William Dod
1435
to 1500 (estimated)
DOD00055A
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1435
William Dod was the son of
Hugh and Agnes Dod of Cloverley (DOD00051). This may be the same
person as John Dod (DOD00055), possibly using both the
name John and William.
1454
William
Dod
of Cloverley who was born around 1435 married Anne Eaton (or Eyton) of Eyton
around 1454 or 1455. This may be the same person as John Dod who married Matilda,
daughter of Ludovic Eyton, of Eyton, Shropshire, or William Dod may have
married Matilda’s sister, Anne.
1464
There was a William Dodde, a
gentleman of Shropshire, who was pardoned for outlawry on 14 November 1464 at
Westminster, having surrendered himself to the Fleet Prison in London to Robert
Danby, chief justice of the bench, after he was accused of trespass by
Elizbabeth, the Countess of Shrewsbury (Patent Rolls of
the reign of Edward IV, 1461 to 1467,
pages 316,
317).
This was in the early years of the
reign of King Edward IV, the Yorkist king who claimed the throne in 1461 during
the Wars of the Roses. Elizabeth
Talbot (née Beauchamp), was the widow of John
Talbot, 2nd Earl of Shrewsbury. Her husband had been a staunch Lancastrian who
was killed at the Battle of Northampton in 1460 fighting against Edward IV’s
Yorkist forces. Despite her husband's allegiance, the Countess
managed to navigate the Yorkist ascendancy to secure her substantial dower
lands and properties across Shropshire and the West Midlands. In the fifteenth century, a charge
of trespass, transgression, by a high-ranking noble against a local
gentleman rarely meant simple modern trespassing. It almost always signified a
violent property dispute, land grabbing, or a local riot. Following the political
upheavals of 1460–1461, many local gentry took
advantage of the chaos to seize lands, withhold rents, or poach from the
estates of vulnerable Lancastrian widows like the Countess.
Elizabeth likely brought a suite of lawsuits in the Court of Common Pleas to
reassert her authority and protect her borders.
When a defendant like William
Dodde ignored repeated summonses to appear in London to answer a civil suit,
the court would issue an outlawry order. Outlawry stripped a person of their
legal protection, meaning their property could be forfeited to the Crown. Dodde's actions follow a highly institutionalised legal
dance of the period: he intentionally surrendered himself to the Fleet
Prison in London, appearing before Robert Danby, the Chief Justice of the
Common Pleas. By surrendering, he proved he was no longer evading the law,
which automatically qualified him for a formal royal pardon of his outlawry.
This did not mean he was innocent of the trespass; it simply restored his legal
status so he could stand trial or settle the dispute with the Countess out of court.
It seems highly probable that this
William Dodde was either a direct member or a close relative of the Dod family
of Cloverley in north Shropshire. In 1464, gentleman was a distinct
legal status denoting a member of the minor landed gentry. The Dods of
Cloverley were precisely the prominent gentry family of that surname in
Shropshire at this time. Furthermore the 1474 entry confirms this.
Pedigrees also show a William Dod
of Cloverley who was born around 1435 and married Anne Eaton (or Eyton) of
Eyton around 1454/1455, who had a son and heir named John Dod, born around 1456
(Cloverley
Hall, Country Houses of Shropshire), although it seems the husband
of Matilda Eaton (probably the same person as Anne Eaton) was John Dod (DOD00055).
In any event, the Cloverley
estates lay in north Shropshire, very close to the massive strongholds and
lands of the Talbot Earls of Shrewsbury (whose principal seats included
Blakemere near Whitchurch). Living as immediate neighbours to the Earls of
Shrewsbury made boundary frictions, timber-felling disputes, or tenancy
arguments between the Dods and the Countess highly likely.
1474
The dispute with the Countess of
Shrewsbury had another turn four years later. Pardon for outlaywry,
having surrendered to the Marshalsea prison, as Thomas Byllyng, chief justice
of the King’s Bench has certified for William Dodde of Calrowe,
co. Salop, ' gentilman,' for not appearing to answer
Elizabeth, countess of Shrewsbury, touching a trespass. (Patent
Rolls of the reign of Edward IV and Henry IV, 1467 to 1477, page 436). Calrowe
is a historical variance spelling for Calverhall.
1500
William may have died in or about 1500
(estimated).