3 Sep 1347, Gloucester
To the sheriff of Wilts. Order to bail William, son of John Trussel of Cublesdon, knight, if he render himself to prison in that county to stand to right and to answer those who wish to lay anything against him, to William Trussel of Cublesdon, and Warin his brother.
Calendar of Close Rolls, 21 Edw. III, p. 390
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8 Dec 1347, Iver
William Trussel of Cubblesdon and Warin Trussel his brother, John Brocas, knight, John de Bedeforde, skinner, Thomas de Walden, spicer, and Richard de Mallynge, vintner, citizens of London, acknowledge that they owe to John de Wygan, citizen of London, 3,000l.; to be levied, in default of payment, of their lands and chattels in co. Berks.
Cancelled on payment.
Enrolment of indenture testifying that whereas William Trussel of Cubbesdon, Warin Trussel his brother, John Brokas, knights, John de Bedeford, skinner, Thomas de Walden, spicer, and Richard de Mallyngge, vintner, citizens of London, are bound to John de Wygan, citizen of London, in 3,000l. by the preceding recognisance, to be paid at the octaves of Hilary next, John de Wygan grants that if they deliver the body of William Trussel son of John Trussel who is committed to the custody of the said John de Wygan, warden of the prison of the Marshalsea of the king's Bench, at the octaves of Hilary next, to the warden of that prison, then the recognisance shall be null and void, and if they do not, it shall remain in force. Witnesses: Reginald de Thorp, Thomas Gyles, Robert de Assh, Thomas de Banham, Richard le Clerk, John Adam, 'barber,' Richard Dymenel, Ralph Fraunceys, clerk. Dated at Fletstret in the suburb of London on Sunday after the Conception of the Virgin, 21 Edward III.
Memorandum that William, Warin, John, John, Thomas and Richard and the said John de Wygan came into chancery at Westminster on 9 December and acknowledged the preceding indenture.
Calendar of Close Rolls, 21 Edw. III, pp. 414-415
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27 Jul 1348, Westminster
Licence for William Trussel of Cublesdon to enfeoff John de Broghton and John David, chaplains, of the manor of Shotebrok, said to be held in chief, and for them to re-grant the same to him, Ida, his wife, and John, his son, and the heirs of the last named.
Calendar of Patent Rolls, Edw.III, vol. 8, p. 148
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2 Jan 1359, Westminster
Grant to William Trussel of Cublesdon, knight, in exchange for the lands of Folie Johan, Hiremere and Wicchemere which were assarted and arrented out of the soil of the forest of Wyndesore, lands in Old Wyndesore, New Wyndesore, Wynkefeld and Ascote, co. Berks, late parcel of the castle and manor of Wyndesore, and lands in Eton by Wyndesore, co. Buckingham, which Oliver de Burdeux had of the grant of the king's father....
Calendar of Patent Rolls, Edw.III, vol. 11, p. 148
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28 Jun 1361, Westminster
Pardon to William Trussel of Cublesdon, knight, in consideration of his good service from his youth and his manifold labours endured for the king and that he may better maintain his estate in his service, of 125l. of the 50l. yearly of rent due for the manor of Eton Hastynges, co. Berks, and the advowson of the church of that manor, granted to him by letters patent dated 2 January, in the thirty-second year, for the five terms last past, to wit 25l. for each term, and of 10l. for each year in the future, so that he and his heirs shall hold the manor at the rent of 40l. yearly.
Calendar of Patent Rolls, Edw.III, vol. 12, p. 34
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18 Sep 1362, Farnham
Commission to William Trussel of Cublesdon, keeper of the castle of Hodyham to have the defects in the castle repaired...
Calendar of Patent Rolls, Edw.III, vol. 12, p. 245
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18 Aug 1363, Clipstone
Order to John de Estbury, escheator in the county of Berks, to deliver to Fulk de Pembrugge and Margaret, his wife, daughter and heir of William Trussel of Cublesdon, 'chivaler,' who held in chief, the lands late of the said William; as the king has taken Fulk's fealty.
Calendar of Fine Rolls, 37 Edw. III, p. 265
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Inquisition Post Mortem
533. William Trussel of Cublesdon, knight.
Writ, August, 37 Edward III. [1363]
Bedford. Inq. made at Haunes, Thursday after the Assumption, 3 Edward III.
Kempston. A manor called Bruscebury (extent given), held of the king in chief to him and the heirs of his body by the king's grant. The extent includes a fishery in the river Ouse, sold for 5s. yearly.
He died on 20 July, 37 Edward III. Margaret his daughter, aged 14 years on 21 May last, married to Fulk de Penbrugge, is his heir.
Berks. Inq. made at Redyng, 12 August, 37 Edward III.
Eton. The manor, with the advowson of the church, held of the king in chief by service of one knight's fee and by rendering 40l. yearly at the Exchequer for the life of Oliver de Bordeux.
Shotesbrok. The manor (extent given), with the advowson of a chantry there, held (of whom not stated) by service of a pair of gilt spurs.
Benetfeld. 104a. 3r. heath, worth nothing because of the king's deer that feed thereon, held of the king in chief by fealty.
Waltham St. Laurence. 37a. arable and 5a. meadow, held of the bishop of Winchester by service of 18s. 5d. yearly and by suit to his court of Wergrave.
Cokham. 4a. meadow, held of Philippa queen of England by fealty; and 4a. meadow, held of John Spencer by fealty.
He held no other lands &c. in the county.
Date of death and heir as above.
