BUT, John

More can be added to the earlier biography.3 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.4 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.5 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 1420.6 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.7 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.8 CP40/665, rot. 465.