| Constituency | Dates |
|---|---|
| Barnstaple | 1402 |
| Bodmin | 1413 (May), 1414 (Nov.) |
| Liskeard | 1417 |
| Truro | 1422, 1425 |
Family and Career Data
Attestor, parlty. elections, Cornw. 1413 (May),
Feodary of the estates of the duchy of Lancaster in Devon Feb. 1400 – July 1405.
Dep. butler, Tawmouth 10 Nov. 1402 – Oct. 1407, Tawmouth and Barnstaple 28 Mar. 1413-c.1431, Plymouth and all ports of Cornw. 24 May 1413–15; dep. havener, Cornw. 1415 – 22.
Under sheriff, Cornw. 1410 – 11, 1419–20.
Tax collector, Cornw. July 1413.
Commr. of inquiry, Cornw. Dec. 1413 (breaches of the Statute of Mortmain).
More can be added to the earlier biography.1 The Commons 1386-1421, ii. 454-5.
But appears to have had interests in the tin trade, for he occasionally appeared in the court of the stannary of Blackmore, engaged in litigation with other local merchants.2 SC2/157/3, rot. 5.
Like other fifteenth-century under sheriffs, But was accused of malpractice in office, in his case during the course of his service as Sir John Grenville†’s deputy in 1410-11. At the Cornish assizes of March 1411 it was claimed that he had been guilty of packing juries at the naming of third parties.3 JUST1/1519, rot. 100. One of But’s more important connexions was that with William, Lord Botreaux, in whose retinue he served on the earl of Devon’s campaign in 1420.4 E101/49/34, m. 18. No other ties between the two men have been discovered, although one of the Cornish shire knights in But’s last Parliament was Botreaux’s uncle, Sir Ralph*. However, he did not serve as Botreaux’s parliamentary surety, although he appeared in this capacity for John Arundell* of Bideford in 1422 and for Sir William Bodrugan* and Thomas Carminowe* four years later.5 C219/13/1, 4.
Through his office of deputy havener, if not otherwise, But came into contact with the long-serving steward of the duchy of Cornwall, Sir John Arundell I* of Lanherne, on whose good lordship as an arbiter of disputes he relied in the second half of the 1420s.6 CP40/665, rot. 465.