17 Mar 1402, Westminster
Grant for life to the king's esquire John de Merbury, for his good service to the king and his son the prince, of the manor of Llanfrit, co. Cardigan, and all lands in the commotes of Aunhunyot, Mevenhyd and Kruddyn late of Rees a Ll' ap Cadogan, forfeited to the king because he rose in insurrection, not exceeding the value of 46l. of rent yearly, to hold of the prince provided that any surplus be answered for to the latter at his exchequer of Kermerdyn which the king granted to him in support of his charges in the safe-custody and rule of the parts of Wales and the resistance of the rebels there, notwithstanding that the said John has for life 10 marks yearly from the issues of the castle of Halton of the grant of the king's father and 20l. from the fee-farm of the city of Hereford of the king's grant, and so that he be always intendant in person on the king and prince and the lieutenants and justices of Wales for the defence and good governance of the same and the resistance of the rebels.
Calendar of Patent Rolls, Hen. IV, vol. 2, p. 51
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22 Nov 1405, Westminster
Commitment of the county of Hereford to John Merbury, during pleasure, so that he answer at the Exchequer as sheriff.
Calendar of Fine Rolls, vol. xiii, p. 18
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10 Dec 1409 and 20 Feb 1410/1, Westminster
Commitment to Nicholas Merbury, esquire,—by mainprise of John Merbury of the county of Hereford, esquire, and John Russell of the same county,—of the keeping of the manors of Bertelynghope, Walton and Wymaston, in the march of Wales adjacent to the county of Hereford, and of two-thirds of 57s. rent in Presthemde, in the said march, and also of two-thirds of the manor of Borton, a toft, 50 acres of land, 2 acres of meadow, 6 acres of wood and 5s. of rent in Gerneston, co. Hereford.....
Calendar of Fine Rolls, vol. xiii, pp. 170, 173
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20 Mar 1410/1, Westminster
Commitment to Nicholas Merbury and John Merbury, esquires,—by mainprise of Thomas Holgot, esquire, and Edmund Morys,—of the keeping of the manor of Clopham, co. Sussex, which came to the king's hands by the death of Thomas Seyntowayn, who held of Thomas late earl marshal in chief, and which is still in the king's hand by reason of the minority of John, brother and heir of the said late earl, the king's ward....
Calendar of Fine Rolls, vol. xiii, p. 177
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12 Nov 1414, Westminster
Commitment of the county of Hereford to John Merbury, during pleasure, so that he answer at the Exchequer as sheriff.
Calendar of Fine Rolls, vol. xiv, p. 70
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6 Dec 1415, Westminster
Commitment to Edward lord de Powys, 'chivaler,' Roger Leche, 'chivaler,' John Savage, 'chivaler,' and Hugh Mortymer, esquire,—by mainprise of John Merbury, esquire, and John Brygge, esquire, of the county of Hereford,—of the keeping of all the castles, lordships, manors, lands, rents, customs and services, with franchises, jurisdictions, regalia, royalties and liberties, and all other their appurtenances, in the county of Salop, and in Wales and the march of Wales adjacent to the said county, late of Thomas late earl of Arundell, who held of the king in chief....
Calendar of Fine Rolls, vol. xiv, p. 132
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8 Dec 1416, Westminster
Commitment of the office of the escheatry in the county of Hereford and the adjacent march of Wales to John Merbury, during pleasure, so that he answer at the Exchequer for the issues thereof.
Calendar of Fine Rolls, vol. xiv, p. 169
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23 Mar 1417, Westminster
Licence, for 20l. paid in the hanaper by John Merbury, esquire, for him and Agnes his wife to enfeoff Geoffrey Harley, esquire, Richard Hulle, esquire, and John Monyton of the castle and manor of Webbeley, co. Hereford, and the manors of Cotesbache and Neubolt Verdon, co. Leicester, held of the king in chief, and for these to re-grant the same to them and the heirs of their bodies, with remainder to the right heirs of Agnes.