C. Edw. III. File 179. (6.)
E. Inq. P.M. File 22. (13.) (Berks.) 1
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William, like many ambitious younger sons, sought to make his fortune in Royal service. However, it was not always easy to know which horse to back during the many Royal squabbles of the era and the both Trussell junior and senior seem to have been particularly unwise in their choice of loyalties. They took up arms for Thomas of Lancaster against King Edward II at the Battle of Boroughbridge on 22nd March 1322. After Lancaster's overthrow, the two fled beyond the seas; but, like his father, William had probably returned by 1326, when he entered the household of Edward, Prince of Wales
It appears to have been the son who had to flee the country for a second time after King Edward II's murder in 1327 and stayed away at least for the first two years that Roger Mortimer remained in power; for the father acted as an ambassador and seems to have retained his escheatorship between the failure of Henry of Lancaster's movement of insurrection, at the end of 1328, and the fall of Mortimer in October 1330.
William Junior was, however, back in England in 1329, acting as an esquire of the Royal household before being promoted to Constable of the Odiham Castle in Hampshire. Soon afterwards, he was appointed to the Royal chamber and, for two years from 1333, served as receiver of that office. 1335 saw the commencement of his military adventures abroad, although his duties with the English army appear to have been largely administrative. He accompanied Edward III first on his big push into Scotland where he appears to have been knighted for his trouble Later, during the Hundred Years' War, he travelled with the Royal entourage to the Low Countries in 1338, and protections were issued in his favour the following year. In the Autumn of 1342, he was campaigning with King Edward in Brittany and, in 1346, he reached the peak of his career, taking part, with his brother, Warin, in the great Crécy campaign and the Siege of Calais where he commanded a company of four knights, nine esquires and eighteen archers.
At home in England, William Trussell had been appointed Admiral of the Fleet, west and north of the Thames, in 1339 and 1343; and he held his post at Odiham Castle for the best part of a quarter of a century. It is no surprise that King Edward III, whom he entertained there several times, called William his "beloved and faithful a servant". In January 1347, he became the custodian of the great Scottish warriors, William De Ramsey and Walter De Halyburton who had been captured by the English at the Battle of Neville's Cross the previous year. Their fellow prisoner, King David Bruce of the Scots was initially sent to the Tower of London, but by early 1355, he too was transferred to Odiham after the collapse of ransom negotiations. The monarch remained under William Trussell's charge for the next three years and lived in comfort, if not luxury, within the castle walls. The two appear to have become good friends, though William was not always in residence. He was often with the King's army in France, for example at the Battle of Poitiers in 1356, where he was granted £40 a year for his services to the Black Prince. Trussell did accompany King David to London to address both the English and Scottish Royal Councils concerning his release and also attended King Edward at Ludgershall (Wilts) to discuss the matter. When David was finally set free, he specifically requested that the Constable of Odiham accompany him to the North. It appears that William was a little reluctant to travel so far, for the English King wrote to him insisting that he not only to go to Scotland, but first he was to journey to London and on pilgrimage to Canterbury. The party left for London on 8th September 1357 - stopping the night at William Trussell's manor at Shottesbrooke in Berkshire on the way. Following their pious detour, the journey to Berwick took just eleven days.
William was the step-son and chosen heir of King Edward II's old favourite, Oliver De Bordeaux, and it was through this man that he inherited his Berkshire estates. These were originally centred around the manor of Foliejon in Winkfield, very close to the Royal Court at Windsor. However, the King insisted he swap these for Eaton Hastings in the north of the county in order that he could extend the Great Deer Park. It was in 1335 that William purchased Shottesbrooke from a London Vintner and it is here that he mostly resided, along with his wife, Isabelle (died pre-1348), and two children, John (who predeceased his father) and Margaret, subsequently the wife of Sir Fulk Pembridge of Tong Castle (Shropshire) and her father's eventual heiress. William's nephew and namesake also appears to have moved south in order to gain preferment through his uncle's influence at court. However, he became quite an embarrassment to the family when, in 1347, he helped Sir John Dalton with the abduction of Lady de La Beche from Beaumys Castle in Swallowfield! William returned from Calais to find himself standing guarantor for his nephew's surrender, which, fortunately, occurred soon afterward.
Close Berkshire associates of William included the father and brother of his sister-in-law, both John, Lord St. Philibert, of Bray and Sulham; and Sir John Brocas, a fellow knight of the Royal household who lived in nearby Clewer. It is not known what they thought of his nephew's tomfoolery, but they must have been considerably impressed when, in 1337, William had founded an ecclesiastical college at Shottesbrooke and built a church there for the attendant warden, five chaplains and two clerks. This survives completely intact to this day and a highly elaborate unmarked double-tomb there is said to be that of William and his first wife, though he did remarry in later life. He also appears to have been a patron of the church at Warfield, possibly in association with his mother's residence at adjoining Foliejon.
William had little connection with the family of his new wife, Ida, the sister and co-heiress of Edward, Lord Boteler of Wem; and it is generally supposed that the union was arranged by the King so that William might inherit a large part of the Boteler estates. In the event, however, Lord Boteler outlived Trussell by some eleven years and the latter never did acquire more than his three manors of Shottesbrooke, Eaton Hastings (both in Berkshire) and Brucebury (in Bedfordshire), despite holding others - like the vast estates of John Philibert's brother-in-law, Edmund Lord St. John of Basing - temporarily in wardship. At the time of his death in 1364, William's annual land income probably didn't exceed £200. 2
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