LUKE, John (d.1451/2), of Dunwich, Suff.

In February 1409 a John Luke was granted royal letters of protection in the expectation that he would be employed by (Sir) John Arundell I in the victualling of Marck castle in the march of Calais, but in May the patent was revoked, the recipient being in prison in London ‘for certain misprisions and debts’. Whether this was the Dunwich man is not certain.CPR, 1408-13, p. 74. It may, however, be confidently asserted that the John Luke who, in June that same year, joined his father, Thomas, in acquiring a messuage and bed of rushes in Dunwich, was the future MP. He is mentioned, too, in the local court rolls from 1410 onwards, and in May 1411 he served on the jury there. As bailiff of Dunwich he made returns to the Parliaments of 1414 (Nov.), 1426, 1427 and 1437, and when out of office he attested the electoral indentures in 1421 (May), 1429, 1433, 1435, 1449 (Nov.) and 1450. He is known to have held a shop in the market-place, as well as a house, marsh and other land in All Saints’ parish, and to have conveyed some of this property to Richard Russell II in 1448.Add. Chs. 40675, 40714-15, 40722, 40728; C219/11/4, 12/5, 13/4, 5, 14/1, 4, 5, 15/1, 7, 16/1; SC11/886.

Luke made his will on 8 Oct. 1451 and died before 27 Apr. 1452, the date of probate. He made a bequest of 6s.8d. for the completion of the east window in All Saints’ church, and left similar sums for general repairs to that church, the hospital of St. James, the ‘Maison Dieu’ and the house of the Friars Minor; while the churches of St. John and St. Peter and the temple of St. Mary were each to receive 3s.4d. Wishing to be buried in the church of the Friars Minor, he left the brethren 10s. for the celebration of 100 masses and 1d. for sufficient bread and wine at his funeral. His son, Robert, received his best tunic and hood, and the rest of his goods went to his second son, John junior.Ipswich RO, wills IC/AA2/1.