| Constituency | Dates |
|---|---|
| Marlborough | 1417, 1420, 1421 (May), 1421 (Dec.), 1422 |
More can be added to the earlier biography.1 The Commons 1386-1421, iii. 218.
Although little has been discovered about Gower beyond his returns to five Parliaments, it is clear from his repeated elections for Marlborough that he lived in the place he represented. Sureties for his attendance in the Commons were provided by local men such as Thomas Newman* and Richard Furbour*. Furthermore, the fact that Newman and John Benger†, another of his mainpernors, were close associates of Sir William Sturmy*, the most important commoner in east Wiltshire and hereditary warden of Savernake forest (of which Marlborough was the administrative headquarters), may indicate that he too belonged to the former Speaker’s circle.2 C219/12/4, 6, 13/1. The first and last times Gower was elected Sturmy accompanied him to the Lower House, as a knight of the shire for Wiltshire.
In the summer of 1434, after Sturmy’s death, Gower was named among a number of men ordered to be arrested for offences committed on the local estates of Humphrey, duke of Gloucester, the warrant being sent by the duke’s chief steward to the keeper of Savernake forest.3 E146/2/35.