LYNDE, Hugh de la, of Bath, Som.

Probably a citizen of Bath, and certainly the owner of property at Eckweek near the city, de la Lynde was a lawyer by profession, and acted as an attorney at the assizes in Somerset on several occasions between March 1389 and August 1393.Med. Deeds Bath (Som. Rec. Soc. lxxiii), 190; JUST 1/1502 mm. 209d, 211d, 214d. In the meantime, in 1392, he witnessed a deed at Swainswick, near Bath, for Edmund Ford, and two years later he and Ford were among the trustees who confirmed Sir John Kingston and his wife in possession of the manor of Forscote, Somerset, and property in Wiltshire.CCR, 1399-1402, p. 188; Wilts. Feet of Fines (Wilts. Rec. Soc. xii), 174. De la Lynde himself owned land in Wiltshire, and was connected with the Sambourn family residing there. Nicholas Sambourn I had been his fellow Member for Bath in 1391, and when, in January 1394, he was returned for Chippenham (where the Sambourns held property) it was with Nicholas II. Some six months later he and the latter both witnessed a deed concerning lands in West Lavington, Potterne and other places near Devizes, and at Easter 1395 he appeared as a surety when the younger Sambourn purchased an estate in the same area.CCR, 1392-6, p. 399; Wilts. Feet of Fines, 180.

In March 1401 de la Lynde brought a legal action against William Papelon, chaplain. But only three months later he himself was in trouble with the authorities. By an inquiry then held it was found that, along with Richard Brackish and John Hardwick of Bristol, he had illegally seized a Spanish barge at Bridgwater, and had taken and sold most of its cargo of iron. De la Lynde, who claimed to be the King’s under admiral in the west, insisted that he had confiscated the vessel and cargo only because the owners, three merchants of Bilbao, had failed to appear before him at Bristol to answer for a trespass of which Hardwick had accused them. It may well be that de la Lynde was indeed a deputy admiral (serving under Sir Thomas Rempston I), but if so he had obviously exceeded his authority, for a royal commission set up to investigate the affair ordered him to make restitution of the iron, which was valued at 350 marks.CCR, 1399-1402, p. 323; CPR, 1399-1401, p. 520; CIMisc. vii. 196. Perhaps as a consequence, he seems to have been frequently in debt during the latter part of his career. In June 1409, for instance, he was pardoned his outlawry for not appearing in court to answer John Podmore, John Silkeston ‘tapicer’ of London, and Richard Tomer for debts of £40, £5 and £10, respectively. Within three years he had been outlawed again for failing to defend himself at Podmore’s suit, possibly for the same debt, but once more he was pardoned the sentence, in February 1413. By September 1414, however, he owed no less than £300 to Walter Lynton, and on this occasion an extent was made of his possessions so that they could be distrained. It was then found that he held a number of scattered properties in central Wiltshire, including lands (and the advowson) at Winterbourne Cherborough and more in Bishopstrow, Roundway, Southbroom and Lavington.CPR, 1408-13, pp. 19, 444; CFR, xiii. 240; C131/59/5.