 | This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations .(November 2013) |
Sir Robert Charleton SL JP (died 1395/6) was an English Chief Justice of the Common Pleas and a member of several parliaments.
Charleton is first recorded in July 1375, when he was made a commissioner of the peace for Wiltshire and Somerset; from here on his appointments were spread over much of England, including a September 1377 investigation in Wiltshire examining men who claimed to be exempt from work under the Domesday Book, one of three investigations created as a response to the surge of peasant unrest in Wiltshire, Devon and Surrey due to the 'great rumour'. When the Peasants' Revolt broke out in 1381 Charleton was one of the justices tasked in June 1381 of punishing rebels in Wiltshire and Gloucestershire, and was appointed to a similar commission in March 1382, this time just for Gloucestershire, tasked with punishing rebels and also breaking up large gatherings of peasants with the county militia.
In January 1383 he was appointed a Serjeant-at-law, and from this point served regularly on commissions of Assize and gaol delivery, continuing to be appointed to commissions of the peace and similar in Wiltshire, Gloucestershire and Shropshire. In November 1385 he was appointed a Justice of the Peace for Herefordshire, Oxfordshire, Bristol and Wiltshire, and in August 1386 he served on a commission of the peace in Staffordshire, as well as another one in June 1384 investigating the state of embankments in the Thames Valley. On 30 January 1388 Charleton was made Chief Justice of the Common Pleas; a remarkable achievement considering he had no previous experience in the Court of Common Pleas. [1]
Charleton is not known to have been close to the Lords Appellant, who at that point controlled the government, but he was apparently close to William of Wykeham, which is the most likely explanation for his unexpected promotion. Charleton managed to stay relatively safe in the difficult early half of 1388; despite, due to his position, being involved in the Merciless Parliament which executed most of Richard II's court and senior advisers, but when Richard reasserted his authority in May 1389 Charleton was made a Knight banneret.
Charleton attended at least seven of the eight Parliaments between February 1388 and January 1395, with the records for that in September 1388 not surviving, and on each occasion served as a Trier of Petitions. He served actively as Chief Justice until Michaelmas 1395, dying some time between 12 November 1395 and 15 January 1396, when his successor as Chief Justice was appointed.
The Peasants' Revolt, also named Wat Tyler's Rebellion or the Great Rising, was a major uprising across large parts of England in 1381. The revolt had various causes, including the socio-economic and political tensions generated by the Black Death in the 1340s, the high taxes resulting from the conflict with France during the Hundred Years' War, and instability within the local leadership of London.
Sir John Ernle was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1654 and 1695. He was one of the longest-serving Chancellors of the Exchequer, a position he held from 2 May 1676 to 9 April 1689.
The Chief Baron of the Exchequer was the first "baron" of the English Exchequer of Pleas. "In the absence of both the Treasurer of the Exchequer or First Lord of the Treasury, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, it was he who presided in the equity court and answered the bar i.e. spoke for the court." Practically speaking, he held the most important office of the Exchequer of Pleas.
The Justice of Chester was the chief judicial authority for the county palatine of Chester, from the establishment of the county until the abolition of the Great Sessions in Wales and the palatine judicature in 1830.
Events from the 1380s in England.
Sir William Esturmy, of Wolfhall, Wiltshire was an English Knight of the Shire, Speaker of the House of Commons, and hereditary Warden of the royal forest of Savernake, Wiltshire.
Sir Roger Hillary was an English judge. He was one of five sons of William Hillary and his wife Agnes, a landowning family which held properties in Lincolnshire, Warwickshire, Staffordshire, and Leicestershire, and appear to have been related to Sir William Bereford, the Chief Justice of the Common Pleas; a useful connection for a nascent lawyer. In 1310 Hillary was recorded as a court attorney, and in 1324 he was made a Serjeant-at-law. In the later years of Edward II's reign Hillary kept a low profile. In spring 1320 he married Katherine, and added to his property portfolio the Manor of Fisherwick near Lichfield in 1327 and a life-grant of a mill at Bentley at around the same time.
Sir William Fyncheden KS was a British justice. He was first recorded as a lawyer in 1350, and the same year was made a Commissioner of embankments in Yorkshire. From then on he was a regular appointee to commissions of Oyer and terminer, mostly in Yorkshire but also in Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire; he was also appointed as a Justice of Labourers several times in both Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire.
Sir Robert Tresilian was a Cornish lawyer, and Chief Justice of the King's Bench between 1381 and 1387. He was born in Cornwall, and held land in Tresillian, near Truro. Tresilian was deeply involved in the struggles between King Richard II and the Lords Appellant, and was eventually executed for his loyalty to the king.
Sir Robert Belknap was a senior English judge.
Sir William Hankford, also written Hankeford, of Annery in Devon, was an English lawyer who acted as Chief Justice of the King's Bench from 1413 until 1423.
Sir Maurice Russell, JP of Kingston Russell, Dorset and Dyrham, Glos. was an English gentleman and knight. He was a prominent member of the Gloucestershire gentry. He was the third but eldest surviving son and heir of Sir Ralph Russell (1319–1375) and his wife Alice. He was knighted between June and December 1385 and served twice as Knight of the Shire for Gloucestershire in 1402 and 1404. He held the post of Sheriff of Gloucestershire four times, and was Coroner and Justice of the Peace, Tax Collector and Commissioner of Enquiry. His land holdings were extensive in Gloucestershire, Somerset, Dorset, Berkshire and Buckinghamshire. He was descended from an ancient line which can be traced back to 1210, which ended on the death of his son Thomas, from his second marriage, as a young man without male issue. Most of his estates, despite having been entailed, passed at his death into the families of his two daughters from his first marriage.
William de Skipwith was a fourteenth-century English judge, who also served as a judge in Ireland. He held the office of Chief Baron of the Exchequer 1362-5. He suffered temporary disgrace when he was removed from office for corruption, but he was restored to favour, became Lord Chief Justice of Ireland 1370-2, and later returned to the English bench. He appears to have been the only High Court judge to have escaped impeachment by the English Parliament of 1388.
Sir John de Shriggeley, whose family name is also spelt Shirggeley and Shryggeley was an Irish statesman and judge who held several important judicial offices, including Chief Justice of the Irish Common Pleas. Although he committed two murders, he was a valued servant of the English Crown.
John Tirel, or Tyrell was a prominent judge and statesman in fourteenth-century Ireland who held office as Serjeant-at-law and Chief Justice of the Irish Common Pleas.
Sir Hugh Waterton, was a trusted servant of the House of Lancaster.
Sir Walter Devereux of Bodenham was a prominent knight in Herefordshire during the reign of Edward III. He was a member of Parliament, sheriff, and Justice of the Peace for Hereford.
Sir John Roches (c.1333–1400), of Bromham, Wiltshire, was an English admiral, diplomat, magistrate and politician.
Sir John Berkeley, of Beverston Castle, Gloucestershire was an English politician. He was knighted before 1383.
Sir Robert I Hill, sometimes written Hull, was an English politician and judge from the West Country.