TAYLE, William

Tayle came from a family of some importance in late medieval Tavistock. John Tayle (either William’s brother or another kinsman) served as portreeve of the borough in 1408-9, and other members of the family went on to hold the same office later in the century.2 Trans. Devon Assoc. lxxix. 150-1. By contrast, there is little indication that – his sole return to Henry VI’s first Parliament aside – William’s horizons extended beyond the confines of his home town, where in 1430 he quitclaimed lands in Crewebeare to William Laurence.3 Devon RO, Tavistock parish recs., 482A/PF41. It was about the same time that Tayle quarreled with his influential neighbour John Plenty†, but the nature of their dispute is now obscure. Their disagreement was settled by March 1433, when Plenty issued a release of all actions to his opponent.4 C146/9489. The extent of Tayle’s property within the town of Tavistock (some of which he had acquired from Richard Martyn of Bodinnick) is likewise unknown, but it evidently included a tenement to the north of ‘Maggelane’, which he granted to his brother John in the autumn of 1434.5 C146/731, 790. In general terms, Tayle seems to have enjoyed cordial relations with his neighbours, whose property deeds he witnessed from time to time.6 Tavistock Parish Recs. 74.

Tayle is not known to have left any offspring, and it seems that all his property eventually passed to his brother and the latter’s descendants, several of whom rose to considerable prominence in their town. Richard Tayle (probably John’s son of that name) served as mayor of Tavistock in 1448-9, and another kinsman, Walter Tayle, held the same office in 1484.7 Trans. Devon Assoc. lxxix. 151; C1/158/21; 561/96-97; C146/3168.