STRINGER, William

References to this MP are few. He may have been a descendant of John Stringer, a juror at the Leicester portmoot of Michaelmas 1378, but, if the family had been established in the town before the fifteenth century, it had played no very prominent part in its affairs. William was similarly obscure, being one of the few representatives of the town during the Lancastrian period not recorded as holding office there. He was active by Trinity term 1428 when, described as ‘of Leicester, yeoman’, he was sued for taking a female servant from her master before she had completed her term of service. In the receiver’s account for the honour of Leicester for the accounting year Michaelmas 1437-8, he is recorded as having been paid 14d. for timber used to repair the pillory in the Saturday Market.1 CP40/670, rot. 336; DL29/212/3253. Soon afterwards Stringer was allegedly the victim of a raid on his property in the town. At the sheriff’s tourn on 15 Apr. 1439, a clerk, William Townesend of Queniborough, was indicted for having on the previous 1 Jan. broken his close, raped ‘carnaliter’ his servant and stolen goods worth 10s. It is unlikely that this indictment is to be taken literally – perhaps the servant had formed a romantic attachment to the clerk which was unwelcome to her master – and, after the indictment had been called into the court of King’s bench only a week after being taken, Townesend was acquitted before the justices of assize on the following 23 July.2 KB9/230B/75, 76; KB27/712, rex. rot. 7d. In the accounting year Michaelmas 1443-4 Stringer was again paid for timber provided for various repairs in the Saturday Market; and on 6 Feb. 1449 he was elected to accompany one of the town’s most prominent burgesses, William Newby*, to Parliament. The last references to him record his presence at the parliamentary elections of 12 Nov. 1450 and 19 June 1455.3 DL29/212/3259; C219//15/6; 16/1, 3.