COLE (CULLE), John I, of Wilton, Wilts.

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

1372
1381
Oct. 1382
Oct. 1383
Apr. 1384
1393
1394

Family and Education

m. 1s.

Offices Held

Commr. of inquiry, Wilts. July 1380 (wrongful possession of a bailiwick in Grovely forest).

Coroner, Wilts. bef. Feb. 1382-aft. June 1394.

Tax collector, Wilts. Mar. 1392, Oct. 1393.

Biography

In November 1376, along with Richard Carentham, a fellow burgess, Cole made a gift to Wilton abbey of four houses and other property in the town, the rent from which was to go to the upkeep of a chantry priest who would pray daily for members of the royal family. Four years later he stood surety for the attendance of Richard Stoke, burgess-elect for Wilton, at the Parliament of January 1380.1

It is not known when Cole was first appointed a coroner in Wiltshire, but early in 1382 the sheriff was ordered to remove him. However, he was evidently still actively in office in 1388 and June 1394. Meanwhile, in 1388, and along with Thomas Cuttyng* and William Chitterne*, he was made responsible for repairing bridges in Wilton, a royal grant of pontage being issued to these three on 4 May that year. Cole witnessed a deed at Fisherton Anger, a suburb of Salisbury, in July 1400, but little is known of him after that date.2 He was certainly dead by November 1420, when his grandson and heir, Laurence Culle, was in possession of his lands, including an estate of 170 acres at Fugglestone, just outside Wilton.3

Ref Volumes: 1386-1421

Author: Charles Kightly

Notes

  • 1. CPR, 1374-7, p. 380; C219/8/4.
  • 2. CCR, 1381-5, p. 36; JUST 3/179; CPR, 1385-9, p. 437; Tropenell Cart. ed. Davies, i. 173.
  • 3. CCR, 1419-22, p. 127.