WITHIFORD, John, of Shrewsbury, Salop.

Members of Withiford’s family resided in or near Shrewsbury from the early 14th century onwards. William, son of Roger Withiford the sometime bailiff, represented the borough in the Parliament of 1377 (Jan.), and in 1393 his widow, Petronilla, was in possession of at least one messuage, ten shops and 16 acres of land in Shrewsbury and Castle Foregate.C143/419/23; CPR, 1391-6, p. 155; Shrewsbury Guildhall, box II, 67, f. 40. John may have been their son. In September 1390 he witnessed a conveyance at Hardwicke just outside Shrewsbury, and in June 1408 he appeared as a juror at the sessions of the peace held in the town. But, apart from these activities, his two annual terms as an assessor and one as a coroner for the borough, and his jury service in June 1413 at an inquest post mortem held there, Withiford’s involvement in local affairs was of little consequence.Salop Peace Roll ed. Kimball, 83; Trans. Salop Arch. Soc. (ser. 3), viii. 371; Shrewsbury Lib. deed 5428. Moreover, his parliamentary service in 1411 met with the insignificant reimbursement of just 6s.7d.Shrewsbury Guildhall, box VIII, 356. John’s brother, Hugh, with whom, in 1414, he was party to a recognizance under the Shrewsbury statute merchant, made much more of a mark, for, having set up in business in Bristol as a merchant, he was to be elected mayor there in 1438.The Bristol Withifords were still in possession of property in Shrewsbury in 1456. Trans. Salop Arch. Soc. liv. 93; C1/16/330; PCC 16 Rous; Gt. Red Bk. (Bristol Rec. Soc. viii), 206-7.