Adam Stratton

Adam Stratton, also called Adam Argoyles, was the chief moneylender of the late thirteenth century and a master forger to boot.

Stratton started life as a humble clerk or pries from Stratton St Margaret in Wiltshire, but obtained 23 parishes in Canterbury and then entered the service of Isabella de Forz, sister of Baldwin, Earl of Devon in 1263. Through her he was made deputy chamberlain and later chamberlain of the Royal Exchequer on behalf of both Henry III and Edward I. With it, Stratton had custody of the Exchequer records, giving him the opportunity, to forge records and receipts, misappropriate royal funds and pervert the course of justice by using royal justice for private ends.

He came to grief in three stages. First he was caught cutting the seal of a charter of lands in 1278. Convicted of this he continued as Chamberlain. A raid on his premises in 1289, revealed £12,666 in coin, more than half the revenues of the Crown, in his possession. He was charged with a range of offences including homicide and sorcery. Convicted, he paid a fine and still carried on at the Exchequer, until he was convicted of forgery in 1292. That was the end of his career and he lived out his final years living off his many parishes in Kent.

At his peak he was worth £30,000, about 0.75% of net national income of £4m at the time. In today's money that would be the equivalent of £8.3bn.