Sir John Fray (died 1461) was an English lawyer who was

Chief Baron of the Exchequer The Chief Baron of the Exchequer was the first "baron" (meaning judge) of the English Exchequer of Pleas. "In the absence of both the Treasurer of the Exchequer or First Lord of the Treasury, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, it was he who pres ...

and a Member of Parliament.

Biography

He was elected Member of Parliament for

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...

in 1419 and 1420. He served on a number of commissions before being appointed

Common Serjeant of London The Common Serjeant of London (full title The Serjeant-at-Law in the Common Hall) is an ancient British legal office, first recorded in 1291, and is the second most senior permanent judge of the Central Criminal Court after the Recorder of Lon ...

from 1421 to 1422 and

Recorder of London The recorder of London is an ancient legal office in the City of London. The recorder of London is the senior circuit judge at the Central Criminal Court (the Old Bailey), hearing trials of criminal offences. The recorder is appointed by the Cr ...

from 1422 to 1426. He then served as

Baron of the Exchequer The Barons of the Exchequer, or ''barones scaccarii'', were the judges of the English court known as the Exchequer of Pleas. The Barons consisted of a Chief Baron of the Exchequer and several puisne (''inferior'') barons. When Robert Shute was ...

from 1426 to 1436 and

from 1436 to 1448.Sir John Sainty (comp.) ''The Judges of England, 1272-1990: a list of the judges of the Superior courts'' (Selden Society: Supplementary Series 1993, 10). He had considerable experience of rivers and

watermill A watermill or water mill is a mill that uses hydropower. It is a structure that uses a water wheel or water turbine to drive a mechanical process such as mill (grinding), milling (grinding), rolling, or hammering. Such processes are needed in ...

s. Fray had the commission for maintaining the navigation of the

River Lea The River Lea ( ) is in the East of England and Greater London. It originates in Bedfordshire, in the Chiltern Hills, and flows southeast through Hertfordshire, along the Essex border and into Greater London, to meet the River Thames at Bow Cr ...

around the years 1430–1440. He owned watermills in Essex and interests in other property across the country. These included Cowley Hall in

Hillingdon Hillingdon is an area of Uxbridge within the London Borough of Hillingdon, centred 14.2 miles (22.8 km) west of Charing Cross. It was an ancient parish in Middlesex that included the market town of Uxbridge. During the 1920s the civil pari ...

which adjoined the

Frays River Frays River is a semi-canalised short river in England that branches off the River Colne at Uxbridge Moor and rejoins it at West Drayton. It is believed to be a mainly man-made anabranch north of the confluence with the River Pinn to feed wate ...

. The Frays River is a branch of the River Colne which may have been developed to feed watermills in the area. It is said that John Fray arranged for the cutting of a link from the Colne to a tributary rising in Harefield to increase the water volume. He was knighted before March 1459.

Personal life and death

He died in 1461 and was buried in the church of St. Bartholomew the Less, London. He was the second husband of Agnes Danvers, daughter of fellow MP

John Danvers Sir John Danvers (c. 1585–buried 28 April 1655) was an English courtier and politician who was one of the signatories of the death warrant of Charles I. Life Danvers was the third and youngest son of Sir John Danvers of Dauntsey, Wiltshi ...

,History of Parliament Online: John Danvers (1386-1421)
accessed June 2018. and by her had five daughters. His eldest daughter Elizabeth married in turn Sir Thomas Waldegrave (1441–1500) and Sir William Saye (born 1454). His daughter Catherine (1437–1482) married Humphrey Stafford.

References

1461 deaths English MPs 1419 Year of birth unknown Barons of the Exchequer Chief Barons of the Exchequer English lawyers Common Serjeants of London Recorders of London English MPs 1420 Knights Bachelor Members of the Parliament of England for Hertfordshire {{England-law-bio-stub