William Westbury (c. 1385 – 1448/49), also called William de Westbury and William of Westbury, was a fifteenth-century judge of the King's Bench.

Career

William de Westbury was for many years the steward of the manor of

Castle Combe Castle Combe is a village and civil parish within the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in Wiltshire, England. The village is around north-west of Chippenham. A castle once stood in the area, but was demolished centuries ago. The vi ...

, near

Chippenham Chippenham is a market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village ...

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

,Henry Bull, The

Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Magazine ''Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Magazine'' is a county journal published by the Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Society (WANHS), based in Devizes, England. It has been published almost annually since 1854 and is distri ...

, Vol. III. (1857) and during that time was noted as being a lawyer by profession. He was also active in the

Assize Court The courts of assize, or assizes (), were periodic courts held around England and Wales until 1972, when together with the quarter sessions they were abolished by the Courts Act 1971 and replaced by a single permanent Crown Court. The assizes e ...

Common Pleas A court of common pleas is a common kind of court structure found in various common law jurisdictions. The form originated with the Court of Common Pleas at Westminster, which was created to permit individuals to press civil grievances against one ...

circa 1406 when described as an "Apprentice". Later records held within the National Archives indicate that William de Westbury held the office of Bishop's Bailiff of New Sarum from approximately 1411 to 1418.Foss, Edward, ''Biographia Juridica: A Biographical Dictionary of the Judges of England from the Conquest'' (1848) He was appointed

Sergeant-at-law A Serjeant-at-Law (SL), commonly known simply as a Serjeant, was a member of an order of barristers at the English and Irish Bar. The position of Serjeant-at-Law (''servientes ad legem''), or Sergeant-Counter, was centuries old; there are wri ...

in 1418 (after refusal of the position in 1415; the judges' pay had not kept pace with the times and acceptance to become Sergeant-at-law sometimes led to appointment as a judge and reduced earnings).

John Maxcy Zane John Maxcy Zane (March 26, 1863December 6, 1937) was an American lawyer. Zane was born in Springfield, Illinois. He was admitted to the bar in 1888 and spent eleven years practicing law in the state of Utah. Zane would spend the remainder of his ...

, The Story of Law, 2nd ed., Introduction by James M. Beck. New Foreword, Annotations, and Bibliographies by Charles J. Reid, Jr. (Indianapolis: Liberty Fund 1998). Chapter: foreword. Accessed from http://oll.libertyfund.org/title/680/51106 on 2009-07-23 As a consequence of insufficient numbers of Sergeants, a large penalty was imposed by Parliament upon persons refusing the summons. He was appointed Judge of the King's Bench on 6 February 1426. He died in about 1448–1449. William's Will dated 12 November 1448 was proved 5 January 1449.Gough's sepulchral monuments, Vol. II. p. 157

Family

Westbury was the son of John de Westbury, of Westbury,(H.O.C.IV pp.813-4) and

John de Westbury John Westbury (died c. 1443), also John de Westbury or John of Westbury, of Hill Deverill, Wiltshire, was an English politician. He was a Member (MP) of the Parliament of England for Wiltshire in 1417 and 1419. His elder brother was William de ...

, a

member of parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for Wiltshire, was his younger brother. He married Katharine FitzWarin, a daughter of William FitzWarin, and their children include Agnes de Westbury, who married Robert Leversegge. Westbury inherited the manor of Sewell (Sewells, Shewells, Sewelles) from William FitzWarin, probably as a result of his marriage into the family, and continued to hold it until his death.

Endowments

At the church of All Saints in Westbury, in Sarum diocese, William de Westbury and his father John built a chapel in the north

aisle An aisle is, in general, a space for walking with rows of non-walking spaces on both sides. Aisles with seating on both sides can be seen in airplanes, certain types of buildings, such as churches, cathedrals, synagogues, meeting halls, parl ...

, and in 1437 they endowed a

chantry A chantry is an ecclesiastical term that may have either of two related meanings: # a chantry service, a Christian liturgy of prayers for the dead, which historically was an obiit, or # a chantry chapel, a building on private land, or an area in ...

there. In the 16th year of King Henry VI (1438–39) they granted ''"...messuages, land, and rent in Westbury and Honybrigge to the

chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a Minister (Christianity), minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a laity, lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secularity, secular institution (such as a hosp ...

of his new chapel in Westbury church, retaining land in Westbury, Wiltshire"''. William bequeathed his body to be interred in a tomb in the new chapel on the north side near the inner vail under a glazed window within this church.''A topographical dictionary of England'', 4th Edition, Samuel Lewis

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Westbury, William De 1440s deaths Year of birth uncertain Justices of the King's Bench Serjeants-at-law (England)