Hugh Fenn (died 1409)

Last updated

Hugh Fenn (died 1409), also written Fenne or atte Fenn, was an English businessman from Great Yarmouth in Norfolk who was active in local and national government during the reigns of Kings Richard II and Henry IV. It was a ship he part-owned which in 1406 captured the future King James I of Scotland. [1]

Contents

Career

Born about 1355, the son of Peter Fenn, [2] bailiff of Yarmouth in 1360, and related to John Fenn, three times bailiff between 1368 and 1378, he became a prominent merchant in the town and was elected to various offices in its administration, serving nine terms as bailiff from 1383 on. By 1386 he was a member of the Guild of St George, which united the most important citizens of the town. [1]

By royal appointment, he was appointed controller of customs in 1391, collector of customs between from 1392, and a justice of the peace from 1398. In three Parliaments, those of 1395, January 1397, and 1399, he represented the borough in the House of Commons. In 1397 he was appointed Deputy Butler of England, serving under three Chief Butlers in succession, the last being Sir Thomas Chaucer. From 1398, he sat on various royal commissions to do with trade and shipping. [1]

On his own account and in partnerships he traded in substantial quantities of fish, wine, cloth, salt and grain, owning or part-owning a number of ships that sailed in the North Sea, the Baltic and down to the English-controlled port of Bordeaux. Among many local people of influence with whom he was involved financially were Sir John Fastolf, father of the illustrious Sir John Fastolf, and the MP and sheriff of Norfolk and Suffolk, Ralph Ramsey. In March 1404 he was appointed Mayor of the Staple, controlling all wool and leather exports from East Anglia. [1]

Navigation in English waters in these years was not always safe. In 1402 a ship belonging to Fenn, the Michael, was seized off Plymouth by a vessel from Rostock, one of a number of incidents taken up by the government of Henry IV with the Hanseatic League. [2] On 22 March 1406 a ship of which he owned one-third was off Flamborough Head when it seized the Maryenknyght from Danzig, sailing out of Leith with a cargo of wool and leather. On board was the 11 year old Prince James, heir to the throne of Scotland, who had been sent to France by his father King Robert III under the care of the Earl of Orkney. King Henry IV made a prisoner of the unfortunate young prince, who was treated well but not released until 1424, [3] and rewarded Fenn and his co-owners with not only all the cargo of the Hanse vessel but also the privilege of shipping goods out of Yarmouth free of all customs duties to wherever they liked. [1]

In addition to his activities at Yarmouth, he was also involved in dealings in Norwich, acquiring on his own or in partnerships various properties. In and outside Yarmouth itself, he owned business premises and lands. [1]

Death and legacy

Making his will on 14 January 1409, he asked to be buried in St Nicholas Church, Yarmouth, next to the tomb of his father. The will, proved in Norwich on 25 February 1409, divided his assets between his three surviving sons, with his wife Christine keeping an interest for life in a substantial portion. Before 1412, she married Peter Savage, another Yarmouth burgess. [1] Of their children:

Related Research Articles

John Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset Earl of Somerset

John Beaufort, 1st Marquess of Somerset and 1st Marquess of Dorset, later only 1st Earl of Somerset, was an English nobleman and politician. He was the first of the four illegitimate children of John of Gaunt (1340–1399) by his mistress Katherine Swynford, whom he later married in 1396.

John Holland, 1st Duke of Exeter, 1st Earl of Huntingdon, KG, of Dartington Hall in Devon, was a half-brother of King Richard II (1377–1399), to whom he remained strongly loyal. He is primarily remembered for being suspected of assisting in the downfall of King Richard's uncle Thomas of Woodstock, 1st Duke of Gloucester (1355–1397) and then for conspiring against King Richard's first cousin and eventual deposer, Henry Bolingbroke, later King Henry IV (1399–1413).

Richard Fitzalan, 4th Earl of Arundel

Richard Fitzalan, 4th Earl of Arundel, 9th Earl of Surrey, KG was an English medieval nobleman and military commander.

The Paston Letters is a collection of correspondence between members of the Paston family of Norfolk gentry and others connected with them in England between the years 1422 and 1509. The collection also includes state papers and other important documents.

John Stanley (KG) English knight and statesman

Sir John Stanley, KG of Lathom, near Ormskirk in Lancashire, was Lord Lieutenant of Ireland and titular King of Mann, the first of that name. He married a wealthy heiress, Isabel Lathom, which, combined with his own great abilities, allowed him to rise above the usual status of a younger son.

