SELHAM, William

Two members of Selham’s family had represented Reading in Parliament in the late fourteenth century, and he may have been the grandson of the second of these, Thomas Selham†, the MP of 1397.5 The Commons 1386-1421, iv. 334. A namesake of his witnessed deeds in Reading in 1415: Reading deeds R/AT 1/104-5. A cutler by trade, William attained some prominence in the town by April 1432, when he was one of 24 burgesses elected by the guild merchant to conduct negotiations with their lord the abbot of Reading concerning their liberties. He subsequently provided pledges for the admission of three others to the guild,6 Reading Recs. i. 1, 3, 17, 25. and as bailiff of Reading by the abbot’s appointment he attested the borough’s electoral indenture for the Parliament of 1435.7 C219/14/5. Selham served two terms as mayor, and in between those terms he was nominated at Easter 1442 to the committee of four burgesses delegated to supervise repairs to the guildhall. During his second mayoralty he took an active part in raising funds to pay for these repairs and other sums of money needed by the community.8 Berks. Arch. Jnl. lxi. 73; Reading cofferers’ accts. R/FA/2, no. 29. He was among the leading townsmen of Reading pricked for the jury which on 12 June 1444 indicted Thomas Kerver for treason.9 KB9/246/66. Selham twice took on the responsibility of collecting parliamentary subsidies from the inhabitants of London Street, where he himself lived, and in January 1445 he helped raise a local tax levied to cover the expenses of the clerk of the markets.10 Reading Recs. i. 13, 18, 21. By that date he may have already been elected to the Parliament summoned to meet at Westminster on 25 Feb. While the third session was in progress, in the following Michaelmas term, he brought an action in the court of common pleas against another local cutler for assaulting his wife.11 CP40/739, rot. 570.

Selham’s parents had held a house and land further up the Thames valley at Streatley, under the terms of a settlement made by Thomas Ropkyn and his wife. The Ropkyns’ grandson William, a glover from Reading, made a quitclaim of the same property to Selham himself in March 1443, and a few days later Selham pledged Ropkyn’s admission to the freedom of Reading. In the autumn the two men handed over all their holdings in Streatley to feoffees, headed by the mayor of Reading, Edward Linacre, and including David Gower*, who was already a feoffee of Selham’s house in London Street.12 E210/4366, 5589, 6168, 6607; Reading Recs. i. 17; Reading deeds R/AT 1/133. In October 1446, after Selham had leased the land to the Knappe family, he formally settled the rental income of 20s. p.a. on his wife Alice and his two daughters: Agnes, wife of John Lawrence of Reading and Margery, wife of John Tubbe of Henley.13 E210/1424, 6039. Earlier that year Selham had agreed to be a trustee of property in Reading on behalf of John Bernard, a yeoman of the Household, and on 30 Dec. he was tasked by the borough authorities with raising contributions for a loan to the Crown.14 Reading deeds R/AT 1/137; Reading Recs. i. 25. Not recorded thereafter, he would appear to have died before Hilary term 1450, for his wife Alice was then the sole defendant in a suit brought in the common pleas by John Panter for possession of a messuage in Reading. This property was taken into the King’s hands pending the justices’ decision.15 CP40/756, rot. 66.