Thomas Billing
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Sir Thomas Billing (died 1481) was an English judge and
Chief Justice of the King's Bench The Lord or Lady Chief Justice of England and Wales is the head of the judiciary of England and Wales and the president of the courts of England and Wales. Until 2005 the lord chief justice was the second-most senior judge of the English a ...
.


Early life and career

Billing is said by Fuller to have been a native of
Northamptonshire Northamptonshire ( ; abbreviated Northants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Leicestershire, Rutland and Lincolnshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshi ...
, where two villages near Northampton bear his name, and to have afterwards lived in state at
Astwell Astwell is a hamlet (place), hamlet in Northamptonshire, England. With Falcutt, it is part of the Civil parishes in England, civil parish of Helmdon, but formerly Astwell was split between the parishes of Syresham and Wappenham. The hamlet is ...
in that county. Lord Campbell says he was an attorney's clerk; but this seems doubtful. He was, at any rate, a member of
Gray's Inn The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and Wale ...
. Writing to one Ledam, Billing says : 'I would ye should do well, because ye are a fellow of
Gray's Inn The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and Wale ...
, where I was fellow ' (
Paston Letters The ''Paston Letters'' are a collection of correspondence between members of the Paston family of Norfolk gentry and others connected with them in England between the years 1422 and 1509. The collection also includes state papers and other impo ...
, i. 43, 53), and, according to a
Gray's Inn The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and Wale ...
manuscript, he was a reader there. His social position was sufficient to enable him to be on terms of intimacy with the families of Paston and of
Baron Grey de Ruthyn Baron Grey of Ruthin (or Ruthyn) was a noble title created in the Peerage of England by writ of summons in 1324 for Sir Roger de Grey, a son of John, 2nd Baron Grey of Wilton, and has been in abeyance since 1963. Historically, this branch of the ...
. He was Burgess (Member of Parliament) for Northamptonshire, 1445–46; Burgess (Member of Parliament) for London, 1449, 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 ...
, 1450–1454. Along with seven others he received the coif as serjeant-at-law on 2 January 1453 – 1454, and in the Hilary term of that year is first mentioned as arguing at the bar. Thenceforward his name is frequent in the reports.


King's serjeant

Lord-chancellor Waynflete appointed him king's Serjeant 21 April 1458, and Lord Campbell, citing an otherwise unknown pamphlet of Billing in favour of the Lancastrian cause, says that with the attorney-general and solicitor-general he argued the cause of
King Henry VI Henry VI (6 December 1421 – 21 May 1471) was King of England from 1422 to 1461 and 1470 to 1471, and disputed King of France from 1422 to 1453. The only child of Henry V, he succeeded to the English throne at the age of eight months, upon ...
at the bar of the
House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...
. The entry in the Parliamentary Rolls, however, indicates that the judges and king's Serjeants excused themselves from giving an opinion in the matter. About the same time Billing appears to have been
knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...
, and on the accession of
Edward IV Edward IV (28 April 1442 – 9 April 1483) was King of England from 4 March 1461 to 3 October 1470, then again from 11 April 1471 until his death in 1483. He was a central figure in the Wars of the Roses, a series of civil wars in England ...
his patent of king's Serjeant was renewed, and in the first parliament of this reign he was named, along with Serjeants Lyttelton and Laken, a referee in a cause between the
Bishop of Winchester The Bishop of Winchester is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Winchester in the Church of England. The bishop's seat (''cathedra'') is at Winchester Cathedral in Hampshire. The Bishop of Winchester has always held ''ex officio'' the offic ...
and some of his tenants. He is said by Lord Campbell to have exerted himself actively against
King Henry King Henry may refer to: * Rulers named Henry; see * King Henry (producer) (born 1989), American record producer and DJ See also * Henry King (disambiguation) {{disambiguation, tndis ...
, Queen Margaret, and the Lancastrians, and to have helped to frame the
act of attainder A bill of attainder (also known as an act of attainder, writ of attainder, or bill of pains and penalties) is an act of a legislature declaring a person, or a group of people, guilty of some crime, and providing for a punishment, often without a ...
of Sir John Fortescue,
chief justice of the king's bench The Lord or Lady Chief Justice of England and Wales is the head of the judiciary of England and Wales and the president of the courts of England and Wales. Until 2005 the lord chief justice was the second-most senior judge of the English a ...
, for being engaged in the
Battle of Towton The Battle of Towton took place on 29 March 1461 during the Wars of the Roses, near Towton in North Yorkshire, and "has the dubious distinction of being probably the largest and bloodiest battle on English soil". Fought for ten hours between a ...
, and to have advised the grant of a pardon, on condition that the opinions of the treatise 'De Laudibus' should be retracted.


