John de Mollesley
John de Mollesley, also recorded as de Moseley or Mosley, (c. 1413 – c. 1488) was a 15th-century English landowner, squire, and civic official in Staffordshire. He is best known as the builder and first known incumbent of Stow Heath Manor House (now the Greyhound and Punchbowl Inn), one of the oldest surviving timber-framed structures in the Black Country.[1][2]
Early life and family
Mollesley was born around 1413 in Staffordshire (his family held land in Bushbury, north of Wolverhampton),[3] and his father was also named John de Mollesley, while his mother was Elizabeth de Clinton. In 1438, he married the daughter and sole heiress of Edwin de Bilston,[lower-alpha 1] consolidating substantial estates in the region and positioning Mollesley as a principal figure in local gentry circles.[4][5] He then moved to Bilston during the same year.[4]
His eldest[lower-alpha 2] son was John Moseley (de Mollesley) Esq. (c. 1437 – 1514), and he also had other issue including sons born after John the younger.[7]
Stow Heath Manor House
Around 1438,[lower-alpha 3] after moving to Bilston,[9] de Mollesley commissioned the construction of a three-block manor house to serve as the capital seat for the Manor of Stowheath in Bilston.[8] He constructed the building using green oak timber clear-cut directly from the estate, and was still constructing the west wing in around 1450.[10] He was the incumbent by 1460,[1] and he held the local court leet in the upper rooms around this time.[4]
Civic career
As a prominent squire during the first reign of Henry VI, de Mollesley active participated in regional governance and public works.
On 1 July 1439, de Mollesley and six others were appointed by royal decree to a select commission alongside local elites (including the Leveson family) tasked with quarrying stone for the complete rebuilding and expansion of St. Peter's Collegiate Church in Wolverhampton.[11][12][13] Court rolls from 1458 then record de Mollesley as the primary signatory on a legal delegation surrendering parcels of agricultural land in Windmill Field to Sir Thomas de Erdington.[6]
Around c. 1475–80, de Mollesley ceded the daily management of the Bilston estate to his eldest son, John.[14] He subsequently retired to his family's primary ancestral seat in Bushbury, north of Wolverhampton.[4]
Death
John de Mollesley died in c. 1488 at Bushbury. His son John officially succeeded him as the head of the family holdings.[4]
Notes
- ↑ The name of John de Mollesley's wife is only listed in contemporary documents as "the eldest daughter and sole heiress of Edwin de Bilston", and "the heiress of Bilston".[2] Her name has also been confused with Christiana, which was instead the name of John's grandmother.
- ↑ The 1458 Windmill Field transaction deeds explicitly document the family chain to prevent future lawsuits, recording the younger John as filio et haeredi (son and heir) of the elder John.[6] The Visitations of Staffordshire in 1614 and 1663/64 traced the direct descent line down through de Mollesley's his eldest son, the younger John, followed by his grandson, William Moseley.[5]
- ↑ During an 1820 renovation of one of the upper bedrooms, workers peeled back wallpaper or plasterwork and found the following inscription:[8]
"John Mollesley, 1438"
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Greyhound & Punchbowl Inn". Historic England. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "BILSTONS JEWEL IN THE CROWN". Lost Wolverhampton. 3 October 2015. Retrieved 1 June 2026.
- ↑ British Chancery Records, 1386–1558
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 George W. Lawley, A History of Bilston, John Price, Bilston, 1893
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 The Visitations of Staffordshire (1614 and 1663–64), recorded by the Kings of Arms (the royal heralds).
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Collections for a History of Staffordshire, edited by The William Salt Archaeological Society (Staffordshire Record Society).
- ↑ Oliver, Andrew (1907-07-20). "Stebbing Shaw Staffordshire Mss". Notes and Queries. s10-VIII (186): 47–47. doi:10.1093/nq/s10-viii.186.47e. ISSN 1471-6941.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Messrs. W. Butler & Co. Limited (1936) - The Greyhound and Punch-bowl, Bilston. p.4
- ↑ Greyhound and Punchbowl Inn, High Street, Bilston (Ref: Wolverhampton Archives and Local Studies).
- ↑ Pevsner, N, The Buildings of England: Staffordshire, (1974), 71
- ↑ Calendar of the Patent Rolls, Henry VI: Volume III (1436–1441), Great Seal of England, entry dated July 1, 1439.
- ↑ Calendar of Patent Rolls, 1445–1452, p. 312.
- ↑ The Collegiate Church of St. Peter in the Sutherland Papers: The Church and the Leveson family in the Fifteenth Century, Staffordshire Record Office / Sutherland Collection Index.
- ↑ The Visitations of Staffordshire, edited by H. Sydney Grazebrook (Staffordshire Record Society / William Salt Archaeological Society).
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