Calendar of Patent Rolls, Hen. V, vol. 2, p. 88
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6 May 1418, Westminster
Commitment to John Merbury and Thomas Walter, esquires,—by mainprise of John Lacy of the county of Northampton, esquire, and Adam Marchall of the county of Cambridge,—of the guardianship of all the temporalities of the bishopric of St. Davids, in England and in Wales, which are in the king's hands by the death of Stephen, the last bishop.....
Calendar of Fine Rolls, vol. xiv, p. 244
28 Sep 1418, Before Rouen
Grant for life to John Merbury, esquire, of 100 marks yearly from 1 April, 1 Henry V, from the fee farm of 113l. 6s. 8d. which the earl of March and his heirs are bound to pay to the king for the castle and cantred of Buelt.....
Calendar of Patent Rolls, Hen. V, vol. 2, p. 180
13 Dec 1418, Westminster
Appointment of John Merbury and John Brugge, esquires, during the king's pleasure, as his approvers of all the castles, lordships, manors, lands, rents and services late of Gilbert lord de Talbot, in the county of Hereford and march of Wales, and elsewhere in England, which have come or can come to the king's hands by the death of Gilbert, who held of the king in chief on the day of his death, and by reason of the minority of his heir....
Calendar of Fine Rolls, vol. xiv, pp. 265-266
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14 Feb 1418/9, Westminster
Commitment to Robert Castell, esquire,—by mainprise of John Merbury of the county of Hereford and John Wilcotes of the county of Oxford,—of the keeping of all the lands late of Alan Straunge, esquire, who held of the king in chief by knight service on the day of his death....
Calendar of Fine Rolls, vol. xiv, p. 233
17 Nov 1419, Westminster
Commitment to Richard Hore and John Mathew, clerks,—by mainprise of John Merbury of the county of Hereford, esquire, and John Brugge of the same county, esquire,—of the keeping of the priory of Langenyth in Wales with all its rights and appurtenances, the same being in the king's hand by the death of Richard ap Morgan, monk, the late prior....
Calendar of Fine Rolls, vol. xiv, p. 295
18 Nov 1419, Westminster
Exemplification, at the request of John Merbury, of a certificate, sent into Chancery by the treasurer and chamberlains under the seal of the Exchequer, of the payment to him on 2 March, 2 Henry V, of 150l. of the king's gift for a year and a half for his expenses as chamberlain of South Wales and for the portage and safe-conduct of divers sums of money received by him in his office to the receipt of the Exchequer.
Calendar of Patent Rolls, Hen. V, vol. 2, p. 253
23 Nov 1419, Westminster
Commitment of the county of Hereford to John Merbury, during pleasure, so that he answer at the Exchequer as sheriff.
Calendar of Fine Rolls, vol. xiv, p. 296
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10 Jun 1421, Dover
Appointment of William Botiller as the king's chamberlain and receiver of South Wales.....
Order to John Merbury, esquire, late chamberlain and receiver of South Wales, to deliver the office, together with the keys, rolls, memoranda and all other things relating to the office, to William by indenture; as the king wishes John from now to be discharged thereof as regards the king.
Calendar of Fine Rolls, vol. xiv, pp. 390-391
4 Oct 1421, Westminster
Commitment to Richard Hore and Richard Seyne, clerks,—by mainprise of John Merbury and Thomas Barton of the county of Hereford,—of the keeping of the alien priory of St. Clears, with all its appurtenances, in South Wales....
Calendar of Fine Rolls, vol. xiv, p. 353
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1 May 1422 and 1 Oct 1422, Westminster
Commitment of the county of Hereford to John Merbury, during pleasure, so that he answer at the Exchequer as sheriff.
Calendar of Fine Rolls, vol. xiv, p. 428, vol. xv, p. 12
7 Oct 1422, Westminster
Appointment, during pleasure, by advice of the council, of John Merbury, king's esquire, to be chief justice in South Wales.
