202 Fanshawe v Glanville

202 FANSHAWE V GLANVILLE

Thomas Fanshawe of Jenkins, Barking, co. Essex, esq v George Glanville of West Ham, co. Essex

February 1638 - January 1639

Abstract

Fanshawe complained that Glanville had called him 'a knave and a rascall, and to have bidd one Richard Baker then present to tell him Mr Fanshawe that I had used or spoken such words.'. Glanville had been a steward to Sir Thomas Fanshawe, the plaintiff's father, who had left him an annuity of £10 per annum which Glanville complained Fanshawe had failed to honour until he had engaged in years of lawsuits. Fanshawe won the case and Glanville was ordered pay a fine of £50 damages, £13-6s-8d expenses, by the last session of Easter term 1639. He was required to perform two submissions on 28 November 1638 in the Court of Honour at Westminster, and on 8 December 1638 in the Court House in Barking in the presence of Thomas Fanshawe. Glanville was to acknowledge Fanshawe as an 'honest and worshipful gentleman', crave his forgiveness and promise to behave himself 'with all due respect towards him and all other the gentry of this kingdome.'

Plaintiff's case

14/1hh, Defence interrogatories [damaged]

1. Was the witness related to or dependent upon either of the parties?

2-4. [Too damaged to be legible]

5. When were the pretended words spoken? Might the witnesses 'for want of memorie mistake the words that were then spoken' by Glanville. 'Did not ?Barker? first by way of interrogation ask the defendant if he did say that Mr Fanshaw was a knave a rascall and did not the defendant by way of answer say noe but that they are knaves that... will not pay their father's debts... and what moved... to depose that the defendant did say that Mr .... Fanshawe the complainant was a knave, a rascall... was not George Person gentleman present... when the words were uttered that you conceive... were spoken against Mr Fanshaw'?

Had Barker not been for some years a solicitor of causes for one Brett against Glanville and ever since has been 'maliciouslie affected' towards Glanville?

Was Glanville accounted a 'man given to excessive drinking and a frequent resorter to Taverns on purpose to beget quarells and controversies as interrogate'?

'How long have you known the defendant and is he not accounted an honest, quiet and peaceable man, noe way given to quarrels or controversies, or suits of lawe without urgent cause and is he not commonly accounted to be a man of good estate of his own, and a gentleman and doth he not live in the rank and fashion of a gentleman. And was he not once servant to the father of the complainant as in the interogatory'?

No date

Signed Clere Talbot.

Defendant's case

12/2j, Defence [damaged]

Glanville 'was for fourteene yeares untill a yeare before his death steward and agent for Sir Thomas Fanshawe knt, father of [Fanshawe]. And at the time of the death of Sir Thomas Fanshawe, George Glanville was ingaged as surety to Sir Thomas Fanshawe in divers and severall bonds and bills obligatory to the quantitie of £600 or £700 of lawfull monie of England. And Sir Thomas Fanshawe did in his life tyme... to George an annuity of £10 per annum during the life of George... notwithstanding Mr Fanshawe hath since, by his death, enjoyed a great revenew of lands and a greate personall estate besides, as heire to... Mr Fanshawe would not be drawne to release George Glanville of the ingagements nor paye the annuitie untill the... the same by many tedious and chargeable suits... and other courts for five yeares together after his father's death'.

'George Glanvill on... February... to the taverne libell... Baker and Glanville... Thomas Fanshawe knave and rascall to which George replyed... not name Mr Fanshawe, and if I had the other witnesses... by the wordes but to answer the abuses of Baker...'

Sentence / Arbitration

10/12/18, Plaintiff's bill of costs

Dated 20 June 1638.

Total £31.

Signed by Arundel, Thomas Eden and Arthur Duck

Partly damaged roll but apparently case lasted over three terms, Hilary 1637, Easter 1638 and Trinity 1638.

Submission

4/15, Submission

Glanville was to perform his submission on Wednesday 28 November 1638 in the Court of Honour in the Painted Chamber at Westminster.

