HAYNE, William

Hayne alias Stanburgh was a son of a leading Bath citizen who had represented the city in three Parliaments between 1447 and 1453.4 The MP must be distinguished from William Haynes of Woodstock, Oxon., escheator of Hants and Wilts. in 1449-50, and serjeant in one of the offices of the royal household, with whom he is conflated in HP Biogs. ed. Wedgwood and Holt, 440. Alongside his father and brother David, he had in 1447 successfully rebutted claims of villein status made against them by the influential Sir Maurice Berkeley I* of Uley. William followed his father into trade, and like many of the men of Somerset he probably traded principally in cloth. His commercial ties extended beyond the boundaries of his native Somerset into Wiltshire and as far afield as London. It was probably as a result of a transaction that had turned sour that in early 1456 the sheriff of Wiltshire was instructed to begin outlawry proceedings against him and his father over a debt owing to a Salisbury merchant. That summer, the parties agreed to negotiate, and discussions were evidently still in progress in the following year.5 CP40/745, rot. 117; 780, rot. 258d; 782, rot. 501.

The full extent of Hayne alias Stanburgh’s property is uncertain, but in 1468 he leased from the Bath authorities a holding in Frog Lane in the suburb of the city, and by the end of his life he had also acquired a cottage and garden in Broad Street within the city walls. By his marriage to Edith, the daughter of William Stowford, he also acquired the manor of Tatwick near Bath, although not without a legal battle against John Legh, the executor of Stowford’s widow, Margaret.6 Bath Ancient Deeds, BC151/5/20, 93; C1/96/34-35.

Among the citizens of Bath Hayne alias Stanburgh was of some standing. He was frequently among those attesting property deeds at the guildhall, served as city cofferer in 1453-4, and held the mayoralty at least three times. When elected to his second term as mayor in June 1473 he was technically a Member of the Parliament then prorogued, and no fewer than three of the sessions of the protracted assembly of 1472-5 fell within his term of office, probably drawing him away from his city for long periods at a time.7 Bath Ancient Deeds, BC151/2/78; 3/63, 80; 4/86.

Hayne alias Stanburgh made his will on 20 Sept. 1494, and was dead before the end of November, when probate was granted. He asked to be buried in the parish church of St. Mary within the north gate of Bath. Bequests went to this church and to Wells cathedral, and his 12 godsons were each assigned 4d. Hayne’s synonymous son had apparently predeceased him, for he left the residue of his possessions to his daughter Joan and her husband, John Tynt, whom he appointed his executors.8 PCC 16 Vox (PROB11/10, f. 125v).