Calendar of Patent Rolls, Hen. VI, vol. 1, p. 3
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9 Jul 1421 and 3 May 1423, Westminster
Commitment to John Merbury and William Butiller, esquires,—in the king's name, by and with the advice and assent of the king's council,—of the keeping of the castle and town of Brenles, the whole lordship of Cantrecelly, a third part of the barony of Penkelly, and the manor of Alisaundres Towne, in Wales; to hold the same for three years, rendering yearly as much as may be agreed upon with the treasurer, until it shall have been ascertained whether the said castle, manor and lordships are parcels of the lordship of Brehenok or not; and the sum thus to be agreed upon by the treasurer is to be divided equally between the king and the countess of Stafford.
Calendar of Fine Rolls, vol. xiv, p. 400, vol. xv, p. 33
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15 Jan 1426, Westminster
Commitment of the county of Hereford to John Merbury, during pleasure, so that he answer at the Exchequer as sheriff.
Calendar of Fine Rolls, vol. xv, p. 117
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13 Oct 1427, Westminster
Grant, by advice and assent of the lords spiritual and temporal, and at the special request of the commonality of England in the present Parliament, to John Merbury, esquire, for life, for good service to Henry V, of 40 marks a year out of the issues of the county of Gloucester, he having surrendered a grant of the like amount out of the manor of Istleworth, co. Middlesex, made to him by the king's father when prince of Wales, and confirmed by the same when king, which last-named grant has been of no service since the said manor was granted to the abbess and convent of Shene.
Calendar of Patent Rolls, Hen. VI, vol. 1, p. 461
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6 May 1429, Westminster
Grant for life, by advice of the council, to John Merbury, king's esquire, of an annual rent of 40 marks out of the issues of the hanaper by the hands of the keeper thereof. The said John has shown to the king and council that he had by grant of the king's father when prince of Wales, confirmed afterwards under the great seal, a yearly rent of the above amount out of the manor and lordship of Istelworthe, co. Middlesex, which grant determined when the said late king, in his Parliament held at Westminster, on 1 December, 9 Henry V, granted the said manor in frank almoin with knights' fees and other possessions and franchises to the same belonging, to the abbess and convent of the Augustinian monastery of SS. Saviour, Mary and Bridget, of Shene, then being founded in the said manor of Istelworthe, any statute, ordinance, or union of the said manor to the Duchy of Cornwall, letters patent, or other thing to the contrary notwithstanding....
Calendar of Patent Rolls, Hen. VI, vol. 1, p. 539
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10 Feb 1430, Westminster
Commitment of the county of Hereford to John Merbury, during pleasure, so that he answer at the Exchequer as sheriff.
Calendar of Fine Rolls, vol. xv, p. 297
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3 Nov 1434, Westminster
Commitment of the county of Hereford to John Merbury, during pleasure, so that he answer at the Exchequer as sheriff.
Calendar of Fine Rolls, vol. xvi, p. 221
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15 Nov 1435, Westminster
Commitment to John Tiptoft, knight, and John Merbury, esquire,—by mainprise of John Throgmarton and John Wode, esquires,—of the keeping of the castle, lordship, manor and town of Bergevenny, which are in the king's hand by the death of Joan late lady de Bergevenny who held of the king in chief on the day of her death....
Calendar of Fine Rolls, vol. xvi, pp. 254, 264
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14 Jun 1437, Westminster
Licence, for 6 marks paid in the hanaper, for John Merbury, Walter Mybe and John Dandeseie to grant to Richard de Bello Campo, earl of Warwick, and Isabel his wife and the heirs of their bodies, the castle, manor and lordship of Snodhull, co. Hereford, held in chief; with remainder to the right heirs of the said earl.
