BLOUNT, John I (d.1417), of Dorchester, Dorset.

Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1386-1421, ed. J.S. Roskell, L. Clark, C. Rawcliffe., 1993
Available from Boydell and Brewer

Constituency

Dates

Jan. 1390
Jan. 1404
Apr. 1414

Family and Education

yr. bro. of Peter Blount*. m. by 1398, Clarissa.

Offices Held

Bailiff, Dorchester Mich. 1394-6, 1400-1, 1412-13; constable 1413-14.1

Biography

Although principally a sadler by trade, Blount was also engaged in the sale of cloth in Dorchester, and in 1392 he was recorded as exporting a small quantity of this product from Melcombe Regis. Chosen bailiff of Dorchester on four occasions, he was holding office when elected to Parliament for the second time, in 1395. Only once is he known to have been present at a parliamentary election as a witness, namely in 1407.2

In 1395 Blount conveyed a tenement on West Street, Dorchester, to William Codemore, the latter undertaking to pay all rents to the local guild of St. Mary in St. Peter’s church. It was as a trustee for this guild that Blount was one of four townsmen who were seised of 18 messuages and a rent of 20s., which were declared forfeit to the Crown. In July 1396, however, the forfeiture was remitted and the trustees were licensed to grant the property in question to Margaret, widow of Sir Nicholas Sarnesfield, in aid of the foundation of a perpetual fraternity. As bailiff of Dorchester, in 1401 Blount received from Robert Veel* and others a grant in mortmain of property for the maintenance of a chaplain in Holy Trinity church.3

Blount’s own holdings in Dorchester included a tenement in High Street, transferred to him and his wife in 1398 by his brother, and a messuage in West Street. His will, made on 18 Jan. 1415 and exhibited in the town court in March following, referred to a croft in ‘Durnegate’, which was to be sold after the death of his widow, for the benefit of his soul. The widow also received property in West Street which she leased in 1420 to John Jordan* and others at an annual rent of 8s.4

Ref Volumes: 1386-1421

Author: E.M. Wade

Notes

  • 1. Recs. Dorchester ed. Mayo, 91, 104, 116, 141, 196.
  • 2. E101/343/29, 344/1; E122/40/16; C219/10/4.
  • 3. Recs. Dorchester, 116; CPR, 1396-9, p. 9; 1399-1401, p. 471.
  • 4. Recs. Dorchester, 130, 177, 203, 233.