John Fyneux, MP

Family and Education b. aft. 1536, 1st s. of William Fyneux of Herne by Frideswide, da. of Sir John Norton. m. 1558, Margaret, da. of Thomas Morley† of Glynde, Suss., sis. of William Morley, 1da. suc. fa. 1557.

Offices Held

J.p. Kent from c.1575, capt. in lathe of St. Augustine 1580, sheriff 1587-8; capt. of untrained footmen 1588.

Biography Fyneux’s father left him property in Chislett, Swingfield and several other parishes in Kent, as well as at Herne, where his own father, the chief justice, had rebuilt the manor house of Hawe. What is known of Fyneux’s career is concerned entirely with Kent, and his return for West Looe is puzzling. It is probable that he owed it to the end Earl of Bedford, but the connexion has not been traced.

In November 1579 the Privy Council gave Fyneux and other justices the unenviable task of recovering goods stolen by the people of the Isle of Thanet from three hulks driven on shore ‘about the Downs’. In 1587 he was noted as removed from the commission of the peace, presumably because he had been pricked as sheriff. A brass in Herne church states that Fyneux died 31 July 1592, about six months after his wife. No will or inquisition post mortem is known. His only child Elizabeth married John Smythe I, son of Thomas Smythe I of Westenhanger, Kent.

Kentish Wills, ed. Clarke, 55; Glynde Place Archives, ed. Dell, 23; Arch. Cant. liii. 81 seq., 89; SP12/139/43, 208/25; APC, xi. 321; Lansd. 121, f. 68; J. R. Buchanan, Mems. Herne, 43.

Ref Volumes: 1558-1603 Author: N. M. Fuidge