John Acclom (15th-century politician)

John Acclom of Scarborough was the second son of John Acclom I(d.1402), and the nephew of another Acclom MP for the same constituency, his uncle Robert Acclom.[1] When his father died, John II inherited various rents and tenements in and around Scraborough, as well as the reversion of his step-mother's small estate. In 1405 Acclom presented a suit in Chancery against Sir Richard Redmayne, for £240. This was because Redmayne was Escheator for Yorkshire, and had held the Inquisition into the death of Acclom's relative, Henry Acclom. As a result of this flawed inquisition, claimed Acclom, Redmayne confiscated goods worth £240 from Henry's estates that were due to John Acclom. The records do not survive to report the outcome of this dispute.[1]

From then on- with the exception of a charge of piracy against him and others in 1412, which cost them £196- he was rarely active in community politics until 1420, when he sat on a commission of ad quod damnum. The following year, his career picked up, and he was returned to the parliament called for December 1421. He was subsequently appointed bailiff of Scarborough,[2] and then sat again in the 1426 parliament at Leicester (the Parliament of Bats).[3] Throughout this period he also performed royal service defending the border with Scotland, possibly as part of the Earl of Northumberland's retinue at Berwick Castle,[1] for which he received Letters of Protection.[2]

Acclom continued to augment his Scarborough estates as well as acting as a royal commissioner when required.[2] He spent much of his later life involved in litigation, particularly concerning the estate of a London fishmonger, Sir William Righthouse, who had died in Scarborough, in which Acclom 'had held an interest,'[1] and whose feoffees he sued.[2] This led to him once again having to defend himself in Chancery against a charge of having malappropriated a deed of Righthouse's which he then refused to return; historian Carol Rawcliffe has speculated that this may indicate that Righthouse had been indebted to Acclom in some way, but also that this 'is now impossible to determine.'[1] He continued through this time in an official capacity, acting as a receiver of the customs of Hull.[2]

Acclom spent the last seventeen years of his life quietly, with no further political, administrative or legal activity being known of. He died on 7 July 1458, leaving his widow Alice a £4 annuity from his town properties; it is unknown if they had had any children.[1]