Calendar of Patent Rolls, Hen. VI, vol. 3, p. 74
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12 Feb 1438, Westminster
Grant, for life, from Michaelmas last, to John Popham, 'chivaler,' treasurer of the household, of 100 marks yearly out of the fee farm which Roger, late earl of March, and his heirs pay to the king for the castle and cantred of Bueld, co. Hereford, which 100 marks John Merbury, deceased, lately had.....
Calendar of Patent Rolls, Hen. VI, vol. 3, p. 134
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22 Mar 1438, Westminster
Order to John Wyggmore, escheator in the county of Hereford and the adjacent march of Wales;—pursuant to an inquisition taken before him showing that a fine was levied in the king's court in three weeks of Easter 5 Henry V, before Richard Norton and his fellows then justices, and afterwards, in the octave of Hilary 5 Henry V, was granted and recorded there before the same justices and others the king's lieges then present, between Geoffrey Harley esquire, Richard Hulle esquire, and John Monyton, querents, and John Merbury esquire and Agnes then his wife, deforciants, touching (among other things) the castle and manor of Webbeley, by which fine the said John Merbury and Agnes, and for that acknowledgement, fine and concord the said Geoffrey, Richard and John Monyton granted the said castle and manor to the said John Merbury and Agnes, to hold to them and the heirs of their bodies of the said late king by the services due and customary, for ever, with remainder to the right heirs of Agnes, the king's licence touching the premises having been first obtained; and that the said John Merbury and Agnes were seised of the said castle and manor in their demesne as of fee tail, by virtue of the said fine, and peaceably continued that estate therein for the whole of the life of Agnes; and that Agnes died, without heir of her body by the said John Merbury, seised of such estate in the said castle and manor jointly with the said John Merbury, who survived her and died so seised of the said castle and manor as tenant in fee tail after possibility of issue extinct; and that after his death the said castle and manor ought to remain by the form of the said fine to Walter Devereux, esquire, (who is of full age), as kinsman and heir of Agnes, to wit, as son of Walter the son of the said Agnes; and that the said castle and manor are held of the king in chief;—to take the fealty of the said Walter the son and cause him to have full seisin of the said castle and manor, which have been taken into the king's hand by the death of the said John Merbury, as the king for 40s. paid in the hanaper has respited until the quinzaine of Michaelmas next the homage due from him in this behalf and for other lands and tenements in divers other counties of the realm.
Order in like terms to John Holt, escheator in the county of Leicester;—pursuant to an inquisition taken before him showing that by a fine levied as above touching the manors of Cotesbache by Lutterworth, Neubolt Verdon, Hemyngton and Braunston, 60s. of rent and the view of frankpledge of Skyftynton, the advowsons of the priory of Gracedieu and of the churches of Braunston, Skyftynton and Cotesbache, and the advowson of a fourth part of the church of Boseworth, the said John Merbury and Agnes acknowledged the said manors of Cotesbache and Neubolt Verdon to be the right of the said Geoffrey, Richard and John Monyton, and the rest of the premises as the right of the said Geoffrey, for which acknowledgement, fine and concord the premises were granted to the said John Merbury and Agnes to hold the same to them and the heirs of their bodies, to wit, the said manors of Cotesbache and Neubolt Verdon of the king and his heirs by the services due and customary, for ever, the king's licence having been first obtained, and the rest of the premises of the chief lords of that fee by the services which pertain thereto, for ever, with remainder to the right heirs of Agnes; and that the said John Merbury and Agnes were seised of the premises in their demesne as of fee tail, by virtue of the said fine, and peaceably continued that estate therein for the whole of the life of Agnes; and that Agnes died, without heir of her body by the said John Merbury, seised of such estate in the premises jointly with the said John Merbury, who survived her and died so seised as tenant in fee tail after possibility of issue extinct; and that after his death the premises ought to remain by the form of the said fine to the said Walter Devereux the son; and that the said manors of Cotesbache and Neubolt Verdon are held of the king in chief, and the said manors of Hemyngton and Braunston of others than the king;—to cause the said Walter the son to have full seisin of the said manors, rent, view and advowsons, as the king for a certain fine paid in the hanaper has respited until a certain day yet to come the homage due from him in this behalf and for other lands and tenements in divers other counties of the realm and has ordered his fealty to be taken by John Wyggemore, escheator in the county of Hereford.
