John de Barton ( fl. 1304) was an English

judge A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges. A judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, assesses the credibility an ...

. From Yorkshire, Barton was also known as de Ryton and de Fryton. He was with

Ralph Fitzwilliam Ralph Fitzwilliam (c. 1256 – 11 February 1317), or Ralph, son of William de Grimthorpe, Lord of Greystoke, was a feudal baron with extensive landholdings in the North of England, representative of a manorial lordship seated where Grimthorpe ...

, the king's

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...

in Yorkshire, as a member of the itinerary court constituted by the first commission of

Trailbaston Trailbaston (''traillebastone'', ''traillebastoun'', ''traylebastoun'') was a special type of itinerant judicial commission first created during the reign of Edward I of England and used many times thereafter during the reigns of Edward II and Edwa ...

for Yorkshire, for which Hemingford gives a date of 1304. A parliamentary

writ In common law, a writ (Anglo-Saxon ''gewrit'', Latin ''breve'') is a formal written order issued by a body with administrative or judicial jurisdiction; in modern usage, this body is generally a court. Warrants, prerogative writs, subpoenas, a ...

of 23 November 1304 is addressed to Barton and Fitzwilliam, with two others, but their names do not appear in the later and greater commission for all the counties. He was appointed a

commissioner A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something). In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to in ...

to inquire as to a specie chest found on the Yorkshire coast and claimed as wreck by the king, and also in 8

Edward II Edward II (25 April 1284 – 21 September 1327), also called Edward of Caernarfon, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1307 until he was deposed in January 1327. The fourth son of Edward I, Edward became the heir apparent to t ...

to levy scutage in Yorkshire. In 24

Edward I Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he ruled the duchies of Aquitaine and Gascony as a vassal o ...

Barton was summoned to military service against the Scots, and was on the commission of array for Yorkshire in 28 Edward I, and again in 31 Edward I.

References

13th-century births 14th-century deaths People from Yorkshire 14th-century English judges {{UK-law-bio-stub