William Chichele

William Chichele was the elder brother of Henry, the archbishop of Canterbury, but William enjoyed considerable influence on his own account. He was a member of the Grocers’ Company by 1373, and continued to play an active part in its affairs for the next 45 years.

Like most grocers, William dealt in apothecary’s goods, and in 1398 we find him supplying medicines for the household of Henry of Bolingbroke, future King of England Henry IV (r. 1399 – 1413). As committed Lancastrian, Chichele welcomed Henry’s accession to the throne in 1399. He continued to provide the keeper of the Great Wardrobe of the royal household with a variety of dry goods. In July 1413, William and Thomas Burton, another London grocer, had a royal license to export wool from England, and in the following year they were allowed to ship grain into the country from Spain and Portugal.

During his career Chichele acquired property in both London and the country. With his wife he was the owner of a messuage and its extensive appurtenances in Stanwell, Middlesex, and from his father he inherited a house and land in Higham Ferrers. With his brother, Robert, he possessed a joint title to land in Walthamstow, Essex. He also owned the manor of West Ham, and appears to have acquired property in the diocese of Winchester, perhaps in Southwark, since in May 1388 he obtained a license from the bishop to make use of a private oratory while living there.

Chichele’s main holdings in the City comprised a brewery called Le Castell on the Hoop, together with a messuage and two shops in the parish of St. Margaret, Friday Street. He owned two more tenements in the parishes of St. Nicholas Cole Abbey and St. Mary Mounthaw. His estimated annual income from premises in the City alone then stood at almost £11, a sum which places him among the wealthier citizens of London.