'Whereas I, George Glanvile, stand convicted... to have spoken divers scandalous and disgraceful words of and against Thomas Fanshawe of Jenkins in the parish of Barking in the county of Essex, esq, and in particular to have said that Thomas Fanshawe was a knave and a rascall, and to have willed or bidd one Richard Baker then present to tell Mr Fanshawe that I had used or spoken such words of him, or to that effect, I do hereby humbly acknowledge that I am hartily sorry for my using and speaking of those rash and unadvised words and speeches of and against Mr Fanshawe, whom I do acknowledge to be an honest and worshipful gentleman. And I do hartily pray Mr Fanshawe to forgive my such rash and scandalous words and speeches used of and against him. And I do faithfully promise ever hereafter both to abstayne from the like and also to behave myself with all due respect towards him and all other the gentry of this kingdome.'

4/27, Submission

Glanville was to perform another submission 'standing bareheaded' between 12 and 2pm on Saturday 8 December 1638 in the Town or Court House in Barking in the presence of Thomas Fanshawe using the same words as 4/15.

Summary of proceedings

Dr Eden acted as counsel to Fanshawe and Dr Talbot to Glanville. On 12 February 1638 Glanville was summoned to appear and Dr Duck presented the libel on behalf of Mr Fanshawe. The testimony of Mr Fanshawe's witnesses, Edward Keighlie, Burwas and Richard Baker was heard soon after. Sentence was delivered on 20 November 1638 and Glanville appeared once more on 28 January 1639, perhaps to certify his submission.

Notes

Thomas Fanshawe of Jenkins in Barking, co. Essex (1607-1652), was the son of Sir Thomas Fanshawe (1580-1631) and Anne, daughter of Urias Babington of London, draper. Thomas attended Trinity College, Cambridge and the Inner Temple. Around 1626 he married Susan, daughter of Matthew Otten of Putney, co. Surrey. He became coroner and attorney of King's Bench, and was M.P. for the borough of Lancaster during the Long Parliament. His sympathies were royalist and he sat in the Oxford Parliament, later compounding for his estates.

W. C. Metcalfe (ed.), The Visitations of Essex, Part I (Publications of the Harleian Society, 13, 1878), p. 195; J. J. Howard and J. L. Chester (eds.), The Visitation of London, 1633, 1634 and 1635 (Publications of the Harleian Society, 15, 1880), p. 264. M. F. Keeler, The Long Parliament, 1640-1641: A Biographical Dictionary of its Members (Philadelphia, 1954), pp. 172-3.

Documents

• Plaintiff's case
  • Defence interrogatories: 14/1hh (no date)
• Defendant's case
  • Defence: 12/2j (no date)
  • Plaintiff's bill of costs: 10/12/18 (20 Jun 1638)
• Submission
  • Submission: 4/15 (28 Nov 1638)
  • Submission: 4/27 (8 Dec 1638)
• Proceedings
  • Proceedings before Arundel: 1/5, fos. 38-56 (12 Feb 1638)
  • Proceedings before Marten: 1/5 (20 Feb 1638)
  • Proceedings before Maltravers: R.19, fos. 400v-412v (20 Nov 1638)
  • Proceedings before Maltravers: 1/9 (28 Jan 1639)

People mentioned in the case

• Babington, Anne
• Babington, Urias
• Baker, Richard
• Brett
• Burwas
• Duck, Arthur, lawyer
• Eden, Thomas, lawyer
• Fanshawe, Anne (also Fanshaw)
• Fanshawe, Susan (also Fanshaw)
• Fanshawe, Thomas, esq (also Fanshaw)
• Fanshawe, Thomas, knight (also Fanshaw)
• Glanville, George (also Glanvill, Glanvile)
• Howard, Henry, baron Maltravers
• Howard, Thomas, earl of Arundel and Surrey
• Keighlie, Edward (also Keighley)
• Marten, Henry, knight
• Otten, Matthew
• Otten, Susan
• Person, George, gent
• Talbot, Clere, lawyer

Places mentioned in the case

• Cambridgeshire
  • Trinity College
• Essex
  • Jenkins
  • Barking
  • West Ham
• Lancashire
  • Lancaster
• London
  • Inner Temple
• Middlesex
  • Westminster
• Oxfordshire
  • Oxford
• Surrey
  • Putney

Topics of the case

• denial of gentility
• King's Bench
• Long Parliament
• member of parliament
• office-holding
• other courts
• royalist