Sir John Kentwood

Sir John Kentwood was an English knight who made his career as a loyal servant of Edward, the Black Prince, and then of his son, Richard II (r. 1377-1399).

John’s rise began in 1355 when he accompanied Edward, the Black Prince, on his expedition to Gascony. At the Battle of Poitiers in 1356, John and Sir Edmund Wauncey took captive the King of France’s son, Philip. Prince Edward bought the prisoner from them for 4,000 marks, a substantial sum which was paid in varying amounts over a long period. Kentwood continued his military service under the Black Prince, and by 1376 he had acquired outright the former Carbonel manors of Burston in Aston Abbots and Addington, Buckinghamshire, Bainton, Oxfordshire, and ‘Bradelegh’ near Glastonbury, Somerset; while in Berkshire he had property worth £10 a year in Cholsey as well as the manors of Kentwood in Tilehurst and West Shefford.

From 1375, Kentwood became highly involved in the local administration of his home county of Berkshire, and in 1378 he was made steward of Cornwall. The latter position made him a very busy man, he was placed on virtually every regional commission of any importance. He was also in charge of making defensive arrangements against enemy raids by sea, for instance in 1380, 1383, 1386 and 1388, and was employed as a royal emissary, both locally and abroad. Besides the above mentiond duties Kentwood served as Member of Parliament for eight times between 1376 and 1393.

After Kentwood’s death in 1394, his estates were inherited by eldest son and namesake, John.