William Dalton

This story is about William de Dalton, the second son of Sir Robert de Dalton.

A 14th CENTURY ROYAL SERVANT: WILLIAM DALTON, by Michael Cayley.

This is a draft of a article that will be published in the DGS Journal in the future.

The earliest Dalton for whom there are fairly full records is Sir Robert Dalton, who dominates the opening pages of Part I of Mrs. Leaning's Dalton Book. Sir Robert was closely associated with Thomas, Duke of Lancaster, whose efforts to separate Edward II from his favorites led to his own downfall, and to Sir Robert's subsequent imprisonment in 1322. Sir Robert was subsequently released, and gained the favor of Edward III, becoming Keeper of the King's Woods at Blackburn Chase, and in 1343, Constable of the Tower of London.

Given Sir Robert's own enjoyment of royal favor, it is scarcely surprising that one of Sir Robert's sons was able to enjoy a successful career in what was to develop over the centuries into the civil service. The son was William Dalton, and the following account of his career is based mainly on information about him in a 1993 publication of the Yorkshire Archaeological Society - Beverley Minster Fasti. (The publications of county archaeological societies often include transcripts and translations of documents and records of great value to genealogists, and the Yorkshire society has been particularly active in making such items available.) The Fasti were the official register of Beverley Minster, and William Dalton features in them because he held office there.

Like many medieval career officers of the crown and great lords, William was a clerk in holy orders. His official career took him to positions of considerable influence. By 1336 he was clerk of the Great Wardrobe. Probably he started in a lower - and probably more informal - role before that. He became Cofferer of the Great Wardrobe in 1338, and was Controller from 1344 to 1350. William appears to have been unaffected by the cloud which hung over his family following the abduction of Margery de la Bèche by Sir John de Dalton and others in 1345: whereas his father was briefly imprisoned, there seems to have been no interruption to William's career. Clearly there was no possibility that William was directly implicated, and he must have been high in royal favor. It is quite possible that William's intervention helped to shield the family from further punishment, although there is no direct evidence for this,

In 1351 - with, I assume, royal encouragement - William began three years' study at Oxford, though he never took a degree. According to the Yorkshire Archaeological Society publication, he became Keeper of the Great Wardrobe in 1353, a position he held until 1358: but this conflicts with the list of Keepers in the Handbook of British Chronology (3rd edition published in 1986 by University College, London for the Royal Historical Society), which shows John Buckingham and William Retford successively occupying the post in these years. I am not sure which is right, but suspect the Handbook is more likely to be correct as its list is based on extensive earlier research. At the least, William was occupying one of the top posts in the Wardrobe. He is recorded as still being "king's clerk" in 1361, and Edward III was clearly rewarding him for services after that.

What was the Wardrobe? As often with the royal household, the name bears little relation to the function. The Wardrobe was the administrative heart of the monarchy. The Keeper - its most senior officer - headed the royal treasury and secretariat - a sort of (in today's UK terms) super permanent secretary in the civil service. The Controller was the Keeper's Deputy, and the Cofferer was third in rank. These were posts of substantial power, and in the fourteenth century, clerks in holy orders occupied them. (In the following century Keeper and Controller were generally knights or barons, though the Cofferer - who oversaw the clerical functions of the household - remained customarily an ecclesiastic.)

The main way a monarch rewarded a loyal servant in holy orders was through profitable ecclesiastical appointments, the duties of which would commonly have been performed by someone he either paid or allowed to keep some of the perquisites of the post. Plural livings were the norm for the higher officials. Accordingly, we find William simultaneously occupying a number of ecclesiastical posts across the land. Some of these are likely to have been in his own father's gift. This is almost certainly true of one of the first livings for which there appear to be records: by 1339 he was rector of South Dalton. Before that, from 1337 to 1338, he was rector of the moiety of Eckington in the diocese of Chester and Lincoln. In 1341 he added to the South Dalton rectorate being rector of Brigham in Cumberland, and from then on ecclesiastical appointments multiplied. The easiest thing is just to list them:

From 1342 until at least 1353, prebend of the Royal Free Chapel at Hastings.

From 1343 to 1367, prebend (member of the chapter) of Lincoln.

From 1345, rector of Houghton-le-Spring in the diocese of Durham.

By 1347, prebend of the Royal Free Chapel at Bridgnorth, Shropshire.

From 1347 to 1353 or 1354, sacrist at Beverley Minster (hence his name in the

Minster Fasti): Adam de Heselwick became rector of South Dalton in that year, so probably the two of them arranged a swap. (The sacrist's official duties were to look after the vestments, relics and other treasures of a religious establishment. William would have arranged for one of the clerics or retainers at Beverley to undertake the doubtless often tedious real work of the office.)

