SPICER, John (d.1623), of Pease Lane, Dorchester, Dorset

Spicer was possibly the son of a Dorchester resident who was mustered in 1569 as a harquebusier. A tailor by trade, in 1598 he was leasing a house from the borough at an annual rent of 10s., and in the following year he delivered the town’s charter to London for it to be confirmed. Dorset Tudor Muster Rolls, 161; Municipal Recs. of Dorchester ed. C.H. Mayo, 37, 697; Dorset RO, B2/11/2. Spicer was returned for Dorchester to the first Stuart Parliament, receiving £60 in wages. However, he left little trace on the Commons’ records. His only personal nomination, on 23 Jan. 1606, was to scrutinize the bill to relieve the vicar of Radipole, Dorset, and it was apparently William Spicer, rather than this Member, who actually attended the committee’s only recorded meeting on 5 February. Hutchins, ii. 356; CJ, i. 259a; C.R. Kyle, ‘Attendance Lists’, PPE 1604-48 ed. Kyle, 183. Spicer died on 26 Dec. 1623, ‘having been many years in decay of his understanding’. No will or administration grant has been found. His son Walter (1603-81) occupied one of Dorchester’s larger houses after the Restoration, but no other member of the family held civic office or entered Parliament. William Whiteway of Dorchester, 56; Soc. Gen., Holy Trinity, Dorchester par. reg.; Dorset Hearth Tax Assessments ed. C.A.F. Meekings, 3.