John Doreward (died 1420) was a

Serjeant-at-law A Serjeant-at-Law (SL), commonly known simply as a Serjeant, was a member of an order of barristers at the English and Irish Bar. The position of Serjeant-at-Law (''servientes ad legem''), or Sergeant-Counter, was centuries old; there are wri ...

and

Speaker of the House of Commons Speaker of the House of Commons is a political leadership position found in countries that have a House of Commons, where the membership of the body elects a speaker to lead its proceedings. Systems that have such a position include: * Speaker of ...

of England.

Early life

Outside the affairs of parliament, little is known of Doreward. He was apparently the son of William Doreward of Bocking, Essex who was a

member of parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

for

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Grea ...

in the eighteenth and twentieth parliaments of Edward III.Round, J. H., 'John Doreward, Speaker (1399, 1413)' in ''

The English Historical Review ''The English Historical Review'' is a bimonthly peer-reviewed academic journal that was established in 1886 and published by Oxford University Press (formerly Longman). It publishes articles on all aspects of history – British, European, and ...

'', Vol. 29, No. 116 (Oct., 1914), pp. 717-719 According to James Alexander Manning, he was "of Dorewood Hall",Manning, James Alexander, ''The Lives of the Speakers of the House of Commons, from the Time of King Edward III to Queen Victoria'' (London: George Willis, 1851
page 24
online at books.google.co.uk, accessed 11 August 2008 and the name survives in 'Durward's', at Bocking in Essex and in 'Durward's Hall', between

Witham Witham () is a town in the county of Essex in the East of England, with a population ( 2011 census) of 25,353. It is part of the District of Braintree and is twinned with the town of Waldbröl, Germany. Witham stands between the city of Che ...

and

Kelvedon Kelvedon is a village and civil parish in the Braintree District of Essex in England, between Chelmsford and Colchester. It had a population of 4,717 in 2001, reducing to 3,587 at the 2011 Census. It is now home to several businesses including ...

. At Bocking, he founded a

chantry A chantry is an ecclesiastical term that may have either of two related meanings: # a chantry service, a Christian liturgy of prayers for the dead, which historically was an obiit, or # a chantry chapel, a building on private land, or an area i ...

in 1397.

Marriages

He married Blanche Coggeshall, daughter and heiress of Sir William Coggeshall (1358–1426), High Sheriff of Essex. Arms of Dorward: ''Ermine, on a chevron sable three crescents or '' His second wife was Isabella Baynard of Messing,History
at stmarys-bocking.co.uk, accessed 11 August 2008 as named "Isabella" on his monument in St Mary's Church, Bocking, a daughter of Richard Baynard. He had at least one son, John Doreward, who in 1440 founded an almshouse to be called the Maison Dieu of the town of Bocking, and later known as the Hospital of Bocking. Among its purposes was to pray for the soul of John Doreward, the founder's father.

Political life

Doreward was appointed

High Sheriff of Essex The High Sheriff of Essex was an ancient sheriff title originating in the time of the Angles, not long after the invasion of the Kingdom of England, which was in existence for around a thousand years. On 1 April 1974, under the provisions of the ...

and Hertfordshire for 1399 and elected

knight of the shire Knight of the shire ( la, milites comitatus) was the formal title for a member of parliament (MP) representing a county constituency in the British House of Commons, from its origins in the medieval Parliament of England until the Redistributio ...

(MP) six times for

(1395, Jan 1397, 1399, Jan 1404, May 1413 and April 1414). He was elected Speaker of the House in 1399 and 1413. ''The Constitutional History of England in its Origin and Development'', vol. III, p. 18 ... In the case of Sir John Cheyne, the Speaker elected in 1399, the excuse of ill-health was accepted by the king as valid; the clergy had in fact objected to the nomination; Sir John Cheyne withdrew, and John Doreward was chosen in his place.Stubbs p. 454 The chronicler

Robert Fabyan Robert Fabyan (died 1512) was a London draper, Sheriff and Alderman, and author of ''Fabyan's Chronicle''. Family Robert Fabyan was the son of John Fabyan and his wife, Agnes. He is said to have been born in London. He had a brother, John. His n ...

, writing about a hundred years after Doreward's first election as Speaker, gives a more obscure version of events: The Parliament was almost identical in makeup to the previous parliament held under Richard II, where thanks to the political manoeuvring of

Sir John Bussy Sir John Bussy (also Bushy; died 29 July 1399) of Hougham in Lincolnshire was a member of parliament representing Lincolnshire or Rutland eleven times from 1383 to 1398 as a Knight of the Shire. He was also Speaker of the House of Commons at t ...

many of Parliament's powers had been stripped from them and given instead to a committee. The summoning of this parliament showed good political judgement on the part of the ''de facto'' king, Henry IV; in the words of Manning " enry/nowiki> could not have hoped to assemble a body of legislators less favourable to the captive monarch" The

Commons The commons is the cultural and natural resources accessible to all members of a society, including natural materials such as air, water, and a habitable Earth. These resources are held in common even when owned privately or publicly. Commons c ...

voted a large subsidy to pay for the war against

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

and the defence of

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

and Calais in the hopes that their requests for additional powers would be granted. The commons also voted for the arrest of

William Scrope William Scrope (1772–1852) was an English sportsman and amateur artist, known as a writer on sports. Life He was son of Richard Scrope, D.D., and succeeded to the property of the Scropes of Castle Combe, Wiltshire, on the death of his fathe ...

and Henry Green, both councillors of Richard II. Doreward was again made Speaker of the House of Commons for the parliament of 1413; this was the first of

Henry V Henry V may refer to: People * Henry V, Duke of Bavaria (died 1026) * Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor (1081/86–1125) * Henry V, Duke of Carinthia (died 1161) * Henry V, Count Palatine of the Rhine (c. 1173–1227) * Henry V, Count of Luxembourg (1 ...

, and he was appointed again apparently after his predecessor had resigned from ill-health. The parliament of 1413 granted Henry V a subsidy for four years; an unusually long period, this is understood to be explained by the new king's popularity. Some historians have assumed that the John Doreward (or Dorewood) in the parliaments of 1399 and 1413 were father and son, but they are evidently the same person; the Speaker of the House of Commons in both cases was a serjeant-at-law, which was not an appointment held by either of Dorewood's sons. He was appointed a member of Henry IV's council from Nov 1399 to May 1406.

Monument

Doreward is commemorated by a monumental brass in St Mary's Church, Bocking, on the floor before the South Chapel. This gives the year of his death as 1420 and names his second wife as Isabella. Inscribed in Latin: ''Exoretur mia(?) Dei p(ro) a(n)i(m)a(e) Joh(ann)is Doreward Armig(e)r(i) filii Will(ielm)i Doreward qui obi(i)t xii die mensis Novem(bris) An(no) D(omi)ni MCCCCXX et pro a(n)i(m)a Isabell(a)e ux(or)is eius quor(um) a(n)i(m)ab(us)z p(ro)pi(t)et(ur) Deus'' ("Pray to God for the soul of John Doreward, Esquire, son of William Doreward who died on the 12 day of November AD 1420 and for the soul of Isabella his wife on the sould of whom may God look with favour")

Arms

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Doreward, John Year of birth unknown 14th-century births 1420 deaths English MPs 1395 Speakers of the House of Commons of England High Sheriffs of Essex High Sheriffs of Hertfordshire Serjeants-at-law (England) English MPs April 1414 English MPs January 1397 English MPs 1399 English MPs January 1404 English MPs May 1413