From 1349 to 1358, prebend of St Andrew's, Auckland, in the diocese of Durham.

From 1363, canon at York and prebend of Knaresborough.

From 1367, prebend of Wimborne in the diocese of Salisbury.

In addition, at some point he became vicar of Bulwell in Nottinghamshire.

The number of these appointments is a confirmation of the importance of the

Role William Dalton filled. They would have brought him a comfortable income,

which would have been supplemented by other perquisites of office. William died

in 1371, six years before the royal master to whose service he had devoted himself.

Another article about William Dalton:

Copied from Vol. 17 No. 1 of the Journal of the Dalton Genealogical Society.

Sources: According to A B Emden in his Biographical Register of the University of Oxford, page 538, William de Dalton was Rector of Echington in Derbyshire in 1338 and Rector of Brigham in Cumberland in 1343.

Dr C Moor, Vicar of Gainsborough, found in an unpublished manuscript, 'Lincoln Cathedral Clery', William Dalton, obit. 1372.

It calls William, son of Robert Dalton knight'. William was appointed Rector of Ecklington in 1337, and resided at Oxford for purposes of study in 1351-53.

'William de Dalton was presented to the Rectory of Bulwell, in Nottinghamshire, on 25th November 13-22 and to that of Croxton in Lincolnshire, on 30th March 1324. He was granted the prebend of Bridgenorth and became Deputy Keeper of the Great Wardrobe. On 20th February 1335 he seized the King's goods, lately in the hands of Robert de Taunton, deceased. He was presented to a moiety in Skynton Church, Derbyshire on 20th July 1337 and became the Parson of South Dalton in Yorkshire. While serving with the King's army in France, he was captured by men of the King of Bohemia and taken to Germany, where he was detained for some time. His benefice was kept open for him, however, until he returned to England, on 3rd December 1339. After he returned he became the King's Clerk in the diocese of York, and took up the Benefice in the gift of St. Mary's Abbey, York, which had been granted to him on the 29th, of July 1333. He was presented to the Rectory of Brigham in Cumberland on 10th January 1341 and to the prebend of Brightling in Hastings, on 28th April 1342. He was said to be a son of Sir Robert Dalton, Knight. He was given a grant in Wingham, and the prebend of Farendon in Lincoln on 25th July 1343. He was presented to the Rectory of Houghton le Spring, in Durham, on 30th April 1347. He was also granted the prebend of Ketton and became Controller of the King's Household, on 31st August 1349. He was given a grant for his long service to the King and his household and the right to have the same wages and wear the same robes in perpetuity, as when he was the Controller on 20th January 1350. He was given a prebend in Aukland, on 6th June 1350, and a further prebend in Lincoln, which he obtained on the death of Henry de Edenston.

On 8th May 1350, it is recorded that at that time he held Houghton, the Sacristy of Beverly and prebends in Aukland, Bridgenorth and Hastings, so he must have been a very rich and important man indeed and he moved in the highest Court circles. William de Dalton lent money to the Prince of Wales for play and was repaid 4.13.4d. on 15th May 1352. He was made Keeper of the Great Wardrobe on 25th June 1353, in 1355 various men owed him £160 and in 1358, £300. He was granted a further prebend in York on the death of Simon de Brise, and he was apparently an intimate friend of Baron Guy de Brien. On 24th January 1355, he was granted a further prebend in Hereford, on the death of Simon de Ledbury, and he became the Dean there. He exchanged the prebend of Carlton cum Dalby for the prebend of Ketton with William de Hilgate. He was charged by the King with the duty of delivering cloth for the Justices of the Bench and the Baron of Exeter in 1357. He was the King's Inspector of Shipping and he was given the task of enquiring into the wool trade in Norfolk and Suffolk. He went overseas again on these duties in 1358. When he returned, he exchanged his prebend in Aukland with William de Custantia for one in Ripon. He was collated to a prebend of Knaresborough in York on 2nd August 1363, and, in 1365, he sued in the Roman court to the damage of the King's Realm, and opposed the new taxation. He was confirmed in the prebends of Houghton, York and Ripon in 1367, and these together were valued at 170m. He died on 8th March 1372, voiding his prebend in York to Cardinal St. Eustace.

The Kings whom William served were Edward II and Edward III, and the war was the 100 years war between England and France, during which the Flemish wool weavers were on the English side. The wool trade was an extremely important one at this time, as the wool was grown in England, but woven in the Low Lands, so the Keeper of the Great Wardrobe, with the task of looking after all imports of cloth, was an important position. William must have been not only a very rich priest, with all his prebends, but also a very influential man.