| Constituency | Dates |
|---|---|
| Hampshire | 1402, 1417, 1423 |
Attestor, parlty. elections, Hants 1411.
Tax collector, Hants Nov. 1388, Mar. 1401; assessor Mar. 1404.
Bp. Wykeham’s bailiff of Highclere, Hants 2 Jan. 1391-c.1404; Bp. Beaufort’s bailiff of Sutton, Alresford and Cheriton, Hants Mich. 1405-c.1422.2 He had left office at Sutton by Mich. 1422: Hants RO, bp. of Winchester’s pipe rolls, 11M59/B1/167 (formerly 159423).
Sheriff, Hants 19 Feb. 1404 – 22 Nov. 1405, 10 Nov. 1417 – 4 Nov. 1418, Oxon. and Berks. 3 Nov. 1412 – 6 Nov. 1413.
Commr. Hants May 1406 – Mar. 1419.
Steward of the estates of St. Swithun’s priory, Winchester 1414–15.3 Reg. Common Seal (Hants Rec. Ser. ii), 263.
More can be added to the earlier biography.4 The Commons 1386-1421, ii. 680-1.
Cowdray was for many years on good terms with the prior of St. Swithun’s, who in 1402 directed the reeve of one of the priory’s manors to send him a cask of cider as a gift. The length of his term as steward of the estates of the priory is not recorded, but he witnessed the prior’s confirmation of a grant made by Bishop Beaufort in 1411, so was probably already a member of his council by that date.5 Reg. Common Seal, no. 130, p. 205. Cowdray was named as an executor of the will of John Chamflour, who held property in Winchester and Alton, in 1408.6 Lambeth Palace Lib., Reg. Arundel 2, ff. 103v-4. He assiduously paid Chamflour’s debts and fulfilled his bequests: Jervoise mss, 44M69/C/429-35.
News of the victory at Agincourt was brought to the warden and fellows of Winchester College by Cowdray’s son, John, probably after being relayed through Cowdray himself, who was then described as ‘armiger domini Episcopi Wyntoniensis’.7 N. and Q. ser. 11, xii. 495. This suggests a closer personal connexion with Beaufort than hitherto indicated.
Cowdray’s second marriage, to Joan the widow of the Wiltshire landowner Nicholas Baynton, increased his income by bringing him her jointure in the manor of Faulstone and land in Wroughton, as well as Compton Chamberlayne and four houses in Salisbury which Baynton had settled on her for her lifetime.8 CPR, 1416-22, p. 411; CIPM, xxi. 800-3. Although she was not the mother of Baynton’s son and heir, John Baynton*, Joan had borne him four daughters, who on her marriage to our MP in about 1422 joined her in the Cowdray household and themselves became drawn into his family. One of them, Agnes Baynton, was married by 1426 to Cowdray’s son and eventual heir Peter (after the death of his first wife Maud Popham), while another, Alice, was remembered by Cowdray in his will in 1428.9 Jervoise mss, 44M69/C/524, 526; Reg. Chichele, ii. 375-6.
Within a year of our MP’s death Joan took as her third husband William Whaplode* of Chalfont St. Giles in Buckinghamshire, who like Cowdray was a member of Cardinal Beaufort’s circle. It was with Whaplode that her stepson John Baynton renegotiated the terms of the landed settlement made on her by his father.10 Wilts. Feet of Fines (Wilts. Rec. Soc. xlix), 440; CP25(1)/207/32/26.
- 1. For these children see Hants RO, Jervoise of Herriard mss, 44M69/C/451; and for Cowdray’s 3rd s., Thomas, see CP40/775, rot. 411. Edward had arranged for his sons Peter and John marriages to the two daughters and coheiresses of Sir Philip Popham†. John died bef. May 1422, when his parents settled on his wid. Margaret the manor of Lyford, Berks.: Jervoise mss, 44M69/C/525.
- 2. He had left office at Sutton by Mich. 1422: Hants RO, bp. of Winchester’s pipe rolls, 11M59/B1/167 (formerly 159423).
- 3. Reg. Common Seal (Hants Rec. Ser. ii), 263.
- 4. The Commons 1386-1421, ii. 680-1.
- 5. Reg. Common Seal, no. 130, p. 205.
- 6. Lambeth Palace Lib., Reg. Arundel 2, ff. 103v-4. He assiduously paid Chamflour’s debts and fulfilled his bequests: Jervoise mss, 44M69/C/429-35.
- 7. N. and Q. ser. 11, xii. 495.
- 8. CPR, 1416-22, p. 411; CIPM, xxi. 800-3.
- 9. Jervoise mss, 44M69/C/524, 526; Reg. Chichele, ii. 375-6.
- 10. Wilts. Feet of Fines (Wilts. Rec. Soc. xlix), 440; CP25(1)/207/32/26.