Judge of the King's Bench

At any rate, in 1464 (9 Aug.), Billing was added to the three judges of the king's bench, but by the king's writ only: and the question being thereupon raised, it was decided that a commission in addition to the writ was required for the appointment of a justice of assize. Baker in his Chronology,' and Hale in his 'Pleas of the Crown,' says that on the trial of Walter Walker for treason in 1460, for having said to his son, 'Tom, if thou behavest thyself well, I will make thee heir to the Crown' i.e. of the Crown Inn, of which he was landlord, Billing ruled a conviction, and Lord Campbell accepts the story. But it would seem from the report of the judgment of Chief-justice Bromley in the trial of Sir
Nicholas Throckmorton Sir Nicholas Throckmorton (or Throgmorton; c. 1515/151612 February 1571) was an English diplomat and politician, who was an ambassador to France and later Scotland, and played a key role in the relationship between Elizabeth I of England ...
, 17 April 1554, that the judge at that trial was John Markham, afterwards chief justice next before Billing, and that he directed an acquittal.


Chief Justice of the King's Bench

Billing succeeded
Markham Markham may refer to: Biology * Markham's storm-petrel (''Oceanodroma markhami''), a seabird species found in Chile and Colombia * Markham's grass mouse (''Abrothrix olivaceus markhami''), a rodent subspecies found on Wellington Island and the ne ...
as
chief justice of the king's bench The Lord or Lady Chief Justice of England and Wales is the head of the judiciary of England and Wales and the president of the courts of England and Wales. Until 2005 the lord chief justice was the second-most senior judge of the English a ...
in 23 January 1468 – 1469, having precedence over Yelverton and Bingham, justices of the king's bench; and this office he retained in spite of political changes. For when Henry VI for a few months regained the throne new patents were at once issued, 9 October 1470; and when
Edward IV Edward IV (28 April 1442 – 9 April 1483) was King of England from 4 March 1461 to 3 October 1470, then again from 11 April 1471 until his death in 1483. He was a central figure in the Wars of the Roses, a series of civil wars in England ...
overthrew him, 17 June 1471, he, along with almost all the other judges, was confirmed in his seat. It is suggested that he may have owed this less to his legal talents than to the support of the
Earl of Warwick Earl of Warwick is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom which has been created four times in English history. The name refers to Warwick Castle and the town of Warwick. Overview The first creation came in 1088, and the title was held b ...
. In 1477 Billing tried Burdet of
Arrow, Warwickshire Arrow is a village in the Stratford-on-Avon district of Warwickshire, England. Together with the entirely rural hamlet of Weethley, it forms since 1 April 2004 the civil parish of Arrow with Weethley. The parish lies midway between Redditch an ...
, a dependent of the
Duke of Clarence Duke of Clarence was a substantive title created three times in the Peerage of England. The title Duke of Clarence and St Andrews has also been created in the Peerage of Great Britain, and Duke of Clarence and Avondale and Prince Leopold, Duke ...
, for treason, committed in 1474, in saying of a stag, 'I wish that the buck, horns and all, were in the king's belly,' for which he was executed. Billing is also said to have been concerned in the trial of the
Duke of Clarence Duke of Clarence was a substantive title created three times in the Peerage of England. The title Duke of Clarence and St Andrews has also been created in the Peerage of Great Britain, and Duke of Clarence and Avondale and Prince Leopold, Duke ...
himself. He continued to sit in court until 5 May 1481, when he died testate and was buried in Bittlesden Abbey, Buckinghamshire. His tombstone is now in
Wappenham Wappenham is a linear village and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is south-west of Towcester, north of Syresham and north-west of Silverstone and forms part of West Northamptonshire. At the time of the United Kingdom Census 2001, ...
Church,
Northamptonshire Northamptonshire ( ; abbreviated Northants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Leicestershire, Rutland and Lincolnshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshi ...
. His successor was Sir William Hussey.


Family life

He married (1st) Katherine Gifford, who died 8 March 1479. They had five sons, including Thomas, his heir, who died in 1500 without male issue, and four daughters. He married (2nd) Mary Folville, widow successively of William Cotton, Receiver-general of the Duchy of Lancaster, Treasurer of the Queen's Household (killed at the 2nd Battle of St. Albans in 1461), and Thomas Lacy, of Grantchester, Cambridgeshire (died 1479), and daughter and co-heiress of John Folville, Esq., of Sileby, Rotherby, Queniborough, etc., Leicestershire, by Joan, daughter of Robert Wesenham (died 1399), of Conington, Huntingdonshire. She was born about 1423 (aged 54 in 1477). In 1483, his widow and executrix, Mary, sued William Stokker, Knt., Mayor of the Staple of Calais, in the Exchequer of Pleas regarding a debt. She was pardoned 20 Nov. 1484. Mary died 14 March 1499/1500, and was buried on the south side of the altar of the church of St. Margaret, Westminster, Middlesex by her 1st husband.


References

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Billing, Thomas 1481 deaths Lord chief justices of England and Wales Justices of the King's Bench Year of birth unknown Serjeants-at-law (England) Recorders of London Knights Bachelor