| Constituency | Dates |
|---|---|
| Newcastle-upon-Tyne | 1426 |
Attestor parlty. elections, Newcastle-upon-Tyne 1415, 1419, 1421 (May), 1422, 1423, 1425, 1431, 1433, Northumb. 1429, 1433.
Sheriff, Newcastle-upon-Tyne Mich. 1420–1; alderman and j.p. 1427 – 28, 1431–2.1 JUST3/54/4, 11.
Commr. for victualling Berwick-upon-Tweed May 1423; of gaol delivery, Newcastle-upon-Tyne June 1428;2 C66/423, m. 8d. inquiry, May 1438 (value of The Christopher of Aberdeen).3 R. Welford, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and Gateshead, i. 300.
The MP lived longer than suggested in the earlier biography.4 The Commons 1386-1421, iv. 544. He was alive as late as 28 Apr. 1446 when, giving his age conservatively as 60, he gave evidence at the proof of age of John Orde held in Newcastle’s guildhall. He remembered an assault on his son, another Robert, on 11 Nov. 1423, the day of Orde’s birth, and, if this is to be taken at face value, it confirms that he had, as suggested in the earlier biography, a son and namesake.5 CIPM, xxvi. 465. Swinburne employed the same testimony when witness in another proof relating to a birth on 1 Aug. 1421: ibid. 155. Few new details can be discovered about his career. Judging from the frequency with which he attested the parliamentary elections, it is likely that he numbered among the town’s aldermen on more than the two occasions recorded above. In Michaelmas term 1422 the abbot of St. Albans claimed £25 against him; and in Easter term 1440 he was one of many of the town’s merchants who were sued, in his case for a debt of £60, by the executors of Thomas Langley, bishop of Durham.6 CP40/647, rot. 143; 717, rot. 99d.