GARNETT, Martin (d.1582), of Buckton Tower, Berwick-upon-Tweed, Northumb.

Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1558-1603, ed. P.W. Hasler, 1981
Available from Boydell and Brewer

Constituency

Dates

Family and Education

m. Agnes, 3s. 2da.

Offices Held

Bailiff, Berwick 1568-9, mayor 1577, 1580.

Biography

Garnett, a corn and salmon merchant, may have been related to the merchant family of that name at Newcastle. He possessed several tenements in and around Berwick, including a house in Mary Gate, and a farm in Buckton. He was admitted to some of the privileges of the freedom of Berwick in 1564 and to them all in 1570. His interference in the staple trade, however, poisoned his relations with the corporation and between 1570 and 1575 he was expelled and disfranchised on at least five occasions, often incurring fines and imprisonments. On at least two occasions he secured re-admittance only after the president of the council in the north had intervened. This exacerbated the situation, Berwick at this time desiring to preserve its privileges against the jurisdiction of the council in the north, to which body Garnett was in the habit of taking his lawsuits.

In Parliament he sat on a committee on 18 Feb. 1576 concerned with the cutting and working of tanned leather, and during the third session he served on committees concerning wool and yarn (13 Feb.), the borders with Scotland (as Feb.), and Carlisle (27 Feb.). He received his expenses at the rate of 5s. a day for the first two sessions of the Parliament, and was not to ‘dally’ in London on his own business. Payment was raised to 6s.8d. a day for the final session, but he did not receive the full sum.

Garnett died in 1582. In his will, made 17 Feb. and proved 12 May of that year, he left most of his estate to his wife, hoping that she would, with the consent of the parents, bring up his eldest grandson.

Arch. Ael. (ser. 4), xxiv. 74; Surtees Soc. ci passim; cxii. 91; J. Scott, Berwick-upon-Tweed, 290-5; Reid, Council of the North, 333-4 seq.; CJ, i. 106, 125, 129, 130; Berwick guild bk. 1568-85.

Ref Volumes: 1558-1603

Author: M.N.

Notes