7įrancis chiefly resided on the manor of Edmonton, and although he played an active part in local government in Essex and Hertfordshire (becoming sheriff in 1392), it was in Middlesex that his chief interests lay. His other principal acquisitions comprised the manor of Eyworth in Bedfordshire and land in Southwark (together worth £22 a year) and property in Old Ford, Middlesex. 6 At some point before 1399 he purchased the manor of Moorhall in Writtle, Essex, but no contemporary valuation of it seems to exist. Insufficient evidence has survived upon which to make a similar estimate of his annual revenues from land in the countryside, but it seems that his major holdings there produced a bare minimum of £114 a year (of which at least £92 came from his original inheritance). 5 Seven years later his income from property in London alone was assessed at £162 9 s.6 d. Pancras, which were all either leased out by him or settled on his feoffees before 1405. 4 We do not know from whom Francis bought or inherited the shops and tenements in the other London parishes of St. Michael Bassishaw, remained permanently in their possession. It is by no means clear if the couple retained all the Tuddenham estates, which came into their hands in 1373, but certain premises, including their home in the parish of St. This legacy made Francis one of the City’s richest landlords, since he had already acquired land and tenements in four London parishes through marriage to Margaret, the widow of Thomas Tuddenham, whose father-in-law had left her heir to most of his property. 3 Although most of his father’s holdings in the City had initially been left to him in reversion on the death of his mother, these were in fact conveyed to him by the late mayor’s trustees in the following year, presumably after some arrangements had been reached with the dowager. 2 Between April 1360 and October 1369 he settled the reversion of his newly acquired property in Enfield, Tottenham and Edmonton, Middlesex, and Ruckholt and Cobhams, Essex, upon the young Adam Francis, who obtained formal seisin of his inheritance in May 1375. In common with many leading merchants of the day, Adam Francis the elder had invested a substantial part of his profits in land, and, after a long and successful career, during which he twice became mayor of London and represented the City in at least seven Parliaments, he retired to live on his country estates. BiographyĪs the elder son of one of the richest and most powerful citizens of mid 14th-century London, Sir Adam Francis was, from birth, sure of both a distinguished place in society and an impressive personal fortune.

1393, May 1402 (treasonous rumours) oyer and terminer Nov. of Thomas Tuddenham ( d.1371/2) of London, 2s. of Adam Francis † ( d.1374/5), of London, mercer, by his w.

Ay'daki Adam by Francis Godwin