MALLORY, William, of Walton-on-the-Wolds and Saddington, Leics.

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

Family and Education

?s. of William Mallory (d.c.1389) of Walton-on-the-Wolds. m. (1) bef. 1391, Elizabeth, da. and h. of John Ashby of South Croxton, 1s.; (2) bef. 1419, Margaret.

Offices Held

Commr. to assess contributions to a subsidy, Leics. Jan. 1412; raise royal loans Nov. 1419.

Biography

The branch of the Mallory family to which this shire knight belonged held the manors of Walton-on-the-Wolds in Leicestershire and Tachbrook Mallory and Botley in Warwickshire, where they enjoyed the privilege of free warren as granted by royal charter in 1335. This William Mallory does not figure in the accepted pedigrees of the family, although it seems likely that he filled a gap probably existing between the William who made his will in 1382 or 1389 and John Mallory who died in 1469. Certainly, he is known to have had possession of the property at Walton by 1394, and to have retained it until 1428 or later. To these holdings he added, through his first marriage, land at South Croxton, and he evidently sometimes lived at Saddington to the south of Leicester, being described as ‘of Saddington’ even before 1419 when he and his second wife took possession of two-thirds of the local manor.1

Throughout his career Mallory was engaged in lawsuits concerned with such nuisances as a trespass committed on his property, a receiver who decamped with some of his money and the demands of the prior of Malton for an annual rent of £5; but none of these was of major importance. Although he held Walton as a tenant of the duchy of Lancaster, no evidence has been found to show that he entered royal service on any permanent basis. He attended the Leicestershire elections to the Parliament of April 1414, summoned to meet in his own county town, but it was not for another five years that he himself sat in the Commons. In October 1419, while that Parliament was in progress at Westminster, Joan, widow of Hugh Willoughby of Derbyshire, whom Mallory had been suing for illegal detention of a muniment chest, obtained a royal pardon of her outlawry for failing to appear in court. Shortly after the session ended, he was placed on the commission assigned to raise loans which were to be repaid from part of the subsidy granted by the Commons. When the Leicestershire j.p.s were asked by the King’s Council to return to them by January following the names of those of the county best suited for military service in the defence of the realm, Mallory appeared on their list of two knights and eight esquires. Yet he was never appointed to commissions of array at home, nor, apparently, ever campaigned in the French wars. No record of Mallory has been traced after 1428, and he probably died before 1434.2

Ref Volumes: 1386-1421

Author: L. S. Woodger

Notes

He has been distinguished from Sir William Mallory (c.1386-1445), of Papworth St. Agnes, Cambs., 2nd s. of Sir Anketin Mallory (d.1393), of Kirkby Mallory, Leics. by Alice (d.1412), da. and h. of John Dryby of Breedon-on-the-Hill, Leics. and wid. of Ralph, Lord Basset (d.1378) of Sapcote. He, who m. (1) 1420/1, Margaret (d.1439), wid. of Robert Corbet* of Moreton Corbet, Salop, by whom he had a son, Thomas, and (2) Margery, inherited Shelton, Beds., and Papworth from his kinsman, Sir William Papworth*. He was well connected in the Midlands, being brother-in-law of Sir Robert Moton† of Peckleton and of Sir John Bagot* of Blithfield, Staffs. and half-brother to Elizabeth, Lady Grey of Codnor; but it cannot have been Sir William who represented Leics. in 1419, for the man elected was not a knight whereas he had attained knighthood before Apr. 1418.

  • 1. CChR, iv. 350; J. Nichols, Leics. iii. 497, 501; W. Dugdale, Warws. 485-6; Feudal Aids, iii. 121; CCR, 1413-19, p. 450; Leics. Med. Peds. ed. Farnham, 134-8.
  • 2. Leics. Village Notes ed. Farnham, iv. 396-7; Leics. Med. Peds. 137; C219/11/3; CPR, 1416-22, p. 227; E28/97/17.