John de Sotheron
Sir John de Sotheron (died after 1398) was an English landowner, lawyer and judge, who served briefly as Lord Chief Justice of Ireland.[1]
He was the son of Thomas de Sotheron or de Sotherne, Lord of the Manor of Great Mitton in Lancashire; Mitton had passed by inheritance to the de Sotherons from the de Mitton family.[2] He inherited his father's lands in about 1369, when he was involved in a dispute with nearby Cockersand Abbey over the advowson (i.e. the right to nominate the parish priest) of Mitton Church. In February 1368 he was defendant in a claim for a debt of 40 shillings brought against him by William de Mirfeld.[3] He is known to have been acting as an attorney at this time.[4]
In 1377 he was pardoned for killing John de Holden. He lived in a violent age, where case of manslaughter and even murder among the ruling class were not uncommon, and a royal pardon was easy enough to obtain; nor would a criminal record necessarily hinder one's career, as de Sotheron's own later life shows.[1]
In 1384 he was sent to Ireland as Chief Justice of the Irish Common Pleas, but he took up office as Lord Chief Justice instead.[1] He served for one year, returned to England, then came back to Ireland in 1386, as a legal adviser to Sir John Stanley, the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. He remained in Ireland for several years; he lived then at Dangan, County Meath. Ball states that his wife Joanna was kidnapped from Dangan Castle in 1392, but gives no further details of the episode.[1]
He returned to England sometime after 1392, was knighted, and retired to his estates in Lancashire.[1]
He married Joanna, daughter of Sir Simon Cusack, and had at least two surviving children. He was still living in 1397/8, when he and his eldest son and heir Christopher were in dispute with Roger White and others as to the ownership of lands at Great Mitton.[2] The estate passed to Christopher, whose descendants remained there for several generations. The family name was later spelt Sherburne.[2]
References[]
- ^ a b c d e Ball, F. Elrington The Judges in Ireland 1221-1921 John Murray London 1926 Vol. 1 p.166
- ^ a b c Whitaker, Thomas Dunham The History and Antiquities of the Deanery of Craven in the County of York 2nd edition J. Nichols and Son London 1812 p.21
- ^ Calendar of Close Rolls 14 February 1368
- ^ Calendar of Patent Rolls 2 January 1368
- People from Ribble Valley (district)
- Lords Chief Justice of Ireland
- 14th-century English people
- Knights Bachelor