John Locke, Sheriff of London

John LOCK (LOK) (ca.1420-1463), Mercer of Saint Mary le Bow, London, Sheriff 1461-2

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In 1426 John Locke was apprenticed to John Michell, master of the Mercers' Company.

In 1434 he became a freeman of the Mercers’ Company.

In 1460 John Locke had an apprentice named William Locke (probably his son).

Source: Records of London's Livery Companies Online - Apprentices and Freemen 1400-1900

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From The Medieval Account Books of the Mercers of London:

1459-60 Admission of apprentices: Item, for William Locke the apprentice of John Locke - £3 6s. 8d.

1461-62 Item, for 7 1/4 yards of crimson cloth for hoods for 8 trumpeters and for half a hood for Thomas with the large trumpet, for [the procession with] John Locke, sheriff - 16s. 4d.

1463-64 Received from the executors of John Locke (may God absolve him), for the said adorment, 2 silver basins

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Abstract of John Lock's will:

Will, dat. 19 July 1459, pr. 19 July 1463. To be bur. in church of B.V.M. _de Arcithus_, London, if he die within sixty leagues. Bequests to Denham church, Bucks.?to Swaffham monastery, Cambs.?to lepers. Movable goods in London to wife Elizabeth. Mentions sons Stephen, William and John, das. Rose, Anne and Elizabeth. Exors.:?w. Elizabeth, s. Stephen, Thomas Bryan, John Alburgh, Henry Newman, Geoffrey Boleyn and John Rathby.

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From Calendar of Letter-Books of the City of London:

Custod' Will' i pueri Joh' is Lok.

22 Oct., 3 Edward IV. [A.D. 1463], came John Alburgh, Robert Twygge, John Broun, Richard Syffe, mercers, into the Court of the lord the King in the Chamber of the Guildhall, before Thomas Cook, the Mayor, and the Aldermen, and entered into bond with Robert Colwych, the Chamberlain, in the sum of £308 for the delivery of a certain sum of money and jewels to the Chamberlain for the time being, to the use of William, son of John Lock, the same having been bequeathed to the said William by his father or accrued to him by the death of John his brother.

Custod' Rose e Anne pueror Joh' is Lok.

25 Oct., 3 Edward IV. [A.D. 1463], came Elizabeth, widow of John Locke, late mercer, William Redknap, John Alburgh, and William Alburgh, mercers, into the Court of the lord the King, before Thomas Cook, the Mayor, and the Aldermen, and entered into bond with Robert Colwych, the Chamberlain, in the sum of £349 6s. 8d. for the delivery by the said Elizabeth of a certain sum of money and jewels to the Chamberlain for the time being, to the use of Rose and Anne, daughters of John Lock, on their marriage, the same having been bequeathed to them by their father, or accrued to them by the death of John their brother.

Custod' Steph' i et Elizabethe pueror' Johannis Lok.

26 Oct., 3 Edward IV. [A.D. 1463], came John Alburgh, John Shelley, John Sturmyn, mercers, and Henry Toller, grocer, into the Court of the lord the King, before Thomas Cook, the Mayor, and the Aldermen, and entered into bond with Robert Colwych, the Chamberlain, in the sum of £382 13s. 4d. for the delivery of a certain sum of money and jewels to the Chamberlain for the time being, to the use of Stephen and Elizabeth, children of John Lock, the same having been bequeathed to them by their father, or accrued to them by the death of John their brother.

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From Calender of Plea & Memoranda Rolls of the City of London AD 1458-1482, page 88

ROLL A 94 (Drape maior anno xvo Eiij)

29th Nov. 1474, Edward Cokayn, gentleman, son and heir of John Cokayn, gentleman acknowledged in the chamber an acquittance date 25 Nov. made by him and Elizabeth his wife, daughter of John Lok, late alderman and mercer to John Broune, alderman and Richard Shiffe, [could be Sniffe] mercer, for 104 marks belonging to the said Elizabeth by the death of William, son of the said John Lok, and also acquitting the mayor, alderman and William Philip chamberlain.

