Sir William Bereford (died 1326) was an English justice.

Life

He was the son of Walter de Bereford, with the family name coming from the village of

Barford, Warwickshire Barford is a village and civil parish in the Warwick (district), Warwick district of Warwickshire, England, about three miles south of Warwick. As at the United Kingdom 2001 census, 2001 census the parish had a population of 1,171, that increase ...

. In 1287 his brother, Osbert de Bereford, a previous High Sheriff of Warwickshire and

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire to the north, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire to the south-east, Warw ...

, bought a property in

Wishaw Wishaw (; ; ) is a large town in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, on the edge of the River Clyde, Clyde Valley, south-east of Glasgow city centre. The town is part of the Motherwell and Wishaw (UK Parliament constituency), Motherwell and Wishaw c ...

, and after his death a few years later the land was left to William. In the 1280s he also married Margaret, daughter of Hugh de Plessy, who brought lands in Wittenham,

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...

, with whom he had at least one child, Edmund Bereford, who later became a King's Clerk. By 1285, he was a

Pleader A special pleader was a historical legal occupation. The practitioner, or "special pleader" in English law specialised in drafting "pleadings", in modern terminology statements of case. History Up to the 19th century, there were many rules, tech ...

for the

Court of Common Pleas A court of common pleas is a common kind of court structure found in various common law jurisdictions. The form originated with the Court of Common Pleas at Westminster, which was created to permit individuals to press civil grievances against one ...

, and after the purging of the courts in 1289 and 1290 various avenues of promotion opened him, and he was made a justice of the Common Bench in 1292. In

Michaelmas term Michaelmas ( ) term is the first academic term of the academic year in a number of English-speaking universities and schools in the northern hemisphere, especially in the United Kingdom. Michaelmas term derives its name from the Feast of St M ...

of that year he joined one of the last countrywide Eyres. In 1294 he returned to the Common Bench, standing as second to John of Mettingham and then Ralph de Hengham before becoming Chief Justice in 1309 following Hengham's retirement. He was knighted in 1302, and in 1304 was appointed as a commissioner to investigate a break-in at the Treasury. In 1305 he was one of twenty-one representatives of the crown who met with an equal number of Scottish representatives to establish how to promote stability in

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, and in 1306 he was a commissioner of a

Trailbaston Trailbaston (''traillebastone'', ''traillebastoun'', ''traylebastoun'') was a special type of itinerant judicial commission first created during the reign of Edward I of England and used many times thereafter during the reigns of Edward II and Edwa ...

on the northern circuit. After

Edward II Edward II (25 April 1284 – 21 September 1327), also known as Edward of Caernarfon or Caernarvon, was King of England from 1307 until he was deposed in January 1327. The fourth son of Edward I, Edward became the heir to the throne follo ...

became king in 1307 he was in charge of collecting ''querelae'', or formal complaints, against

Walter Langton Walter Langton (died 1321) of Castle Ashby'Parishes: Castle Ashby', in A History of the County of Northampton: Volume 4, ed. L F Salzman (London, 1937), pp. 230-236/ref> in Northamptonshire, was Bishop of Lichfield, Bishop of Coventry and Lic ...

, who had been

Edward I Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots (Latin: Malleus Scotorum), was King of England from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he was Lord of Ireland, and from 125 ...

's treasurer and central advisor. Bereford was associated with

Piers Gaveston Piers Gaveston, 1st Earl of Cornwall ( – 19 June 1312) was an English nobleman of Gascon origin, and the favourite of Edward II of England. At a young age, Gaveston made a good impression on King Edward I, who assigned him to the househo ...

, a favorite of Edward II, perhaps because he had bought land in the

Honour of Wallingford The Honour of Wallingford (or feudal barony of Wallingford) was a medieval English feudal barony which existed between 1066 and 1540 with its ''caput'' at Wallingford Castle in present-day Oxfordshire. The Honour of Wallingford was established a ...

held by the earl. Bereford was one of only four who stood with the king against the barons who demanded Gaveston's exile in 1308, and acted as the executor of his will. Standing against the barons seems not to have harmed his career; in 1318 after attempts to reform the king's household he was among the ministers retained in office, where he stayed until his death in 1326.

Notes

References

* * Justices of the common pleas Chief justices of the common pleas 1326 deaths Year of birth unknown {{England-law-bio-stub