COCK, Henry

Cock came from a large and relatively prosperous local family whose members played an important role in the government of the Port of Sandwich throughout the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. He was already a member of the governing elite of Sandwich when he was elected to his only Parliament in 1429, having been chosen as mayor in 1424 and again three years later. It is unclear when he was first chosen as a jurat, although he was serving as such in December 1431 from when the records of the annual elections are extant. As one of the leading members of the jurats’ bench, he served as deputy mayor to John Smith I* on at least two occasions in 1432 and he was one of the three custodians of the keys to the common chest between 1432 and 1436.

Little is know of Henry’s private affairs. On 22 Mar. 1426 he and his wife received a papal indult from Martin V allowing them their own altar.2 CPL, vii. 535. In April 1435 he claimed exemption from the parliamentary subsidy in Wingham hundred, but the nature of his interests there are not clear.3 E179/226/83. Henry’s relationships with the other members of the Cock family are similarly obscure. There are no further references to him in the local records after his final election as a jurat in 1437 and it seems likely that it was his namesake and kinsman who claimed exemption from the parliamentary subsidy in Eastry and Wingham hundreds in 1442.4 E179/124/110. Henry’s contemporary, John, who last served as jurat in 1444-5, was probably his brother, while Richard Cock, who was first elected mayor in December 1441, was perhaps his son.