John Boyville (1391-c.1467) was a major landowner who served as a Member of Parliament for Leicestershire and for Rutland respectively in 1453-4 and 1460–1.
Background and family
The Boyville (Bovile, Boyvile, Boyvill, Boyvyle) family is recorded at
Stockerston, Leicestershire as early as the 13th century. John was born on 24 June 1391, a son and the heir of Sir Thomas Boyville (c.1370-1401) and his wife Elizabeth Walsh.
Career
Offices that John held included
Sheriff of Rutland for the years 1433 and 1447.
John Boyvyle ''
armiger'' was returned as Member of Parliament for
Rutland
Rutland () is a ceremonial county and unitary authority in the East Midlands, England. The county is bounded to the west and north by Leicestershire, to the northeast by Lincolnshire and the southeast by Northamptonshire.
Its greatest len ...
in 1428, but he was described as of Stockerston when he served as Member of Parliament for
Leicestershire
Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire t ...
in 1453–4. When he represented Rutland in the Parliament of 1460-1 he was described as an esquire of
Ridlington. Although the parishes of Stockerston and Ridlington are in different counties, they are within a few miles of each other.
Family
John's first marriage was to Elizabeth, the widow of Sir Robert Langford, by whom he had three daughters – Elizabeth, Anne and Margaret. His second marriage was to Eleanor, who after his death married John Maners.
Death and property
The memorials inside the church of St Peter, Stockerston include a brass commemorating John and his first wife. The inscription is recorded as ''"orate pro animabus Johannis Boivile Armig. & Eliz. uxoris ejus, qui hoc campanile cum campanis fieri fecerunt, 1467"'' (i.e. "pray for the souls of John Boivile, a bearer of arms, and Elizabeth his wife who had this bell tower and bells made"). It is not totally clear from that printed source whether the year "1467" was part of the inscription itself or is an editorial note.
John's assets were divided after his death between his widow and the three daughters of his first marriage. Eleanor received as her dower the manors of
Cranoe
Cranoe is a small village and civil parish in the Harborough district of Leicestershire, England. The parish had a population of 35 in 2001. The population remained less than 100 and was included in the civil parish of Glooston.
The village
Th ...
and
Slawston for life. John's other properties at that stage were the manor of
Ayston, Rutland, and also lands at
Welham,
Illston on the Hill and
East Norton
East Norton is a small village and parish located in the east of Leicestershire, adjoining the A47 Leicester to Uppingham road. According to the 2001 Census, it had a population of 94 in 37 households. The population remained less than 100 at ...
in Leicestershire and at
Bisbrooke in Rutland. He also held one third of the manor of Packington Pigot at
Little Packington, Warwickshire.
On 22 January 1465/6, John de Boyvile, esquire, was granted a licence to found a perpetual almshouse for a chaplain and three poor men near Stockerston church. However, the almshouse had not been established by the time of John's death. The executors of his will applied for and received a further royal licence, granted on 9 July 1468, to found the same perpetual almshouse and also a perpetual chantry with one chaplain to be called the chantry of the Virgin Mary in Stockerston church (or commonly "Boyviles Chaunterie").
[Calendar of Patent Rolls, Edward IV & Henry VI, 1467-1477, page 113.] John's executors were:
* Henry Stothill, his attorney and the husband of John's daughter Anne
* William Hopkyns, parson of
South Luffenham
* John Boyvile, whose relationship to the subject of this article does not appear to be known.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boyville, John
1391 births
1467 deaths
English MPs 1453
English MPs 1460
High Sheriffs of Rutland
People from Rutland
People from Harborough District
English people of Norman descent
Members of the Parliament of England for Leicestershire