BERE, John II

Bere’s origins and early life are obscure, although he was a local man. The Bere family were long established in and around Rochester: in the early fourteenth century a John Bere was a tenant on the manor of Ambree.2 F.F. Smith, Rochester in Parl. 77. By 1429 our MP was renting a tenement called Le Pewterpot in Rochester itself from the wardens of Rochester bridge, which he continued to lease for at least 20 years.3 Rochester Bridge Trust, wardens’ accts. 1429-30, F 1/38. Bere had entered royal service several years earlier, in about 1413,4 The grant of the portership of Rochester castle on 3 Nov. 1457 recalled his service to Hen. V, Hen. VI and Queen Margaret over 44 years: CPR, 1452-61, p. 392. and the records of the Household show him occupying a minor position there through the 1420s and 1430s. As such he took part in Henry VI’s coronation expedition to France.5 E101/408/1, f. 15; 11, f. 8; 25, f. 8. Thus when he was first elected in to represent Rochester in the Parliament which assembled in January 1437 he was a member of the royal household, albeit with strong local connexions. On 23 Oct., after the Parliament had been dissolved, his standing in the locality was further enhanced when, described as a yeoman of the King’s chandlery, he was appointed porter of Rochester castle during good behaviour. On 20 Mar. 1439 this patent was cancelled and a new one, granting him the office for life, was issued.6 CPR, 1436-41, pp. 97, 251.

In December 1441 Bere was elected for a second time to represent Rochester in the Parliament summoned to meet at Westminster the following month. It was perhaps while a Member of the Commons that he petitioned for further royal grants, receiving a share of certain goods forfeited for treason, and, on 16 July, he received a confirmation of his office as porter of Rochester castle.7 CPR, 1441-6, p. 43; 1446-52, p. 509. Two years later Bere was among those members of Henry VI’s household sent to France to escort his new queen, Margaret of Anjou, to England. He and 38 other royal servants were later rewarded with £100 for their expenses during the journey.8 E404/62/143. Bere transferred to the service of Queen Margaret, receiving 6d. a day as a yeoman of her household at least until Michaelmas 1452. Although he lost his portership of Rochester castle under the Act of Resumption of 1450, on 13 Dec. 1451, probably through the good offices of the queen, it was re-granted to him. Little more than four years later another Act of Resumption saw Bere forfeit the office a second time. He again petitioned for it to be returned to him, citing his good service over a period of 44 years ‘without any reward’, and on 3 Nov. 1457 was again granted the portership.9 CPR, 1446-52, p. 509; 1452-61, p. 391. Bere probably anticipated a successful conclusion to his appeals for patronage: from Michaelmas 1456 he had been renting a marsh underneath the walls of the castle from the wardens of Rochester bridge. This was also overlooked by his mansion house on Bully Hill.10 Rochester Bridge wardens’ accts. 1456-7, F 1/52; Smith, 77. The last piece of patronage Bere received from the Lancastrian regime was a pardon of all offences on 29 Mar. 1460. He presumably lost his office on the accession of Edward IV in March the following year: on 14 Apr. the King granted the keeping of Rochester castle to John Fogg† and the minor offices within the castle may then have fallen under Fogg’s control.11 CPR, 1452-61, p. 568; 1461-7, p. 12.

Although little evidence remains of Bere’s activities in Rochester, it seems likely that he was a member of the city’s governing body and as such witnessed a local will in 1447 alongside Thomas Cotyng*, the bailiff.12 Centre for Kentish Studies, Rochester consist. ct. wills, 1440-53, DRb/PWr 1, f. 48. Glimpses of his private dealings include a suit he brought in the court of common pleas in 1439 against one Henry Daventry of Canterbury for stealing 40s.-worth of fodder from his close in nearby Minster.13 CP40/713, rot. 13. Bere made his will on 18 July 1466, by which time he must have been an old man. He asked to be buried in St. Nicholas’s parish church, Rochester, and left bequests to the high altar there and for the church fabric. His messuage in ‘Appillane’ in the city was bequeathed to his widow, with remainder to his son Laurence. The latter, his sole executor, was also to have his eight acres of land at ‘le Mase’ in Frindesbury and to share Bere’s goods and chattels with the widow.14 Rochester consist. ct. wills, 1453-61, DRb/PWr 2, f. 387v.