STRETE, John II

Strete was the most obscure man to sit for a county during the reign of Henry VI. His identity would be a mystery safe for a chance reference: in 1452 he is recorded as tenant of Thomas, Lord Clifford, in respect of the manor of Milburn, held in right of his wife, Elizabeth, daughter and coheiress of Sir John Lancaster and widow of Robert Crackenthorpe. Cumb. and Westmld. Antiq. and Arch. Soc. n.s. viii. 343-4. The marriage is known to have been made by 1450, when the couple were defendants in an action of debt, but, since Elizabeth’s second husband had died as long before as 1438, it is safe to assume that the match had been made before his election to Parl.: CP40/758, rot. 168d. It was this marriage that gave him the resources to justify his election, but one can only speculate upon how a man of his obscurity came to make such a fine match. Perhaps he had been one of Crackenthorpe’s servants and that a tie of affection persuaded Elizabeth to marry so far beneath her. Alternatively, his place may have been in the service of Lord Clifford, who encouraged the disparagement. His election also demands explanation. The hustings, held at Appleby on 29 Oct. 1450, were well attended, the attestors headed by three knights and including many of the other leading gentry of the county (among whom was Strete’s putative stepson, John Crackenthorpe*, who was to be elected to the next Parliament). C219/16/1. It is hard to imagine that Strete would have been elected had any of these men been ready to accept election, and it is therefore likely that his return was a product of their unwillingness. That the county’s seats were difficult to fill in these years is implied by the elections of Nicholas Girlington* and William Malett* to the Parliaments of 1447 and 1449 (Nov.), neither of whom had any lands in the county. The likelihood is that the lands of Strete’s wife and his probable connexion with Clifford made him acceptable to county electors with few options.

Only one other reference to Strete has been traced. In Michaelmas term 1458 he appeared personally in the court of common pleas to sue a local gentleman, John Martindale of Bromfield, and four other lesser men for close-breaking at Bromfield, no doubt in respect of property he held in his wife’s right. CP40/791, rot. 89d.