Order in like terms to Thomas Babyngton, escheator in the county of Nottingham, to cause the said Walter the son to have full seisin of the manors of Arnald and Tiercewell, as the king for a certain fine paid in the hanaper has respited until a certain day yet to come the homage due from him for certain lands and tenements in other counties of the realm, which were held of his inheritance by the said John Merbury in form aforesaid on the day of his death, of the king in chief, and has ordered his fealty to be taken by John Wyggemore, escheator in the county of Hereford; pursuant to an inquisition showing that by a fine levied as above touching, among other things, the said manors, the said John Merbury and Agnes acknowledged the said manors to be the right of the said Geoffrey, for which acknowledgement, fine and concord the manors were granted to the said John Merbury and Agnes to hold the same to them and the heirs of their bodies of the chief lords of the fee by the services pertaining thereto, with remainder to the right heirs of Agnes; and that the manor of Tiercewell is held of the king as of his honour of Tikhull and the manor of Arnald of others than the king....
Calendar of Fine Rolls, vol. xvii, pp. 31-33
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Younger brother of Nicholas Merbury of Braybrooke, and probably son of Sir Thomas Merbury.
Offices Held
Chamberlain and receiver, S. Wales 18 Mar. 1400-10 June 1421.2
Commr. of array, Carm. June 1403, Herefs. Apr. 1418, Mar. 1419; inquiry Jan. 1414 (lollards), Feb. 1414 (armed raid on Eardisley), Dec. 1417 (the forfeited lands of Sir John Oldcastle), Pemb. Oct. 1421 (theft of a cargo), Herefs. July 1426 (treasons and felonies), w. Midlands July 1427 (concealments), Herefs. July 1429 (rights of Henry Oldcastle at Almeley), July 1434 (concealments); to raise royal loans Nov. 1419, Mar. 1422, July 1426, May 1428, Mar. 1430, May 1431, Feb. 1434, Feb. 1436; seize ships and bring them to Bristol May 1420; of arrest May 1423.
Tax collector, Herefs. Mar. 1404.
J.p. Herefs. 27 Apr. 1404-d.
Sheriff, Herefs. 22 Nov. 1405-5 Nov. 1406, 10 Nov. 1414-1 Dec. 1415, 23 Nov. 1419-7 Jan. 1421, 1 May 1422-14 Feb. 1423, 15 Jan.-12 Dec. 1426, 10 Feb.-5 Nov. 1430, 3 Nov. 1434-7 Nov. 1435.
Dep. justiciar S. Wales Mich. 1411-13; justiciar 10 June 1421-17 Nov. 1423.
Steward of Brecon Feb. 1414-20, Kidwelly 15 Feb. 1417-June 1423.
Escheator, Herefs. and adjacent march 8 Dec. 1416-30 Nov. 1417.
Forester of Cantrefselyf bef. July 1426.
Biography
John Merbury was a trusted Lancastrian retainer who, by means of long service to the Crown (mainly in South Wales) and two advantageous marriages, became one of the richest and most influential Herefordshire gentlemen of his day. Little is known of his parentage, but his arms indicate that he was related to the Marbury family of Marbury (on the Cheshire border with Shropshire) who also owned the castle and manor of Lyonshall, near Kington, Herefordshire, which eventually came into his possession. Two of his brothers made equally impressive careers for themselves, Sir Laurence Merbury as successively treasurer (in 1400) and chancellor (from 1406) of Ireland, and Nicholas Merbury as chief butler and master of the ordnance to Henry V. Marbury was a fief of the Talbots, by whom Sir Laurence was retained, but John himself apparently began his career as an archer serving from 1389 in the force recruited by Sir John Stanley. He then enlisted with John of Gaunt, who at Bordeaux in October 1395 granted him an annuity of ten marks from the issues of the lordship of Halton, Cheshire, thereby retaining him for life.
