KYNG, Richard

A butcher by trade,3 Ct. bk. D/B 3/1/1, f. 17; ct. rolls, 1422-4, 1435-8, D/B 3/3/14, m. 1d; 22, m. 1; 23, m. 2d. Kyng was an office-holder at Maldon for over 20 years, although he never held the position of bailiff. He was probably a relative of John Kyng, who became a freeman of the borough in 1438, and of Thomas Kyng, who likewise became a freeman five years later. Neither of these men paid an entry fine because each was a freeman’s son, and it is possible that the MP was the father of them both.4 Ct. bk. D/B 3/1/1, ff. 28v, 31. Thomas Kyng had a sis. and h., Jane. The w. of Thomas Ball, she had succeeded her bro. by the 1490s: C1/187/44. In the early 1430s, a Richard Kyng resided at Little Totham, just across the Blackwater estuary from Maldon, but it is unclear whether this was the MP: ct. roll, 1430-1, D/B 3/3/18, m. 4. Kyng is known to have owned a messuage in Maldon and in the late 1440s and early 1450s he leased a house (the ‘Selyhous’) and lands there from the Darcy family, for an annual rent of 106s.5 Ct. roll, 1465-7, D/B 3/3/42, m. 9d; SC6/848/14/5d; 16/3; 17/3; 18/3d; 19/3d. He was dead by 1466 when his widow sued a namesake of her late husband in connexion with her dower rights. This other Richard Kyng was the son and heir of John Kyng, and it was in his capacity as John’s executor that he began a Chancery suit. The purpose of his bill was to challenge borough custom with regard to debt. In Maldon, a man could recover a debt even if he lacked documentary evidence to prove that it existed, simply by swearing an oath in support of his claim. Richard, who was facing a lawsuit in the borough court from a man seeking money from John Kyng’s estate, asked the chancellor to overturn this custom, which he claimed was unjust, but with what result is unknown.6 Ct. roll, D/B 3/3/42 m. 9d; C1/32/394.