John Stonor

Sir John Stonor KS (1281–1354) was a British justice and the first notable member of the influential Stonor family. He was the son of Richard Stonor, an Oxfordshire freeholder, with the family name coming from the village of Stonor. After training as a lawyer he was called to the Common Bench as a Serjeant-at-law in 1311, being made a King's Serjeant in 1315 and a justice of the Common Bench on October 16 1320. He held this position until 1329, other than a period as a justice for the King's Bench between July 1323 and May 4 1324; in 1324 he was also knighted. On February 22 1329 he was made Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer and was made Chief Justice of the Common Pleas on September 3. He was removed from this position on March 2 1331, however, possibly as part of Edward III's policy of replacing high-ranking officials after he began his personal rule, although there is no evidence Stonor was ever involved in politics.

He was reappointed as Chief Justice on July 7 1335, but removed on November 30 1341 after another purge of the administration. He was reappointed yet again on May 9 1342, making him one of only two Chief Justices to be appointed on three separate occasions. [ [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/theme/93045?back=92827,&backToResults=list=yes|group=yes|feature=yes|aor=3|orderField=alpha&_fromAuth=1 Oxford DNB: Chief Justices of the Court of Common Pleas] ] Stonor continued to serve as Chief Justice from 1342 until February 22 1354, where he left due to weakness, dying the same year. Although most of his time as a justice was at Westminster, he also served in York between 1327–1329 and 1334–1336. Other work included special inquiries into the disturbances at Bury St Edmunds and Abingdon Abbey in 1327 and at Oxford in 1335, the misconduct of officials in 1323 and 1331–4 and the trial of rebels in 1323, 1327, and 1331. He was also involved in overseas commissions, including a review of the trial of Otto Grandson for misgovernment of the Channel Islands in 1319 and diplomatic missions to France in 1324 and Spain in 1325. [ [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/26583?&docPos=22&backToResults=list=yes|group=yes|feature=yes|aor=3|orderField=alpha&_fromAuth=1 Oxford DNB:Stonor, Sir John] ]

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