SWAYN, John

In 1414 a jury presented John Swayn in the borough court at Maldon for assaulting another burgess,4 Maldon ct. roll, 1414, D/B 3/3/9, m. 4. He was certainly not of Orsett, Essex, as suggested by HP Biogs. ed. Wedgwood and Holt, 831: that John was a namesake. but it is unclear whether he was the MP, who held no office in the town before the mid 1430s, or a namesake. During the fourth of Swayn’s seven terms as bailiff of Maldon the borough’s ‘customs and usages’ (regarding admissions to the franchise, commercial activities and elections of local officials) were formally recorded in its court book.5 Maldon ct. bk. D/B 3/1/1, f. 32v. Swayn was elected to three Parliaments and his final term as bailiff coincided with that of February 1449.

Swayn traded in grain and in October 1440 the Crown licensed him and William Holcote* to export this commodity to the Low Countries.6 DKR, xlviii. 340. It is likely that he possessed holdings in Maldon’s parish of All Saints, where he was a churchwarden in the mid 1430s. He also rented property in the town, from which he leased a marsh in the 1420s and a ‘colehepe’ in the second half of the 1440s.7 Maldon ct. roll 1435, D/B 3/3/21, m. 2; ct. bk. D/B 3/1/1, ff. 20, 22, 34. Outside Maldon, Swayn had an interest in lands in the Essex parishes of Broxted and Chickney in 1428, but most likely in the capacity of a feoffee.8 Feudal Aids, ii. 220. The lands in question probably belonged to the Bourgchiers, who held a manor at Broxted and the patronage of Chickney rectory.9 P. Morant, Essex, ii. 447-8. In later years, Swayn enjoyed a link with Henry, Lord Bourgchier. During the mid 1440s he received a payment of £20 relating to the custody of Le Crotoy, possibly for the provisioning of that fortress, a castle in Picardy of which Bourgchier was captain.10 E101/54/7. Swayn was also associated with John de Vere, earl of Oxford. Bailiff of the de Vere manor at Maldon by 1442-3, he also acted as the earl’s attorney in 1444 at a meeting of the borough court.11 Maldon ct. roll 1444-5, D/B 3/3/26, m. 1d

On 20 Mar. the following year John Bishop, parson of Mistley in north-east Essex, drew up his will, a document which identifies Swayn’s wife, Matilda, as the testator’s sister. The cleric left £10 to the Swayns’ daughters and appointed the MP one of his executors. The will does not reveal how many daughters there were or whether the couple had any sons.12 Colchester ct. roll D/B 5 Cr62, m. 12. Swayn himself died before early 1453, having appointed as his executors Thomas Fuller*, the husband of one of his daughters, John Wayte of Braintree, ‘gentleman’, and John Coker of Purley, ‘husbandman’. In Hilary term that year, the abbot of Colchester and others began a suit against the executors at Westminster, alleging that Swayn had died indebted to them in £40.13 CP40/768, rot. 278d. Matilda Swayn was still alive in 1460 when she was a plaintiff in the borough court at Maldon.14 Maldon ct. roll D/B 3/3/35, mm. 1, 1d.