STEER, John II

Few details of Steer’s life and career have come to light, but he was evidently a local man, and seems to have been of some standing in Bath society. His early life and trade, craft or profession remain obscure, but before his return to the Commons he is found among the citizens witnessing property deeds at the guildhall in association with the community’s leading men such as William Drayton*, William Hodgkins* and Roger Hayne alias Stanburgh*, and he continued to do so throughout his career. CCR, 1468-76, no. 440; Bath Ancient Deeds, BC151/2/78; 3/78, 79; 5/18. While serving in the Commons, Steer was elected a proctor of Bath, one of the lesser offices in the cursus honorum, but it may ultimately have set him on course for the mayoralty, which he went on to hold in the following decade. On completing his term, Steer joined the ranks of the city’s aldermen. Bath Ancient Deeds, BC151/2/78; 5/93. The date of his death has not been discovered.