John De Wauton

• Preferred Name: John De Wauton
  
• Gender: M
  
• Occupation: Sheriff of Essex and HertfordshireBET 1330 AND 1332 with note: Most vital information and relationships match. No details conflict. ID numbers: G3MT-GDZ and GZHJ-P89.
  
• Death: ABT 1341 with note: GEDCOM data
  
• FSID: GZHJ-P89
  
• Birth: 1275 in Wivenhoe, Essex, England at LATI: N1.858 LONG: E0.9643
  
• Notes:

  === Life Sketch ===
  John belonged to an Essex gentry family but was probably a younger son. He tapped most of the sources of lordship available in the north of the county in order to make his way in the world. He appears to have enjoyed military campaigning and therefore needed to join the affinity of a nobleman.
  
  He served in the retinue of Robert Fitzwalter on the Scottish expedition of 1322, and was with William de Bohun, earl of Northampton in the early years o f the Hundred Years War; he was present at Crecy and died at the siege of Calais in 1347. In addition, he considered it advantageous to belong to the affinity of Elizabeth de Burgh and served as one of her auditors and councilors. His importance to Elizabeth is seen in the attendance of her councilors at his funeral. He held land o f her in Steeple Bumpstead and Birdbrook but his main holding of Wimbish was granted to him by Robert Fitzwalter. John found that connections with both noblemen and women helped to further his standing and his career.
  
  He became a prominent figure in the county, serving on royal commissions, as sheriff of Essex and Hertfordshire between 1330 and 1332, and as knight of the shire for Essex in 1330 and 1341