?Attestor, parlty. election, Colchester 1459.1 It is unclear if the attestor was the MP or a namesake.
Councillor, Colchester Sept. 1438–40;2 Essex RO, Colchester bor. recs., ct. rolls 1438–40, D/B 5 Cr56, m. 1; 57, m. 1. alderman 1442 – 44, 1447 – 49, 1451 – 52, 1455 – 57, 1458–9;3 Ibid. 1442–4, 1447–9, 1451–2, 1456–7, 1458–9, D/B 5 Cr58, m. 1; 59, m. 1; 62, m. 1; 63, m. 1; 64, m. 1; 67, m. 1; 69, m. 1. coroner 1442 – 44, 1456–7;4 D/B 5 Cr 58, m. 1; 59, m. 1; 67, m. 1. bailiff 1445 – 46, 1449 – 50, 1452–3;5 VCH Essex, ix. 377. j.p. 1447–9;6 D/B 5 Cr62, m. 1; 63, m. 1. claviger 1455 – 56, 1458–9.7 Colchester ct. rolls 1455–6, 1458–9, D/B 5 Cr66, m. 1; 69, m. 1.
Jt. receiver, guild of St. Helen, Colchester Mich. 1441–2.8 Colchester bor. recs., acct. roll masters of St. Helen’s guild, 1441–2, D/B 5 Z2. But the acct. could be for 1442–3, since the guild may have begun its accounting year at the feast of St. Helen rather than Mich.: Essex Archaeology and Hist. xxi. 108.
Wood is not readily identifiable, since there were several Thomas Woods of Colchester,9 Colchester ct. rolls, passim. His namesakes included the town’s first major brewer of beer: R. Britnell, Growth and Decline in Colchester, 196-7. but he was probably the man born at Blackawton in Devon who became a burgess in 1437-8 and received a royal pardon describing him as a merchant and ‘gentleman’ in November 1452.10 D/B 5 Cr 55, m. 4; C67/40, m. 13. Presumably, the MP held the offices listed above because invariably those who sat for the borough in the Commons came from its ruling oligarchy. Wood sat in his only known Parliament in the wake of Cade’s rebellion. The rebellion affected Colchester, since there were disturbances there in early July 1450 and the following September. On the latter occasion, an armed mob claimed that Cade was still alive and swore to stand by him. The then bailiffs, Wood and Nicholas Peek*, arrested one of the ringleaders but a few days later his fellow insurgents broke into the town gaol and released him.11 I.M.W. Harvey, Jack Cade, 94, 143-4; KB27/772, rex rot. 6; CPR, 1446-52, pp. 415, 503. It is not known when Wood died, although in August 1467 the widowed Joan Wood was sued by the London mercer, John Middleton*, who claimed she owed him nearly £5.12 D/B 5 Cr73, m. 41.
- 1. It is unclear if the attestor was the MP or a namesake.
- 2. Essex RO, Colchester bor. recs., ct. rolls 1438–40, D/B 5 Cr56, m. 1; 57, m. 1.
- 3. Ibid. 1442–4, 1447–9, 1451–2, 1456–7, 1458–9, D/B 5 Cr58, m. 1; 59, m. 1; 62, m. 1; 63, m. 1; 64, m. 1; 67, m. 1; 69, m. 1.
- 4. D/B 5 Cr 58, m. 1; 59, m. 1; 67, m. 1.
- 5. VCH Essex, ix. 377.
- 6. D/B 5 Cr62, m. 1; 63, m. 1.
- 7. Colchester ct. rolls 1455–6, 1458–9, D/B 5 Cr66, m. 1; 69, m. 1.
- 8. Colchester bor. recs., acct. roll masters of St. Helen’s guild, 1441–2, D/B 5 Z2. But the acct. could be for 1442–3, since the guild may have begun its accounting year at the feast of St. Helen rather than Mich.: Essex Archaeology and Hist. xxi. 108.
- 9. Colchester ct. rolls, passim. His namesakes included the town’s first major brewer of beer: R. Britnell, Growth and Decline in Colchester, 196-7.
- 10. D/B 5 Cr 55, m. 4; C67/40, m. 13.
- 11. I.M.W. Harvey, Jack Cade, 94, 143-4; KB27/772, rex rot. 6; CPR, 1446-52, pp. 415, 503.
- 12. D/B 5 Cr73, m. 41.