William Weston came of a prolific and influential family with branches throughout the south-east of England. His grandfather, after whom he was named, had a particularly distinguished career, since besides representing Surrey in at least four Parliaments and serving on many royal commissions, he was also a serjeant-at-arms to Edward III. On his death in 1347 he was succeeded first by his son and then, when the latter died suddenly at some point before 1353, by the subject of this biography, who was barely two years old. The bulk of the Weston estates, comprising the manors of West Clandon and Papworth as well as other property in Shere, Send and Albury in Surrey together worth £10 p.a., remained in the hands of the young William Weston’s grandmother, Margery, who died in 1361.
Weston owed much of his early success to his powerful father-in-law, who was probably instrumental in securing his appointment in April 1371 as an esquire of the body to Edward III with an annuity of 40 marks. In August of the following year, Weston stood surety for certain men-at-arms retained in the service of the Crown by William Newbiggin; and in July 1373 he and Legge were commissioned by Edward III to escort the two captive sons of Charles de Blois to Nottingham castle. Meanwhile, at some point before April 1374, Sir John Gower made him a trustee of his manor of Kentwell in Suffolk.
If, indeed, he was responsible for the English humiliation at Ostrowyk, Weston did not long suffer the consequences of his actions. In May 1378 he became farmer of the royal manor of Haselbury Plucknett in Somerset, paying an annual rent of £42 at the Exchequer, although since the Crown later tried—and failed—to recover sureties of £200 from him and his mainpernors, we may assume that he soon fell into arrears. In October 1378, and again in 1392, Weston was fined 40s. for not taking the order of knighthood—a privilege which he eschewed for the rest of his life. He appeared, meanwhile, among the witnesses to John Legge’s conveyance of the manor of Catteshull in July 1379; and it is possible that his election to Parliament in the following year was accomplished through his father-in-law’s influence. This source of patronage caused abruptly on Legge’s murder at the hands of the rebels of 1381, although Weston was at least accorded the satisfaction of serving on two commissions for the suppression of the revolt.
The 1380s were a time of great activity on Weston’s part, for it was during this period that he held office as both sheriff and escheator of Surrey and Sussex, besides sitting on the local bench. Despite the award of royal letters patent of February 1385 exempting him from any form of government service, he continued to play a full part in local administration until 1417, when he finally ceased to act as a j.p. He was also caught up in the affairs of his neighbours: he stood surety in Chancery for John Hathersham I (among others), witnessed deeds for Nicholas Slyfield and Sir Thomas Hoo, and in July 1390 Robert Sekynton, the rector of Shere, close him to execute his will.
Weston’s stature in county society is borne out by his impressive parliamentary career, which spanned a period of almost 40 years. He also attended the county elections held at Guildford to the Parliaments of 1407 and May 1413, and towards the end of his life he was able to further the interests of William Weston III in the Lower House. The young man sat with his father in the Commons of 1415 and 1419 as representative for Guildford, and was, moreover, a witness to the return made by the electors of Surrey on the latter occasion. No more is heard of William Weston I after this date, so it may be assumed that he died within the next few months. Two of his sons (William III and John) eventually followed the family tradition by becoming shire knights, as did several of their descendants after them.