OSKYN, Thomas

A native of Tillingham in Essex, Oskyn became a freeman of Colchester in 1402-3.9 Colchester bor. recs., ‘Oath bk.’, D/B 5 R1, f. 68d. He was probably related to the Oskyns of Burnham-on-Crouch, a parish near Tillingham: Colchester ct. roll, 1438-9, D/B 5 Cr56, m. 23; Essex Feet of Fines, iv. 91. He took up residence by the river at New Hythe, where he owned a house (possibly self-built) with a garden and ponds.10 Colchester ct. rolls, 1439-40, 1455-6, D/B 5 Cr57, m. 29; 66, m. 12d. During the mid 1440s juries presented him several times in the borough court for enclosing his garden and blocking access to the river for those burgesses who customarily fished there.11 Ibid. 1444-5, D/B 5 Cr60, mm. 2, 13d, 20. A merchant, he traded in wine and a variety of foodstuffs, including fish, cheese and salt.12 Ibid. 1411-45, D/B 5 Cr38-60, passim. One of his associates was another merchant, John Baron I*, who also owned property at New Hythe. It seems that the two men acted for each other as feoffees, and it is possible that they were business partners, since in 1438 they jointly sued Richard Walpole for debt in the borough court.13 Ibid. 1437-8, 1439-40, 1443-4, 1444-5, 1455-6, 1484-5, D/B 5 Cr55, m. 28d; 57, mm. 19, 29; 59, mm. 1d, 16; 60, mm. 2, 24d; 66, m. 12d; 81, m. 24d. Oskyn’s commercial activities feature prominently in the court rolls, which record the frequent fines levied on him and his servants for breaking the local assize regulating the sale of wine.14 Ibid. D/B 5 Cr38-42, 44, 46-47, 49-54, 57-60. His wife Anne was also involved in trade and brewed beer. In a borough court of April 1436, a jury charged her with having forestalled and regrated victuals and later that year and again in 1437 she and Oskyn stood accused of the same offence. According to the presentment, the couple were among those who had been purchasing and then re-selling the cargoes of ships before these vessels had arrived at the New Hythe, which served as Colchester’s port.15 Ibid. D/B 5 Cr38, mm. 13d, 24d; 53, m. 20; 54, mm. 2d, 10d, 19.

Oskyn played a full role in the public affairs of his borough. A member of the local guild of St. Helen,16 Colchester bor. recs., acct. roll masters of St. Helen’s guild, 1441-2, D/B 5 Z2. he began his long service as an office-holder in 1418. Other burgesses of this period had comparable administrative careers, although he sat in more Parliaments than most. His third term as bailiff coincided with a time of nationwide dearth, and in December 1439 he and others, including the abbot of the local monastery of St. John’s, obtained a royal licence permitting them to buy 1,000 quarters of wheat and barley in Norfolk and Suffolk for the use of the abbey and borough.17 CPR, 1436-41, p. 239.

Oskyn died on 4 Oct. 1445, a few weeks after he was elected bailiff for a fourth time. John Beche* was elected in his stead shortly afterwards. His wife survived him and, in January 1447, she again stood charged with the offence of forestalling goods. It is not clear if the couple had any children, although it is possible that Roger Oskyn, who had delivered a consignment of cheese to another merchant on the MP’s behalf in 1423, was their son.18 Colchester ‘Oath bk.’, D/B 5 R1, f. 92; ct. rolls, 1422-3, 1446-7, D/B 5 Cr43, m. 25; 61, m. 11. John Oskyn, almost certainly another relative, stood as a mainpernor for Robert Selby* upon the latter’s return to the Parl. of 1437: C219/15/1.