John de Shriggeley

Sir John de Shriggeley,whose family name is also spelled Shirggeley and Shryggeley(died after 1403) was an Irish judge who held several importantjudicial offices,including Chief Justice of the Irish Common Pleas. Despitecommittingtwo murders, he wasa valued servant of the English Crown.

He was born in County Dublin, son ofJohn de Shriggeley senior. The de Shriggeleyfamily are said to have been fairly recent arrivals in Irelandfrom Cheshire, andtook their familyname from the village of Pott Shrigley.

Marriage

In1385 marriedheNicola, daughter of Nicholas Bathe, andwidow of Sir Simon Cusacke of Beaurepaire,whowas a substantial landowner in County Meath. Asthe remarriage of a widowneeded theCrown's consent, theirmarriage without a royallicencewas technically an offence, but the couple quickly received a royal pardon, in consideration of John's"good service" to the Crown.

Inheritance

Nicola brought Johna very substantial dowry,but they had considerabledifficulty in asserting their rights to her lands at Culmullen in County Meath, the ownership of which was disputed by various relatives of Nicola's first husband. In1393Shriggeleyand Nicolacomplainedto the Crown that they hadbeenunlawfullydispossessed of their landsfor more than seven years. The dispute apparently turned violent overthe following fewyears, as Shriggeley and one Geoffrey Cusacke (who was probably a nephew of Nicola's first husbandSir Simon Cusacke)were bound overin 1394-5 to be of good behaviour, tofindmen of good social standingto actas sureties for theirgood conduct,andto pledge todo no harm to each other. The Cusacke family continued the struggle to gain possession of Culmullenfor at leastanother generation, longafter Shriggeley's death.

Shriggeleywas appointed second Baron of the Court of Exchequer (Ireland) in 1382. In 1385 he became Chief Justice of the Irish Common Pleas.He became Chief Escheator of Ireland in 1386, and atthe same time hewas made Chief Clerk of the Marketsand Keeper of the Weights and Measures for Ireland.He stepped down as Chief Justice in1388.

He was a trusted servant of the Crown, and inparticular enjoyed the confidence of Robert de Vere, Duke of Ireland, theprime royal favourite of King Richard II through much of the 1380s. Howeverthe Duke's downfall in 1388 does not seem to have harmed Shriggeley's career.In 1389 in consideration of his seven yearsgood service in the "Irish wars"and in "diverse offices", he was given a knighthood and grantedlands at Drogheda.

It was no doubt his good services to the Crown which led to his being pardonedin December 1389 for killing Nicholas Cusackeand Richard Cormygan: he was pardonedafter a plea for mercy fromGeoffrey Vale (this was probably the Geoffrey Vale who was High Sheriff of Carlow in 1374). Little is known of the details of the murders, although Nicholas's surnamesuggests that it was connected with the long-running dispute over possession of theformer Cusacke lands inCounty Meath,which wereheld by Shriggeley in right of his wife.The violence of this dispute, which continued for many years, even after Shriggeley's death,wasa cause of greatconcern to the Crown in the 1390s.

In 1390 he wasgranted thelease of "the watermill below Dublin Castle". He was still alive in 1403when he was described as living at Skryne, County Meath. In the same year hewas appointedCaptain of the Militia, Keeper of the Peace anda member of the Commission of Array.