COMBES, William

Little is recorded of Combes’s origins or family, apart from the names of his parents, which are only known through the provision that William made in his will for a chantry to benefit their souls. Like all London citizens, Combes was required to obtain the freedom through one of the City’s official trades or ‘misteries’, and he seems to have done so in the first instance through the glovers. Early references to him from the late 1420s describe him as a ‘fellmonger’, indicating that his interests were broader than his mystery might suggest, and it is thus perhaps not surprising that in August 1433 he sought (and was granted) the permission of the mayor and aldermen to translate from the Glovers’ into the Fishmongers’ Company.3 CCR, 1422-9, pp. 391-2; Cal. Letter Bk. London, K, 168. The paucity of the records of the Fishmongers’ Company for this period makes it difficult to reconstruct his early career with any precision, although by the early 1430s he was also occasionally referred to as a stockfishmonger, suggesting that he had developed a particular interest in the trade in dried or cured fish.4 Cal. Letter Bk. London, K, 115; PCC 17 Rous (PROB11/1, ff. 133v-135); CCR, 1422-9, pp. 391-2; Corp. London RO, hr 155/53. By this time Combes was already closely associated with the prominent ironmonger and merchant John Reynwell*, and it is highly likely that his career was heavily influenced and shaped by his relationship with the alderman. During the 1420s and 1430s Combes acted as a feoffee of property held by Reynwell in several London parishes as well as that he had acquired in Calais, and in March 1430 he stood surety when John was awarded the guardianship of his nephew, William Reynwell. Although he was not one of John Reynwell’s executors it was perhaps not surprising that, following the latter’s death in 1445, Combes was appointed by the mayor and aldermen to audit the accounts of those chosen to administer the deceased alderman’s estate. In October 1447, in recognition of his work in this capacity, he was granted a 30-year lease on certain of Reynwell’s properties in Calais at an annual rent of just six marks.5 Corp. London RO, hr 155/53, 163/61, 169/46; jnl. 4, f. 160; Cal. P. and M. London, 1437-57, p. 20; Cal. Letter Bk. London, K, 115, 322; Guildhall Lib. London, commissary ct. wills, 9171/3, f. 161.

It may well have been with Reynwell’s help that Combes, although not destined to be among London’s most mercantile elite, became a merchant of the Calais staple. The earliest surviving reference to him as a ‘merchant’ dates from July 1438 when, with John Gedney* and two fellow stockfishmongers, he was a recipient of a gift of goods and chattels evidently made in the course of a business transaction.6 Cal. P. and M. London, 1437-57, p. 160. Relatively little, however, is known of his mercantile activities, whether it be his involvement in the wool trade or his activities as a supplier of fish. Nevertheless it is clear that by the end of the 1440s Combes became a man of some standing within the Calais fellowship. Thus, in 1451, described as a ‘woolman’, he, along with another fishmonger, John Bromer*, stood surety for Robert Manfeld* in Chancery on the latter’s appointment as master of the Mint.7 CCR, 1447-54, p. 371. By this time the maintenance of the Calais staplers’ monopoly of the export trade in wool had become a vital issue for the merchants, for the Crown was increasingly resorting to granting licences to foreigners, royal servants and others, enabling them to export wool through Calais free of customs duty, or even to bypass the staple altogether. In July 1449 Combes was chosen with several other staplers as a member of an embassy which was sent to treat with representatives of the duke of Burgundy concerning the activities of merchants who were managing to avoid sending their wool through Calais.8 DKR, xlviii. 380. Related concerns for the staplers were the repayment of the loans which they had advanced to the Crown, which by that autumn amounted to £10,700. Combes himself had advanced £276 16s. 10d., and on 20 Oct. he was granted permission to ship wool and woolfells free of payment of customs to the value of £69 4s. 2½ d. in part repayment, while his fellow staplers received similar concessions. They then made a further loan of £2,000 for the wages of Henry, Viscount Bourgchier and Ralph, Lord Sudeley, sent to Calais for its safeguard, but the Crown’s failure to repay the money prompted them to submit a petition to the Parliament then in session. Accordingly, letters patent were issued on 20 Mar. 1450, authorizing the repayment of part of this sum through customs dues, but Combes was never properly reimbursed.9 CPR, 1446-52, pp. 315, 323-4; 1452-61, p. 210; RP, v. 208 (cf. PROME, xii. 157). The staplers were forced to make temporary arrangements: in 1450-1 several bonds were handed over to the Grocers’ Company by John Walden*, in respect of the sum of £477 (plus interest) which the Company had lent to the staplers, presumably in order to cover ongoing expenses. One of these obligations was sealed by Combes and his fellow staplers William Cantelowe*, Geoffrey Feldyng* and John Middleton*.10 P. Nightingale, Med. Mercantile Community, 468; Ms. Archs. Grocers’ Co. ed. Kingdon, 315.

