Sir William de Shareshull KB (1289/1290–1370) was an English lawyer 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 ...

from 26 October 1350 to 5 July 1361. He achieved prominence under the administration of

Edward III of England Edward III (13 November 1312 – 21 June 1377), also known as Edward of Windsor before his accession, was King of England from January 1327 until his death in 1377. He is noted for his military success and for restoring royal authority after t ...

. He was responsible for the 1351

Statute of Labourers The Statute of Labourers ( 25 Edw. 3. Stat. 2) was an act of the Parliament of England under King Edward III in 1351 in response to a labour shortage, which aimed at regulating the labour force by prohibiting requesting or offering a wage hig ...

and Statute of Treasons. He is briefly mentioned in the poem ''

Wynnere and Wastoure Wynnere and Wastoure ("Winner and Waster") is a fragmentary Middle English poem written in alliterative verse around the middle of the 14th century. Manuscript The poem occurs in a single manuscript, British Library Additional MS. 31042, also cal ...

'', dating from the 1350s.

Early life

Shareshull came from humble

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...

origins in the village of Shareshill.

Career

He is mentioned among the advocates in the ‘Year Book’ of

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 ...

. He received a commission of

oyer and terminer In English law, oyer and terminer (; a partial translation of the Anglo-French , which literally means 'to hear and to determine') was one of the commissions by which a judge of assize sat. Apart from its Law French name, the commission was also ...

on 22 February 1327 and in the two following years. In 1331, when he had risen to the rank of king's serjeant, he was appointed with others to assess a

tallage Tallage or talliage (from the French , i.e. a part cut out of the whole) may have signified at first any tax, but became in England and France a land use or land tenure tax. Later in England it was further limited to assessments by the crown up ...

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire ( ; abbreviated ''Oxon'') is a ceremonial county in South East England. The county is bordered by Northamptonshire and Warwickshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the east, Berkshire to the south, and Wiltshire and Glouceste ...

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...

, and

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 ...

(25 June). The following year he was one of the council selected by the king to advise him and was ordered on 11 October to attend the approaching parliament in Scotland for the confirmation of the treaty with

Edward Balliol Edward Balliol or Edward de Balliol (; – January 1364) was a claimant to the Scottish throne during the Second War of Scottish Independence. With English help, he ruled parts of the kingdom from 1332 to 1356. Early life Edward was the el ...

. He was made a

Knight of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by King George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. Recipients of the Order are usually senior British Armed Forces, military officers or senior Civil Service ...

Judge

On 20 March 1333, he was made a judge of the King's Bench, but was removed to the

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 ...

on 30 May following. He was on

assize The assizes (), or courts of assize, were periodic courts held around England and Wales until 1972, when together with the quarter sessions they were abolished by the Courts Act 1971 and replaced by a single permanent Crown Court. The assizes ex ...

York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...

in 1339. On 30 November 1340,

Edward III Edward III (13 November 1312 – 21 June 1377), also known as Edward of Windsor before his accession, was King of England from January 1327 until his death in 1377. He is noted for his military success and for restoring royal authority after t ...

returned from the

Low Countries The Low Countries (; ), historically also known as the Netherlands (), is a coastal lowland region in Northwestern Europe forming the lower Drainage basin, basin of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta and consisting today of the three modern "Bene ...

and removed the chancellor, treasurer and other prominent officials, among them Shareshull, on a charge of maladministration. He was reinstated on 10 May 1342 and on 2 July 1344 he was made

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 ...

. On 10 November 1345, he was moved back to the Common Pleas, with the title of second justice. He was appointed one of the guardians of the

principality of Wales The Principality of Wales () was originally the territory of the native Welsh princes of the House of Aberffraw from 1216 to 1283, encompassing two-thirds of modern Wales during its height of 1267–1277. Following the conquest of Wales by Edwa ...

during the minority of the king's son. In 1346 he was styled “councillor and kinsman” of William de Montagu, Earl of Salisbury.Cal. of Patent Rolls, 1345–1348 (1903): 139–141

Chief judge

On 26 October 1350, he was advanced to the headship of the Court of King's Bench and presided over it until 5 July 1357. While holding that office he declared the causes of the meeting of five parliaments, from 25 to 29 Edward III (1351–1355). His functions seem to have more resembled those of a political and parliamentary official than those of a judge. In 1358 Shareshull, Edward de Montagu, and two others, executors of Elizabeth de Montagu, Countess of Salisbury, sued John Runaway in the Court of Common Pleas regarding a reasonable account of the time he was Elizabeth's bailiff in Worksop, Nottinghamshire and her receiver of money. In the last year of his chief justiceship, he was

excommunicated Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to deprive, suspend, or limit membership in a religious community or to restrict certain rights within it, in particular those of being in communion with other members of the con ...

by the Pope for refusing to appear when summoned to answer for a sentence he had delivered against Thomas Lisle, the

Bishop of Ely The Bishop of Ely is the Ordinary (officer), ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Ely in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese roughly covers the county of Cambridgeshire (with the exception of the Soke of Peterborough), together with ...

for harbouring a man who had slain a servant of Blanche, Lady Wake. In 1344 some sailors thought Shareshull (there called Sharford) stayed too long at dinner when he was holding

assizes The assizes (), or courts of assize, were periodic courts held around England and Wales until 1972, when together with the quarter sessions they were abolished by the Courts Act 1971 and replaced by a single permanent Crown Court. The assizes ex ...

in that town. One of them mounted the bench and fined the judge for non-attendance. He took such offence at the joke that he induced the king to take away the assizes from the town and took the liberties of the corporation into his own hands for about a year.

Retirement

Though retired from the bench, he occupied confidential positions as late as 1361. He lived beyond 1364, in which year he granted his manor of Alurynton in

Shropshire Shropshire (; abbreviated SalopAlso used officially as the name of the county from 1974–1980. The demonym for inhabitants of the county "Salopian" derives from this name.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West M ...

to Osney Priory, in addition to lands at Sandford in Oxfordshire, which he had given seven years before. He was a benefactor to the priories of Bruera, near Chester and Dudley. He left a son of the same name.

Notes

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Shareshull, William De 13th-century births 1370 deaths Justices of the common pleas Justices of the King's Bench Lord chief justices of England and Wales Chief Barons of the Exchequer 13th-century English lawyers 14th-century English people Serjeants-at-law (England) Knights of the Bath