John Fastolf 15th-century English knight

Sir John Fastolf was a late medieval English landowner and knight who fought in the Hundred Years' War. He has enjoyed a more lasting reputation as the prototype, in some part, of Shakespeare's character Sir John Falstaff. Many historians argue, however, that he deserves to be famous in his own right, not only as a soldier, but as a patron of literature, a writer on strategy and perhaps as an early industrialist.

Michael de la Pole, 2nd Earl of Suffolk Earl of Suffolk

Michael de la Pole, 2nd Earl of Suffolk was an English nobleman who supported Henry IV against Richard II during the turmoils of the late 14th century. He died during the Siege of Harfleur in 1415. He was the eldest son of Michael de la Pole, 1st Earl of Suffolk and Katherine Wingfield, daughter of Sir John Wingfield.

The Chief Butler of England is an office of Grand Sergeanty associated with the feudal Manor of Kenninghall in Norfolk. The office requires service to be provided to the Monarch at the Coronation, in this case the service of Pincera Regis, or Chief Butler at the Coronation banquet.

Frederick V of Nuremberg was a Burgrave (Burggraf) of Nuremberg, of the House of Hohenzollern.

This is a list of Sheriffs of Norfolk and Suffolk. The Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown and is appointed annually by the Crown. He was originally the principal law enforcement officer in the county and presided at the Assizes and other important county meetings. After 1576 there was a separate Sheriff of Norfolk and Sheriff of Suffolk.

Sir John Bussy of Hougham in Lincolnshire was a Member of Parliament representing Lincolnshire or Rutland eleven times from 1383 to 1398 as a Knight of the Shire. He was also Speaker of the House of Commons at the three Parliaments between 1393 and 1398, during which he supported the policies of king Richard II. He was most famous for orchestrating the abdication of parliament's power to an eighteen-man subcommittee in order to concentrate power in the hands of the king's supporters.

Richard le Scrope was an English cleric who served as Bishop of Lichfield and Archbishop of York and was executed in 1405 for his participation in the Northern Rising against King Henry IV.

Sir William Yelverton was a judge in Norfolk, England and twice a member of parliament for Great Yarmouth, Norfolk.

Nicholas Fastolf was an English-born judge who was a leading member of the early Irish judiciary; according to some sources he was the first judge to hold the office of Lord Chief Justice of Ireland. He was an ancestor of Sir John Fastolf, who is generally thought to have inspired Shakespeare's character Falstaff.

John Howard (died 1437) Medieval English landholder

Sir John Howard, of Wiggenhall in Norfolk, was an English landowner, soldier, courtier, administrator and politician. His grandson John Howard became Duke of Norfolk and was grandfather of both Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard, wives of King Henry VIII.

Sir John Paston was the eldest son of John Paston and Margaret Mautby. He succeeded his father in 1466, and spent a considerable part of his life attempting to make good his father's claim to the lands of Margaret Mautby's kinsman, Sir John Fastolf. A number of his letters survive among the Paston Letters, a rich source of historical information for the lives of the English gentry of the period. Although long betrothed to Anne Haute, a first cousin of Elizabeth Woodville, he never married, and was succeeded by his younger brother, also named John.

Sir Hugh Waterton, was a trusted servant of the House of Lancaster.

Richard Stucley

Richard Stucley, of Merston and Chewton Mendip, was an English landowner, administrator and politician who married an heiress and through his son Hugh, who also married an heiress, became the ancestor of a major Devon family.

Hugh Fenn, also written Fenne or atte Fenn, was an English official from Norfolk who rose to a high position in the Exchequer during the reigns of King Henry VI and Edward IV.

Edward Hull (knight)

Sir Edward Hull KG was an English knight who served as Constable of Bordeaux and a military commander during the Lancastrian phase of the Hundred Years' War. Born into a Lancastrian-supporting family, his parents were both members of Henry IV's royal household. Hull became close to Henry VI and his wife, Margaret of Anjou. He served on campaign in France and as an ambassador to European powers. Hull held numerous offices including as Esquire of the Body to the king, Knight of the Body and carver to the queen, a feoffee of the Duchy of Lancaster, justice of the peace and sheriff of both Somerset and Dorset, and Devon.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Woodger, L. S. (1993), "Fenn, Hugh atte (d.1409), of Great Yarmouth, Norfolk", The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1386-1421, Boydell and Brewer, retrieved 28 February 2017
  2. 1 2 3 Palmer, Charles John (1872), The Perlustration of Great Yarmouth, with Gorleston and Southtown, vol. 1, p. 102, retrieved 28 February 2017
  3. ↑ Sumption, Jonathan (2015), The Hundred Years War, Volume 4: Cursed Kings, University of Pennsylvania Press, p. 225, ISBN   978-0571274550
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.