GOURELEY, William

On 24 Oct. 1443 Goureley was singled out for special favour by the King: he was granted for life the castle and lordship of Horston in his home county of Derbyshire, to take effect from the end of 12 year-lease of Horston which the local esquire John Statham of Morley and John his son had been given by bill of the treasurer Ralph, Lord Cromwell, in 1439. Yet his expectations were dashed just a few weeks later on 19 Nov. when Statham and four of his sons were committed keeping of the castle for a term of 40 years.2 CPR, 1441-6, p. 222; CFR, xvii. 115, 282. Not long afterwards, and most likely in connexion with the fresh grant, Goureley was arrested on a legal action ‘concevyd’ against him, and was refused bail until he was bound by obligation in ten marks to pay the sheriff, Thomas Neville, the sum of 8s. 8d.3 Neville subsequently denied that Goureley had paid the sum asked, and started an action in common law against him, leaving Goureley with no alternative but to petition the chancellor for the bond to be returned: C1/15/123. In the late 1440s he sued the Stathams in the court of King’s bench for trespass and conspiracy, probably arising from a dispute over the keepership of Horston, but he never succeeded in gaining it, probably because of John Statham’s role as Cromwell’s receiver in the county. In the suit Goureley was said to be living at Kilburn, some seven miles to the north of Derby, and, curiously, to be a ‘smith’.4 KB27/747, rot. 49. The question remains unanswered as to how this obscure Derbyshire man had come to be considered a worthy recipient of royal patronage in the first place. He was described as a ‘gentleman’ when, in May 1445, he received from a London ironmonger a gift of his goods and chattels,5 CCR, 1441-7, p. 402. but there is nothing to indicate that he came from a family of gentry status, and the transaction serves to emphasize his background in the trade in ironmongery.

Yet whatever his origins, Goureley made a name for himself as a professional administrator, through acquiring a level of expertise in financial matters. How he received his training in this field, whether in private estate administration or through employment by the Crown, is not known, but such was his reputation that, on 14 Mar. 1448, by the advice of the treasurer, Bishop Lumley of Carlisle, he was appointed along with John Byrston as a principal auditor of all accounts rendered by the King’s ministers in the Exchequer. The two men were to hold their important position for life, with the unusual guarantee that they would not be removed by any treasurer; nor, until their deaths, would the barons of the Exchequer admit anyone else in their place. Nevertheless, the patent was subsequently cancelled by royal warrant issued ‘for certain notable causes’ (no doubt opposition to this very provision, which barons and future treasurers would have found completely unacceptable).6 CPR, 1446-52, p. 129; PRO List ‘Exchequer Offs.’ 117. Goureley was thus unfortunate to suffer yet another setback to his advancement. Nevertheless, his disappointment proved short-lived, for before too long he was taken up by the duke of Norfolk. As the duke’s attorney, in July that same year he transferred possession to a distinguished body of feoffees of the Mowbray lordships of Gower and Kilvey in south Wales, and the manors of Bretby, Derbyshire, and North Piddle, Worcestershire.7 Add. Ch. 17740. More importantly, he was to be employed by Duke John for at least five years from the following Michaelmas as auditor of the accounts relating to all of Mowbray’s widespread estates. It was while he was so engaged that he secured election to the Parliament of 1453 as a representative of the duke’s borough of Horsham in Sussex. There is no evidence that Goureley established any personal connexion with the burgesses there, and it can only be assumed that he was elected through his lord’s patronage. Nothing more is heard of him.