| Constituency | Dates |
|---|---|
| Exeter | 1416 (Mar.), 1422 |
Family and Career Data
Attestor, parlty. election, Devon 1423.
Steward of Exeter Mich. 1415–16, 1418 – 19; member of the council of 12, 1417 – 18, 1419 – 21, 1422 – 25, 1426 – 29; receiver 1421 – 22; mayor 1425 – 26.
Warden of the Magdalen hospital, Exeter Sept. 1419–20, 1422–4.
Constable of the staple, Exeter Nov. 1419–20, 1421 – 22, 1423 – 23; mayor 1426 – Oct. 1427, Nov. 1429 – d.
Collector of customs and subsidies, Exeter and Dartmouth 14 Nov. 1423–d.
More may be added to the earlier biography.1 The Commons 1386-1421, iv. 717-18.
Vessy’s career was not free from controversy: he was occasionally presented at the Exeter mayor’s tourn for selling ale in unsealed measures,2 Exeter mayor’s tourn roll 7 Hen. VI, rot. 2d. and in August 1428 he came to blows with the tanner John Symon, who – he claimed – attacked him with a dagger and stole his green gown.3 Mayor’s ct. roll 8-9 Hen. VI, rot. 7d. That he was nevertheless held in some regard by his neighbours is evident not only from his extensive career of office-holding, but also from his appointment as arbiter of last instance in disputes such as that in 1425 between John Hull* and Andrew Thryng over a tenement in Exeter.4 Mayor’s ct. roll 4-5 Hen. VI, rot. 7d.
It is possible that the butcher John Vessy, warden of the Exeter shambles in 1423-3, 1427-8 and 1440-1, was a son or other kinsman of the MP.5 Mayors’ ct. rolls 2-3, 6-7, 19-20 Hen. VI. The relationship of the Exeter Vessys to the Robert Vessy who served in the earl of Devon’s army at the siege of Powderham in 1455 has not been established.6 KB27/781, rot. 33.