Relatively little is recorded about the property acquired by Combes, although by 1436 his holdings in London were said to be worth £6 p.a., quite a modest sum for a man about to be elected to the aldermannic bench. Their location is hard to determine, for in most of the surviving transactions Combes appears to have acted principally as a trustee of property held by other individuals such as the alderman John Paddesley. A possible exception may be a conveyance of lands, tenements and a quay in the parish of St. Mary at Hill which was made by two drapers to Combes, Feldyng, Cantelowe and Middleton in June 1450. It is possible that on this occasion his fellow staplers were acting as his feoffees.11 E179/238/90; S.L. Thrupp, Merchant Class Med. London, 380; Corp. London RO, hr 167/20-21, 179/3, 9, 25-26, 176/13, 181/12. It may also be significant that he succeeded in translating his aldermanry in 1451 to the waterfront ward of Castle Baynard, for it is probable that like many merchants, especially fishmongers, he had property close to the wharves and quays used to load and unload goods. It was doubtless for this reason that he and his wife Katherine chose to live in the parish of St. George Eastcheap which, while not itself by the Thames, was close to the wharves at Billingsgate used by his fellow fishmongers. Once again, the full extent or value of his holdings in this parish is not recorded, but it is clear from his will that besides tenements in St. Bartholomew’s Lane and St. George’s Lane he also held property in Botolph’s Lane, which ran down through the parish to the river. This last property may once have been among Reynwell’s holdings, for the reversion was held by the latter’s executor, William Stafford.12 Corp. London RO, hr 200/13. Outside London it is clear that Combes had close links with Snodland in Kent, where he held the manor of Veles (or ‘Les Veillez’). This was purchased by him in 1448 from the same William Stafford and one Robert Mildenhale, and was subsequently held by his widow Katherine during her lifetime before passing to their son, George.13 Jnl. 4, f. 223v; Cal. P. and M. London, 1437-57, p. 167.

Combes’s career within the civic administration in London was unusual in that he was elected as an alderman for the ward of Farringdon Without in December 1437 with little or no documented experience of the City’s government.14 The incomplete survival of the city journals in the 1430s makes it impossible to be certain on this point. Indeed his only involvement in civic affairs was as an attestor at the parliamentary election the previous year, while his only prior administrative appointment, in July 1437, was as a royal commissioner in Surrey, although the main task of the commission – to inquire into avoidance of the Calais staple – meant that he had been singled out to represent the staplers’ interests on a body whose membership was otherwise entirely drawn from the ranks of the Surrey gentry.15 Jnl. 3, ff. 185, 185v. This may in fact provide a clue as to his otherwise curious absence from the records of the City government prior to this date, as it is highly likely that as a merchant of the staple he spent long periods of time abroad. A bequest in his will suggests that he may have been a member of the fraternity of the Holy Trinity in Calais. Once elected as an alderman, however, Combes took his responsibilities seriously, and the following year was chosen as one of the city’s four auditors. Not having held the post before being elevated to the aldermannic bench, Combes proceeded to make up for this by serving for four consecutive terms. His last term in the post, 1441-2, must have been especially burdensome, for in an unusual move the court of aldermen also chose him as one of the sheriffs for that year. In the meantime Combes had been chosen on several occasions by the court to act as an arbiter in disputes,16 Ibid. f. 37. while his abilities were once again drawn upon by the Crown in July 1439 when he was appointed to another commission, this time in Dorset where he and his fellows were to inquire into the avoidance of customs duties and other mercantile offences.