Merbury’s early services to the house of Lancaster are unrecorded, but he was plainly a valued retainer, for at the beginning of Henry IV’s reign he became a ‘King’s esquire’ and was granted two annuities in quick succession. On 19 Jan. 1400 he shared one of £40 from the issues of Hereford with Roland Lenthall, and ten days later Prince Henry of Monmouth gave him another of 40 marks from Isleworth, Middlesex. In March following, moreover, he was appointed chamberlain and receiver in South Wales, the chief financial officer of that region of the principality: his fee was £20 p.a., and he was destined to hold office for the next 21 years. He clearly gave satisfaction, for on 17 Mar. 1402 he obtained, for life, a grant of the Cardiganshire lands of a rebel, worth £46 p.a., and the following day he had yet another annuity of ten marks at the Exchequer, again given him for life, bringing his annual income from royal grants and fees up to the very large sum of £126. By 1400, furthermore, he had increased his standing and landed interest in Herefordshire by his marriage to Alice, daughter of Sir John Pembridge (his neighbour at Lyonshall) and widow of Thomas Oldcastle; and during her lifetime he held her castle and manor of Boughrood, near Builth, Radnorshire, the manor of Eyton by Leominster, and an estate at Burghill, Herefordshire.
Merbury’s office of chamberlain in South Wales naturally involved him in the resistance to Glendower’s rebellion. In September 1402, with John ap Harry, he was ordered to take the muster of the forces of Richard, Lord Grey of Codnor, the King’s lieutenant in the region, and in June 1403, when the rebels were threatening Carmarthenshire, he served on a commission of array there. In 1403-4 he was nominal captain of Huntington castle, in the marches. During the period from 1404 until 1407, when much of South Wales was in rebel hands, he may have spent his time in Herefordshire, where he was appointed a j.p. in 1404 and served as sheriff a year later. By 1409, however, he was again accounting as chamberlain, and in that year he received a reward of £56 3s.4d. ‘for good service’. In 1411 (when he was appointed to the additional office of deputy justiciar in South Wales) he was engaged in collecting a royal ‘benevolence’ in Carmarthenshire and Cardiganshire. In May 1412 Prince Henry rewarded him with yet another permanent annuity, one of 100 marks assigned on the fee farm of Builth.
Merbury did not, however, neglect Herefordshire during the later years of Henry IV’s reign. On the contrary, in June 1409 Bishop Mascall of Hereford made him steward of the episcopal lands and temporalities in that county and Gloucestershire. In December of the same year, together with John Russell III, he stood surety when his brother, Nicholas, procured a royal lease of the Radnorshire lands of Thomas Dounton, a minor. Shortly afterwards, on 14 Jan. 1410, Merbury attended the Herefordshire elections to Parliament, and on 20 Mar. two of the MPs then sitting, Thomas Holgot (returned for the shire) and Edmund Morris (representing Leominster) acted as mainpernors when John and Nicholas Merbury were granted custody of the same ward’s manor of Clapham, Sussex. During that year John was offered the honour of knighthood, but declined it, paying the resultant fine.
All Merbury’s grants (now totalling nearly £200 a year) were confirmed to him soon after the beginning of Henry V’s reign, and by February 1414 he was occupying an additional office, that of steward of the duchy of Lancaster lordship of Brecon. In August 1415 he was also appointed steward of the episcopal lands of the bishop of St. David’s. As chamberlain of South Wales he was much concerned with preparations for the King’s first invasion of France, including the mustering during June 1415 of a large contingent for the expedition (20 men-at-arms and 500 archers) at Carmarthen and Brecon. He himself did not go to France, but instead assumed joint command of a force of up to 60 men-at-arms and 120 archers for the defence of South Wales against any act of rebellion during the King’s absence; his fellow captains were Thomas Strange, Richard Oldcastle (his stepson) and Sir Robert Whitney II (husband of his stepdaughter, Wintelan Oldcastle). His contributions to the war-effort continued in January 1416, when he sent 200 oxen by sea from Haverford for the victualling of Harfleur, and in March 1417, along with John Russell, he was in Monmouthshire negotiating a donation towards the cost of the King’s second French expedition. In the previous month, his influence in South Wales was still further consolidated by the grant of yet another office, that of steward of the duchy lordship of Kidwelly. During this period Merbury was equally busy in Herefordshire, where he witnessed the county elections to the Parliaments of May 1413 and 1417, acting in the meantime for a second term as sheriff.
