John More (judge)

For other people with similar names, see Sir John Moore (disambiguation).

Sir John More
Sir John More, aged 76, from "Study for a portrait of Thomas More's family", c. 1527, by Hans Holbein the Younger
Born	c.1451
Died	November 1530
Spouse(s)	Agnes Graunger Joan Marshall Joan Bowes Alice More
Children	Joanna More Sir Thomas More Agatha More John More Edward More Elizabeth More
Parent(s)	William More, Joanna Joye

John More, detail from a Holbein's sketch for the More family portrait

Sir John More (c.1451–1530) was a London lawyer and later judge, notable for being the father of Thomas More, Henry VIII's Lord Chancellor.

Family

More was the son of William More (d. 1467), a London baker, and Joanna Joye, daughter and heir of a London brewer, John Joye, and granddaughter and heir of a London Chancery clerk, John Leycester.

Career

More entered Lincoln's Inn in either 1470 or 1475, was called to be a Serjeant-at-law in 1503, a Justice of Assize in 1513, a Justice of the Common Pleas in 1518, and finally to the King's Bench in 1520, where he remained until his death.

More inherited the manor of Gobions in North Mymms, Hertfordshire, and tenements in London, and purchased additional land in Hertfordshire. He was given permission to bear a coat of arms, during Edward IV's reign. He also helped to fund his son-in-law John Rastell's dismal attempt to reach and settle the New World in 1517, which got only as far as Waterford before the sailors abandoned Rastell and sold his cargo.

More made his will on 26 February 1527, naming his son, Sir Thomas More, as one of his executors and requesting burial in the church of St Lawrence Jewry. The will, proved 5 November 1530, included provision for prayers for the souls of family members and for the soul of King Edward IV.

Marriages and issue

On 24 April 1474, at St Giles-without-Cripplegate, More married Agnes Graunger (d.1499), the daughter of Thomas Graunger, a London tallow-chandler and alderman, by whom he had three sons and three daughters:

• Joanna More, born 11 March 1475, who married Richard Staverton, a lawyer of Lincoln's Inn.
• Sir Thomas More (7 February 1478–6 July 1535).
• Agatha More, born 1479, died young.
• John More, born 6 June 1480, died young.
• Edward More, born 1481, died young.
• Elizabeth More, born 22 September 1482, who married the printer, John Rastell (1475-1536).

After his first wife's death in about 1499, More married secondly, Joan (d.1505), the widow of John Marshall, mercer; thirdly Joan (d.1520), the widow of another London mercer, Thomas Bowes; and fourthly Alice More, the sister of Sir Christopher More of Loseley, Surrey, and widow of William Huntingdon of Exeter and of John Clerke. More's widow, Alice, survived him, and died at North Mymms in 1545...

References

• (subscription required) The first edition of this text is available as an article on Wikisource:  
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External links

• Principal Line of Descendants Through Thomas More’s One Son, John, Centre for Thomas More Studies
• Will of Sir John More, National Archives
• ‘’More Hall, Brookmans Park, North Mymms, Hertfordshire’’, Richard III Society
• Portraits of Sir John More at the National Portrait Gallery, London