Sir James Pickering (died c. 1398) was
Speaker
Speaker may refer to:
Society and politics
* Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly
* Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture
* A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially:
** I ...
of the
House of Commons of England in 1378 (which met in
Gloucester
Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...
) and again from 1382 to 1383. The protestation which, as Speaker, he made for
freedom of speech, and declaring the loyalty of the Commons, was the first recorded in the rolls.
He was descended from the knightly Pickering family of
Killington, then in Westmorland, son of Thomas Pickering (1310-1375) and Elizabeth Greystoke (1300-1370), and was married to Alice Ellerton. He owned land at Killington in Westmorland and Selby in Yorkshire and was knighted by 1361.
He was
knight of the shire
Knight of the shire ( la, milites comitatus) was the formal title for a member of parliament (MP) representing a county constituency in the British House of Commons, from its origins in the medieval Parliament of England until the Redistributio ...
for
Westmorland
Westmorland (, formerly also spelt ''Westmoreland'';R. Wilkinson The British Isles, Sheet The British IslesVision of Britain/ref> is a historic county in North West England spanning the southern Lake District and the northern Dales. It had an ...
in 1362, 1365, 1377–1379 and 1382 and
Cumberland in 1368. On 20 December 1368 he was
commissioner of array
A commission of array was a commission given by English sovereigns to officers or gentry in a given territory to muster and array the inhabitants and to see them in a condition for war, or to put soldiers of a country in a condition for military ...
in Westmorland, to choose twenty archers to serve under Sir William Windsor in Ireland, in his position of
Chief justice of
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
, in order, it has been said, to implement 'some highly dubious financial practices.' He served as MP for
Yorkshire
Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...
in 1383, 1384, 1388 and 1390,
Sheriff of Yorkshire
The Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the Sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries most of the responsibilities associated with the post have been transferred elsewhere o ...
for 1389, 1393 and 1397 and MP for Yorkshire for the last time in September 1397.
See also
*
List of speakers of the House of Commons of England
Notes
14th-century births
1390s deaths
Year of birth unknown
Year of death uncertain
Speakers of the House of Commons of England
High Sheriffs of Yorkshire
English MPs 1362
English MPs 1365
English MPs 1368
English MPs October 1377
English MPs 1378
English MPs 1379
English MPs October 1382
English MPs February 1383
English MPs November 1384
English MPs September 1388
English MPs November 1390
English MPs September 1397
English knights
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