Merbury’s first wife had died in 1415, but by March 1417 he had made a still more advantageous marriage, namely, to the twice-widowed Agnes Crophill. The lands she brought him consisted not only of her dower from John Parr (including the manor of Kirkby Kendal), but also of the very considerable estates of her grandfather, Sir John Crophill. These last included the manors of Market Rasen (Lincolnshire), Cotesbach, Newbold Verdon, Hemmington and Braunston (Leicestershire), Tiercewell and Arnold (Nottinghamshire), Hyde (Hertfordshire), lands in Shropshire and Bedfordshire, and the castle and manor of Weobley.
Weobley immediately became Merbury’s home, and during 1417 several messengers were paid for taking to him there letters from the King. Some of these may have concerned the fugitive lollard, Sir John Oldcastle. Certainly, on 27 Aug. one of the latter’s tenants came to Weobley with the news that Oldcastle was hiding at his nearby manor of Almeley, but despite an offer of £100 from Merbury, the man could not or would not reveal his exact whereabouts. This offer of reward would seem to repudiate any suggestion that Merbury’s failure to capture his first wife’s cousin was deliberate, although it is remarkable that Oldcastle was able to stay untroubled at Almeley until October, when he was taken on his way to North Wales. However this may be, Merbury clearly remained in favour with Henry V, and his prestige, and also wealth from government grants, continued to grow. In May 1418 he shared a royal lease of the temporalities of the diocese of St. David’s with his deputy chamberlain, Thomas Walter, and in the following December he and John Brugge (a Talbot retainer) were appointed custodians of all the lands of the late Gilbert, Lord Talbot, during the minority of his heir. In 1419 he had charge, by order of the royal council, of the manor of Longford, Herefordshire, pending the settlement of a dispute over it between (Sir) John Skydemore and the executors of Thomas Walwyn II; and in 1422 he took custody, under similar circumstances, of certain lands disputed between Skydemore and Robert Brut.
Surprisingly, so far as is known, it was not until 1419 that Merbury was first elected to Parliament, for Herefordshire, of which county he was appointed sheriff for the third time ten days after the end of the session. He was returned again in May 1421, and not long afterwards, on 10 June, his labours in South Wales were crowned with his promotion from chamberlain to justiciar, an office previously held by the late duke of York. He was now the principal royal official in the region, with an annual fee of £40 and a reward of as much as £100 a year. A month after his appointment he and the new chamberlain, William Botiller, were given charge for two years of Bronllys castle and other Brecon estates, which were then in dispute between the King and Anne, countess of Stafford, and in 1423 the grant was extended for a further three years. Meanwhile, in December 1421, he had again been elected to Parliament, the last of Henry V’s reign.
