THIRSK, William

Of the men who represented Guildford in this period Thirsk was perhaps the one most closely involved in the day-to-day administration of the borough. On the basis of their name, his family may have originated from Thirsk in Yorkshire, but there is no suggestion that William himself maintained contacts outside the south-east. On the basis of Thirsk’s frequent service as an attorney in the royal law courts it seems probable that he received some legal training, and it may also have been this qualification which gained him his appointment as town clerk of Guildford in December 1426.3 CP40/699, rots. 47, 73d; 708, rot. 282d; KB27/752, rot. 64d; J.H. Baker, Men of Ct. (Selden Soc. supp. ser. xviii), ii. 1527. By this date, he had already represented the borough in the Commons twice, and it may thus be assumed that he was already known to the townsmen. During a career which spanned some 30 years he served repeated terms as town clerk, while his service in the Commons was clearly deemed acceptable, since he was directly re-elected on three successive occasions. At the shire court held in Guildford in January 1447 Thirsk was one of 27 attestors to the electoral indenture for the Surrey knights of the shire returned to the Parliament summoned to Bury St. Edmunds; and in his capacity as mayor of Guildford he certified the borough’s election result to the county sheriff in February 1453.4 C219/15/4; 16/2.

It is nevertheless possible that his claim, recorded in the court of common pleas in early 1446, that four years earlier his home had been at Chertsey, rather than at Guildford, may have had some basis in fact, for in September 1444 he was one of those employed by the abbot and convent of Chertsey to draw up a new rental of the abbey estates.5 CP40/740, rot. 435d; Chertsey Carts. ed. Jenkinson, i. 27. The abbot of Chertsey was not the only prominent client whom Thirsk served. As early as the autumn of 1430 he had acted as an attorney for John Fitzalan, earl of Arundel, in the court of King’s bench; in 1442 he was a feoffee for Thomas Galley’s acquisition of lands in Thorpe, Egham and Chertsey; and among his later employers was John Medford*, whose election to the Commons for Guildford he had himself certified in 1453.6 CP40/779, rot. 47; CP25(1)/232/72/113.

Little is known of Thirsk’s personal life, although the three tuns of red wine that he purchased from the London merchant Thomas Grey in February 1437 at a cost of £16 may afford a glimpse of both his lifestyle and his economic circumstances, not least since £2 6s. 8d. of the purchase price remained unpaid 11 years later.7 CP40/748, rot. 311d.