Combes’s standing as an alderman and merchant grew during the 1440s. From July 1441 to at least 1445 he served as one of the constables of the Westminster staple.17 C241/229/37, 230/34, 105. In August 1442, two months after contributing £20 to a corporate loan to the Crown, Combes was chosen with William Melreth*, John Hatherley*, John Norman* and other aldermen to accompany the mayor to an audience with the King, after which they were to scrutinize the weirs on the Thames. Each alderman was permitted to dress in scarlet robes and to take three servants.18 Jnl. 3, ff. 137, 144v. Once he had relinquished the shrievalty Combes continued to be appointed to positions of responsibility, including, in October 1444, the committee charged with investigating William Wetenhale’s tenure of the post of warden of London Bridge. The following year he made an unsuccessful bid for the vacant aldermanry of Billingsgate, a ward which contained the city’s principal fish market and was home to a number of members of his own craft.19 Jnl. 4, f. 100. In the meantime, the deliberations of the Wetenhale committee continued, but in January 1447 Combes resigned, shortly after having been elected as one of the city’s MPs to attend the Parliament summoned to meet at Bury St. Edmunds on 10 Feb. This Parliament was the setting for the arrest of the duke of Gloucester at the instigation of his opponents at court, but the duke’s death, shortly after being taken into custody, overshadowed the proceedings of the assembly and helped to stir up popular opposition to those around the King. In the event, the Parliament was dissolved after less than a month, and Combes was able to resume his place on the long-running Wetenhale committee.20 Ibid. ff. 155v, 160v. Appointments to other city committees followed, while in March 1450 he was chosen with the mercer John Olney as an arbiter in a dispute between a London draper and Sir John Astley of Warwickshire. In August the same year he was chosen with Marowe, Cantelowe and Henry Frowyk I* as a member of a royal commission charged with raising a subsidy in the city, and the following month was on a deputation sent by the city government to see the chancellor.21 Jnl. 5, ff. 12, 25v; CCR, 1447-54, pp. 173-4.

The date of Combes’s translation to Castle Baynard ward is not recorded, although it almost certainly occurred early in 1451.22 CCR, 1447-54, p. 270; A.B. Beaven, Aldermen, ii. 8. In the event he was to hold his new position for little more than a year and on 13 May 1452 made his last appearance at the court of aldermen. Eight days earlier, he had made a will, in which he asked for burial in St. George’s Eastcheap and established a chantry there for five years for his soul and the souls of his parents. His bequests included five marks to the Holy Trinity fraternity in Calais, while the sum of 20 marks was left to the church of St. Martin in Fincham, Norfolk, although the nature of his connexion with that place is not known. He also remembered the poor parishioners of Snodland, one James Fenton, a scholar at Cambridge, and William Toll, his godson. Combes’s apprentice, William Smallwood, was pardoned the remainder of his terms of apprenticeship. The fishmonger’s principal bequests were to his son, George, who was left £400 in cash and £20 worth of plate which he was to receive when he attained the age of 24. His widow, Katherine, was left all the properties in St. George’s parish for her lifetime, although an annual rent of 13s. 4d. was bequeathed to the parish church for the maintenance of an obit. Katherine was also left a life-interest in the manor of Veles. After her death all these estates were to pass to George, who was at the time serving an apprenticeship with the draper John Walsham. The will was proved on 21 July.23 PCC 17 Rous. Shortly after this Combes’s executors, who included his widow and John Walden, began making arrangements concerning George’s patrimony. On 17 Nov. they entered into a bond with the chamberlain of London for the delivery of the cash and plate, which included a number of silver cups and spoons, but the same day they tried to prevent Walsham from gaining custody of his apprentice’s inheritance. They eventually succeeded after further controversies involving George, who served out the last 18 months of his apprenticeship with another draper, the alderman John Derby. On 16 May 1455 George, by now aged 24, came before the chamberlain to claim his patrimony.24 Jnl. 5, ff. 93v, 135, 175; Cal. Letter Bk. London, K, 349; Cal. P. and M. London, 1437-57, p. 146; CCR, 1447-54, p. 428. The bulk of Combes’s property remained in Katherine’s hands, but in September 1461 the mayor went to see her, apparently in order to make financial arrangements for the acquisition of the holdings in Billingsgate and lands in Calais which had formerly belonged to Reynwell and which Combes had been granted in 1447 on a 30-year lease. In her will Katherine, who died in 1468, left bequests to the poor parishioners of Snodland, and items of silver plate to the Fishmongers’ Company.25 Jnl. 6, f. 18v; commissary ct. wills, 9171/6, f. 43v.