Merbury’s private transactions during the preceding period were manifold, and need only summarizing here. By 1415 he had been made a trustee of the late Richard Ruyhale’s manors of Birtsmorton, Ryhall and Queenhill (Worcestershire) and Dymock (Gloucestershire), and he continued to act when these estates passed to Ruyhale’s widow, Elizabeth, and her new husband, Richard Oldcastle, the son of Merbury’s first wife. After this couple’s death the estates reverted to Merbury, who sold them. He was also a feoffee for Sir William ap Thomas, Sir John Chandos and Elizabeth Devereux (his second wife’s daughter). In many of the transactions involved he was linked with John Brugge, who seems to have been a close associate, and with whom he several times acted as surety: Merbury’s services in this particular regard were much in demand during Henry V’s reign, especially where matters relating to Wales and the marches were concerned. Further afield, he received a legacy of 20 marks by the will of Robert Hallum, bishop of Salisbury, who died at the General Council of Constance in 1417; and in May 1421 he acted as supervisor of the testament of John Botiller, of which his brother Nicholas was an executor. (Botiller, an usher of the chamber to Henry V, was also an old Cheshire neighbour of the Merburys).
At the beginning of Henry VI’s reign all Merbury’s annuities were confirmed (with the exception of the 40 marks from Isleworth, which manor had been granted by Henry V to his own monastic foundation at Sheen). Also, he was re-appointed as justiciar. In the previous year, 1421, his brother Nicholas had died, and by the terms of his will his manor and castle of Braybrooke, Northamptonshire, passed (just for one year after his death) to his trustees, who included Merbury and two senior duchy of Lancaster officials, John Wodehouse and William Troutbeck. It was in 1423 that, with his removal from the justiciar’s office, Merbury’s long period of public employment in South Wales virtually came to an end. His service had not been entirely above reproach, for in 1424 the English tenants of Llanstephan and Penrhyn complained that he had wrongfully amerced them, employing for the purpose Welsh jurors who dared not contradict him.
Merbury remained, however, both active and influential in Herefordshire, serving on three further occasions as sheriff, heading royal loan commissions and witnessing the indentures of return at the county elections in 1429 and 1431. He was himself returned to Parliament again in 1425 and 1427, and it was during the latter session that the Commons supported his petition for the restoration of his lost annuity, and its re-assignment as a charge upon the issues of Gloucestershire. It is also clear that he maintained contacts with some of the most influential in the land. In 1427 he witnessed the confirmation by Humphrey, earl of Stafford, of the Newport borough charter, and he was possibly one of the earl’s councillors. In July 1429 he put his family manor of Lyonshall into the hands of trustees headed by Humphrey, duke of Gloucester, and including John Russell and Lewis John; and by 1434 he was himself a feoffee of Thomas Chaucer (a cousin of Cardinal Beaufort), for the manor of Grovebury, Bedfordshire. In 1435 he shared a royal lease of the lordship of Abergavenny with Sir John (now Lord) Tiptoft; and in the following year he was made a trustee of all the extensive estates which Richard, duke of York, had inherited from the Mortimers.
Merbury’s wife, Agnes, died in 1436, having appointed him her sole executor and left him a life interest in all her (Crophill) family lands. The extent of his wealth by this time is demonstrated by his assessed contribution of £100 towards a royal loan for the equipment of York’s expedition to France, this being by far the largest sum paid by anyone in Herefordshire, not excluding the bishop. His own life was, however, now drawing to a close: he made his will at Weobley on 23 Aug. 1437, and on 29 Jan. following he died. His heir was Elizabeth (b.1412), his elder daughter by his first wife, who had married Walter Devereux (1411-59), his second wife’s grandson and heir. The combined Devereux, Merbury and Crophill lands therefore passed to them, and eventually to their son, Walter Devereux, Lord Ferrers of Chartley (1432-85), a leading Yorkist. Merbury’s testament requested burial with his second wife at Weobley, where their fine alabaster tomb remains, and to which church he left plate, vestments and hangings. Monetary bequests, totalling more than £367, including 100 marks for requiem masses and a similar sum for the poor, while his Cheshire origins were recalled by a gift of £20 to the abbot of Vale Royal. His grand daughter, Anne Devereux, was to have £100, and his younger daughter, Marion, £20, for their marriages. All his furnishings, including the decoration of the ‘Kynges Chaumber’ (perhaps an echo of a royal visit to Weobley), went to Walter and Elizabeth Devereux, of whom the former was an executor. 1
General Notes: