LOWYS, John II

Although styled an ‘esquire’ when returned to Parliament, Lowys is an extremely obscure figure.2 HP Biogs. ed. Wedgwood and Holt, 539, says he was John Lowys of Thetford (a yeoman), but provides no evidence to support this claim. He appears not to have held office in Great Yarmouth but he may have had family connexions there since James Lowys was a defendant in the borough court in 1414.3 Norf. RO, Gt. Yarmouth recs., ct. roll, 1414-15, Y/C 4/125, m. 2d. But this putative relative could have been James Lowys* of New Romney, then one of the Cinque Ports’ bailiffs at Yarmouth. Given his name, including its variants, was relatively common, it is unclear whether the MP was the man listed among those in Norfolk expected to swear to keep the peace in 1434.4 CPR, 1429-36, p. 406.

Whatever his antecedents, Lowys was certainly linked with Yarmouth by 1440-1 when he and Thomas Umfrey were at odds with each other over an alleged debt in the borough court.5 Gt. Yarmouth ct. roll, 1440-1, Y/C 4/149, m. 14. Umfrey was almost certainly a Yarmouth man (see KB27/730, rot. 92d), rather than the MP for Lyme Regis and Gt. Bedwyn. Presumably Lowys and his fellow burgess in the Parliament of 1453, Ralph Lampet*, were involved in securing Yarmouth’s exemption from taxes the Commons granted to the King. One of the Parliament’s concerns was the defence of the realm and the keeping of the seas in the wake of recent military disasters in France.6 PROME, xii. 231, 248, 267; R.A. Griffiths, Hen. VI, 381. During the recess between the second and third sessions, John Lowys – perhaps the MP – was among those commissioned to commandeer ships for the King’s service and to instruct their crews to sail them to the ports of Bishop’s Lynn and Great Yarmouth. Two years after the dissolution of the Parliament, John ‘Lewe’ alleged deception on the part of a fellow burgess in a suit heard in the borough court at Yarmouth.7 Gt. Yarmouth ct. roll, 1454-5, Y/C 4/161, m. 4.