known in Grimsby, and this MP may have been the son of Robert Elkyngton, one of the town bailiffs in 1399. Another Robert Elkyngton had acted regularly as a tax collector in Lindsey during the 1350s, and he, too, was probably one of Simon’s forebears. The latter first appears at Michaelmas 1414, when he himself became bailiff; and it was in this capacity that he held parliamentary elections in the borough a few weeks later. He was by trade a chapman, or general dealer, and at some point before August 1416 he became a trustee of the estates of another Grimsby tradesman named William Berewald. On Berewald’s death he and his associates sold the property to Simon Baker of Hull for £120.3C219/10/1; CFR, vi. 269, 335; vii. 45, 64; Cal. Kingston-upon-Hull Deeds, ed. Stanewell, D239, D241-3.

We do not know when Elkyngton married John Cameryng’s younger daughter, Margaret, but it was through her that he eventually acquired land in Risby, Appleby, Winterton and Ferriby. Although she had an older sister, Margaret was evidently her father’s favourite, since it was upon her that he settled the reversion of all his estates; and when he died, in February 1434, she became his next heir. After a few administrative delays Elkyngton took possession of the property, and in the following July he was confirmed as owner by the Crown.4C139/65/41; CCR, 1429-35, p. 282; CPR, 1429-36, p. 369.