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One or two wives named Elizabeth? - conflicting evidence

Scot's Manor, Abbotsley Parish, County of Huntingdon:

In 1399, Robert Scot, who was in the king's service, was apparently holding this land. (fn. 43) He died after 1428, (fn. 44) and certainly left a daughter and heiress named Elizabeth, but she does not seem to have inherited Scot's Manor, (fn. 45) which passed to Eustace Valdrian and his wife Rose. (fn. 46) Whether Rose was another daughter of Robert Scot does not appear. She may have afterwards married Stephen Brown, alderman of London, to whom, together with his wife Rose, Thomas Pyttes of Tempsford, Beds., in 1443, remised all his right in the manor. (fn. 47) After the death of Valdrian and his wife, who were enfeoffed for their lives, the manor was claimed from feoffees by their three daughters, Alice the wife of William Joseph, Elizabeth the wife of John Lok, and Jane the wife of John Louthe. (fn. 48) The manor was assigned to John Lok and his wife Elizabeth, (fn. 49) who, after John's death, married William Yorke. (fn. 50)

Source: A History of the County of Huntingdon: Volume 2. Originally published by Victoria County History, London, 1932.

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1456-1460 Chancery suit: Joseph v Neel

Plaintiffs: William Joseph, John Lok, John Louthe, and Alice, Elizabeth, and Jane their wives, daughters of Eustace Valdrian.

Defendants: John Neel, clerk, Stephen Broun, Richard Rich, and Henry Belle, feoffees of the said Eustace.

Subject: Manor of Abbotsley (Albottesle) alias Scotts Manor. Hunts

Source: The National Archives, Kew

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From Two Dozen and More Silkwomen of Fifteenth-Century London by Anne F. Sutton

Affluent and equally capable was Elizabeth Lock, left a widow by the mercer John Lock in 1463; there were six children entrusted to several male custodians so they may not have been hers, but she was appointed one of the executors. It is doubtful that any Lock step-children would have suffered from her second marriage to the stapler William Yorke for it was prudent, wealthy, and had connections to gentry circles.[45]

45. Born a Cokayn, and it is her gentry status which suggests she was Lock’s second ‘trophy’ wife. She had children by Yorke. Lock (d. 1463), PROB 11/5, ff. 7-9; Yorke died 1476 when she was executrix again. She died 1497, PROB 11/11, ff. 113v-14v. Her connections included Thomas Windsor, the nephew-in-law of Alice, last wife of Hugh Wiche, see Sutton, ‘Women of the Mercery’, forthcoming.

Source: Ricardian, vol16, 2006

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In 1460 William Locke was apprenticed to John Locke (probably his father), master of the Mercers Company.

In 1472 William Locke had an apprentice named Thomas Locke (probably his son).

Source: Records of London's Livery Companies Online - Apprentices and Freemen 1400-1900

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In the Herald's College, in a volume, known there as Vincent's Middlesex, there is a Pedigree of the family of Lok or Lock or Locke

It is meagre in its details but an examination shows it to be accurate as to names and relationships.

The first person named in Vincent (as supra) is William Lock, who had two sons Thomas and John. The latter has heretofore been identified with one of the name who was sheriff of London in 1461: but as he did not die till 1519, it may be doubted if they were identical. Further: in several of the Biographies of JOHN LOCKE the Philosopher, his descent has been deduced from him: but erroneously, as according to his will he had no children. The error originated in assuming that THOMAS above name was his son, while he was certainly his brother.1 This THOMAS LOCK (or as sometimes Lok and Loke) was a Mercer of London. He died in 1507 and was buried in Mercer's Chapel.

Source: Miscellanies of the Fuller Worthies Library (1871)

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ROLL A 94 (Drape maior anno xvo Eiij)

29th Nov. 1474, 'Edward Cokayn, gentleman, son and heir of John Cokayn, gentleman acknowledged in the chamber an acquittance date 25 Nov. made by him and Elizabeth his wife, daughter of John Lok, late alderman and mercer to John Broune, alderman and Richard Shiffe, [could be Sniffe] mercer, for 104 marks belonging to the said Elizabeth by the death of William, son of the said John Lok, and also acquitting the mayor, alderman and William Philip chamberlain.

Source: Calender of Plea & Memoranda Rolls of the City of London AD 1458-1482, page 88

