| Constituency | Dates |
|---|---|
| Bodmin | 1547, |
| Southampton | 1563 |
Dep. receiver, duchy of Cornw. c. 1550 – c.55; bailiff, Breamore, Hants 1544; jt. bailiff of Glasney college lands by 1547; steward, Southampton 1547 – 48, water bailiff 1548 – 49, court bailiff 1549 – 50, sheriff 1550 – 51, mayor 1552 – 54; one of first govs. of Southampton g.s. 1554.1CPR, 1553 and App. Edw. VI, p. 75; 1563–6, p. 55; Third Remembrance Bk. i (Soton Rec. Ser.), 60, 64–5; ii. 81 n, 155–6; PCC 9 Lyon.
Caplyn was a Southampton merchant, one of the highest contributors there to the subsidy of 1561. On 25 Sept. that year, the administration of the town’s finances was entrusted to him as the chief of its many creditors. He then agreed, ‘of his good nature and accustomed goodness’, that his own claims should rank last. Originally appointed for two years, he continued in charge until at least Michaelmas 1565. A sum of £55 16s.10d. was due to him ‘for his charges at London the Parliament time’ and for ‘the allowance of the burgess-ship’.2Black Bk. iii. (Soton Rec. Soc.), 96; Third Remembrance Bk. ii. (Soton Rec. Ser.), 161-4; Soton Civic Centre, bk. of debts 1525-1602, f. 67.
Caplyn’s will, made 20 Oct. 1568, was proved 22 Apr. 1570. He left his wife £500 and a life interest in his manor of South Stoneham. He provided £200 apiece for his three daughters and three younger sons, in addition leaving the sons each a little property. The residue of his estate, including the share of a tin mine in Cornwall, the reversion of the manor of South Stoneham and three houses and leasehold property in Southampton, he left to his eldest son John (still a minor when the will was made), whom he appointed sole executor. The overseers included his brother Nicholas.3PCC 9 Lyon.