Constituency Dates
Berkshire [1397 (Jan.)], [1399], [1402]
Buckinghamshire [1404 (Oct.)]
Berkshire [1410]
Buckinghamshire [1421 (May)], 1422
Family and Education
b. bef. 1366, s. and h. of John James† (d.1396) of Wallingford by Christine (d.1409), da. and h. of John Anesty (d.c.1361) of Clapcot, Berks. m. (1) by Nov. 1385, Katherine (9 Mar. 1369-bef. 1415), yr. da. of Sir Edmund de la Pole† of Dernford in Sawston, Cambs. and Boarstall by his 1st w. Elizabeth Handlo, 1s. d.v.p. 1da.; (2) bef. Feb. 1424, Maud (d. 5 Aug. 1437), sis. of John Fitzellis of Oakley, Bucks. Dist. Oxon. 1411, 1430.
Offices Held

Attestor, parlty. elections, Oxon. 1407, 1421 (May).

Commr. Berks., Bucks., Oxford, Oxon. June 1398 – Sept. 1429.

Escheator, Oxon. 24 Nov. 1400 – 8 Nov. 1401, Oxon. and Berks. 30 Nov. 1407 – 9 Dec. 1408, 10 Nov. 1413 – 12 Nov. 1414, Beds. and Bucks. 14 Dec. 1415 – 8 Dec. 1416.

Sheriff, Oxon. and Berks. 29 Nov. 1402 – 5 Nov. 1403, 30 Nov. 1416 – 10 Nov. 1417, 4 Nov. 1428 – 10 Feb. 1430.

Tax controller, Berks. Mar. 1404.

J.p. Oxon. 13 Feb. 1407 – July 1423.

Address
Main residences: Wallingford, Berks.; Boarstall, Bucks.
biography text

More may be added to the earlier biography.1 The Commons 1386-1421, iii. 486-8.

James’s association with Thomas Chaucer* brought him into contact with Thomas Montagu, earl of Salisbury, the second husband of Chaucer’s daughter and heir Alice. Salisbury died on military service in France in 1428, but parts of his will were still in dispute several years later. In late 1432 or 1433, the earl’s ‘cousin’, William Montagu*, tried to claim a lordship in Lambourn, Berkshire, which, he asserted, the earl had bought from the late MP. In reality, Salisbury had inherited it from his father, meaning that James’s interest in it can only ever have been that of a feoffee.2 C1/12/227; The Commons 1386-1421, iv. 422; VCH Berks. iv. 254. There is no mention of Lambourn in Salisbury’s will, although the earl did make his kinsman bequests totalling 200 marks: Reg. Chichele, ii. 390-400.

Author
C.E.M.
Volume
Commons 1422-1461
Notes
  • 1. The Commons 1386-1421, iii. 486-8.
  • 2. C1/12/227; The Commons 1386-1421, iv. 422; VCH Berks. iv. 254. There is no mention of Lambourn in Salisbury’s will, although the earl did make his kinsman bequests totalling 200 marks: Reg. Chichele, ii. 390-400.