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• Miscellanies of the Fuller Worthies Library ... edited by Alexander Balloch Grosart
• https://books.google.ca/books?id=cDwVAAAAYAAJ&q=lock#v=snippet&q=lo...
• Pg.66
• .... etc.
• In the HERALD'S COLLEGE, in a volume, known there as VINCENT'S MIDDLESEX, there is a Pedigree of the family of LOK or LOCK or LOCKE2 - such is the arbitrarily various orthography. It is meagre in its details: but an examination shew it to be accurate as to names and relationships. Taking this Pedigree as a basis, we shall add many particulars obtained from Wills, Parish Registers, and other authentic manuscripts.
• The first person named in VINCENT (as supra) is WILLIAM LOCK, who had two sons THOMAS and JOHN. The latter has heretofore been identified
• Pg.67
• with one of the name who was sheriff of London in 1461: but as he did not die till 1519, it may be doubted if they were identical. Further: in several of the Biographies of JOHN LOCKE the Philosopher, his descent has been deduced from him: but erroneously, as according to his will he had no children. The error originated in assuming that THOMAS above name was his son, while he was certainly his brother.1 This THOMAS LOCK (or as sometimes Lok and Loke) was a Mercer of London. He died in 1507 and was buried in Mercer's Chapel. His wife was JOANNA, daughter of . . . . Wilcocks of Rotherham, co. York; and she too was buried in the same Chapel in 1512. They appear to have had one son only, viz WILLIAM LOK, who was born according to the Pedigree in 1480. He also became a Mercer of London, and one of the aldermen of the city. In 1548 he was Sheriff of London, and was knighted at Westminster in that year. He was Mercer to King Henry VIIIth. with whom he was an especial favorite, so much so that it is said he held a key to the king's private chamber - a fact which
• Pg.68
• had been an equivocal compliment before FROUDE wrote. One of his daughters, ROSE, who by marriage becme ancestress of the HICKMANS of Gainsborough, and the EARLS of PLYMOUTH, left an account of his sufferings during Queen Mary's reign, which is printed, at length, in STARK'S Gainsborough. .... Now I, his daughter, Rose Throckmorton, widow, late wife of Simon Throckmorton Esq, and first ye wife of Anthony Hickman, a merch't of London, .... etc.
• Pg.69
• SIR WILLIAM LOK was buried in Mercer's Chapel 27th August 1550. His Will dated 15th March, was proved 11th September in that year. He had four wives: (a) ALICE, daughter of ..... SPENCER, of London, Fishmonger, who died in 1522 and was buried in Mercer's Chapel: (b) CATHERINE, daughter of WILLIAM COOKE of SALISBURY, who died in childbed 14th Octr. 1537 and was buried at Martin Abbey in Surrey: (c) ELINOR (widow of WALTER MARSH) who died in 1546: (d) ELIZABETH (widow successively of ..... Hutton and of ROBERT MEREDITH) who was buried in Mercer's Chapel 5th Decr. 1551. By his last two wives there were no issue. By his first wife .... etc. ___________________
• Family histories and genealogies. A series of genealogical and biographical monographs on the families of MacCurdy, Mitchell, Lord, Lynde, Digby, Newdigate, Hoo, Willoughby, Griswold, Wolcott, Pitkin, Ogden, Johnson, Diodati, Lee and Marvin, and notes on the families of Buchanan, Parmelee, Boardman, Lay, Locke, Cole, De Wolf, Drake, Bond and Swayne, Dunbar and Clarke, and a notice of Chief Justice Morrison Remick Waite. With twenty-nine pedigree-charts and two charts of combined descents by Salisbury, Edward Elbridge
• https://archive.org/details/familyhistoriesg12sali
• https://archive.org/stream/familyhistoriesg12sali#page/605/mode/1up
• The Lockes claim to have been a very ancient family, before the Conquest, originally Scotch, with the name Loch. The seat of our family, as we shall see, had been from early times at Merton, co. Surrey.
• "I. William Locke[1] (Lock, Lok or Loke, as the name was indifferently spelt in early times) had two sons, viz : John[2] Locke, Citizen and Mercer of London, who died in 1519, leaving no issue, and
• "II. Thomas [2] Locke, also Citizen and Mercer of London, who died in 1507. By his wife Joanna Wilcocks of Rotheram, co. York [an only daughter and heiress], who died in 1512, and was buried with her husband in Mercers' Chapel, he had a son, viz :
• "III. Sir William [3] Locke, Knight, Alderman of London, who was born about 1486, as he was admitted to the freedom of London, at the
• https://archive.org/stream/familyhistoriesg12sali#page/606/mode/1up
• end of his apprenticeship, in 1507. He succeeded to his father's business and estate, and became an eminent tradesman and citizen. He received the royal appointment of Mercer to King Henry VIII., with whom he was an especial favorite, having a key to the King's Private Chamber, and occasionally entertaining him at dinner at his house in London. There are records in existence showing materials furnished by him to the royal household, including Queen Anna Boleyn and the Princess, afterwards Queen, Elizabeth, as also Will Somers, the King's Jester. After being several years an Alderman, he was elected Sheriff of London in 1548, and was knighted on the 3d of October in that year, but died before it was his turn to become Lord Mayor.
• https://archive.org/stream/familyhistoriesg12sali#page/607/mode/1up
• "Sir William Locke married four wives :
• .... etc. ____________________________