James Peckham Explained

James Peckham (c. 1346 – 1400) was an English politician.[1]

Life

Peckham was the eldest son of John and Ellen Peckham of Yaldham, near Wrotham, Kent. His first wife was named Margery. At some point by December 1376, he was married to the widow Lora Morant, the sole daughter and heir of Sir Thomas Morant, of Morant's Court, Chevening and widow of Sir Thomas Cawne.[2] She brought him, among other estates, the manor of Barsted, near Borough Green, in Wrotham. He had two legitimate daughters and an acknowledged illegitimate son, John Wrotham. He is recorded as helpful to his stepchildren, Robert and Alice Couen, the children of his second wife Lora.[3]

Career

In 1377, he was poll tax collector for Kent.

Peckham was Member of Parliament for Kent 1372, October 1377, February 1383, February 1388,and September 1388.[4]

He was appointed Sheriff of Kent in 1380 and 1389.[5]

Notes and References

  1. [Nicholas Harris Nicolas|N.H. Nicolas]
  2. The sequence of marriages in shown in a suit of 1418, The National Archives (UK) De Banco rolls CP40/625, 17 Easter 5 Henry V (1418), membranes 306-06a. View original at AALT, images fronts, 0620-21, dorses, 1500-01, fronts, 0622 (AALT).
  3. L.S. Woodger, 'Peckham, James (d.1400), of Yaldham in Wrotham and Hadlow, Kent', in J.S. Roskell, L. Clark, C. Rawcliffe (eds), The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1386-1421 (from Boydell and Brewer, 1993), History of Parliament Online.
  4. History of Parliament online
  5. E. Hasted, 'Wrotham', in The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent, Vol. 5 (W. Bristow, Canterbury 1798), pp. 6-32. British History Online pp. 6-32 (British History Online).