TURNER, Richard I, of Bletchingley, Surr.

In December 1384, Turner, described as ‘of Surrey’, offered sureties to the sheriff of the county for two local men then being sued for trespass. In August 1392 and again in February 1399 he was a juror at the inquisitions post mortem held in Bletchingley on the estates of the 3rd and 4th earls of Stafford. He may have been the Richard Turner of Cranley, Surrey, who in 1398 obtained a royal pardon, although most of his property lay in Bletchingley. From 1408 onwards, and probably before, he leased farmland there from William Uvedale of Pendell and from the trustees of Sir Reynold Cobham, lord of the neighbouring manor of Oxted. The latter connexion explains his presence among the jurors at views of frankpledge for Oxted in October 1415, 1421 and 1422. He had not always been so prompt in fulfilling his tenurial obligations, however; and in April 1415 he was fined ‘a suitable sum’ for his persistent failure to pay rent and perform suit of court at Oxted.CCR, 1381-5, p. 594; C67/30 m. 14; C136/76/45, 107/7; Surr. RO, 87/1/2a, 3, 5. The factor of age makes it unlikely that he was the Richard Turner who, in 1429, became bailiff of the manor of Bletchingley for the 6th earl of Stafford (Staffs. RO, D641/1/2/231 m. 2), but, assuming this man to have been another person, there was no doubt a family connexion.