FULLER, Thomas

A Thomas Fuller of Southwold in Suffolk became a freeman of Maldon at the beginning of 1431, but it is likely that the MP was a younger namesake who gained that status 16 years later. This second Thomas Fuller was also an outsider but he had married the daughter of a Maldon burgess, meaning that he did not have to pay an entry fine.3 Ct. bks. D/B 3/1/1, f. 25; 2, f. 34v. A merchant with a tenement in the parish of All Saints, he also leased lands in the borough from the Darcy family and for a time he held a garden that previously had belonged to his father-in-law, John Swayn.4 Ibid. D/B 3/1/2, f. 15v; ct. roll, 1447-9, D/B 3/3/28, m. 1d; SC6/848/14, m. 5d; 15, m. 1; 16, m. 4d; 17, m. 3; 18, m. 3d; 19, m. 3d. He must have enjoyed a good relationship with Swayn, who appointed him one of his executors.5 CP40/768, rot. 278d.

Along with other residents of Maldon, Fuller received a pardon in July 1450, for congregating during Cade’s rebellion. Also pardoned was Robert Darcy II*, to whom he and others would convey certain lands in parishes south of Maldon later in the decade.6 CPR, 1446-52, p. 348; CAD, vi. C6513. Whether or not he had intended any treasonous activity, Fuller was able subsequently to enjoy a prominent role in borough affairs, serving no fewer than 12 terms as bailiff of Maldon, during the first of which his fellow burgesses elected him to his only known Parliament. The same first term saw him and his fellow bailiff, Robert Burgess*, become involved in a confrontation with John Borell, a mercer from Chelmsford. Exactly what happened is unclear, although in a borough court of June 1455 it was alleged that Borell had called the two bailiffs ‘buffoons’ (‘scurras’) and other offensive names.7 Ct. roll D/B 3/3/32, mm. 1, 2. On one occasion, either during his penultimate or last term as bailiff, he entertained Henry Bourgchier, earl of Essex, along with his countess and John, Lord Dynham, to breakfast.8 Maldon bor. recs., chamberlains’ acct. 1469, D/B 3/3/68. Fuller had died by June 1475, for a deed of that date refers to him as ‘deceased’.9 Ct. bk. D/B 3/1/2, f. 27.