John Maxfeild

John Maxfeild

John Maxfeild
Person	John Maxfeild
Title
First name	John
Middle name(s)
Last name	Maxfeild
Suffix
Spouse of
Widow of
Occupation	Scrivener
Secondary shorebased occupation
Mariner occupation
Associated with ship(s)
Training	Not apprentice
Is apprentice of
Was apprentice of	Robert Earle
Had apprentice(s)
Citizen	Unknown
Literacy	Signature
Has opening text	John Maxfeild
Has signoff text	John Maxfeild
Signoff image	(Invalid transcription image)
Language skills	English language
Has interpreter
Birth street
Birth parish
Birth town
Birth county
Birth province
Birth country
Res street
Res parish	Saint Edmunds the King and Martyr in Lombard Street
Res town	London
Res county
Res province
Res country	England
Birth year	1629
Marriage year
Death year
Probate date
First deposition age
Primary sources
Act book start page(s)
Personal answer start page(s)
Allegation start page(s)
Interrogatories page(s)
Deposition start page(s)	HCA 13/63 f.467v Annotate, HCA 13/72 f.21r Annotate
Chancery start page(s)
Letter start page(s)
Miscellaneous start page(s)
Act book date(s)
Personal answer date(s)
Allegation date(s)
Interrogatories date(s)
Deposition date(s)	Nov 16 1650, Apr 8 1657
How complete is this biography?
Has infobox completed	Yes
Has synthesis completed	No
Has HCA evidence completed	No
Has source comment completed	No
Ship classification
Type of ship
Silver Ship litigation in 1650s
Role in Silver Ship litigation

Biographical synthesis

John Maxfeild (b.ca.1629-1630; d.?). Scrivener.

Resident as an apprentice to scrivener Robert Earle in Saint Dunstans in the East in 1650. The precise address may have been Tower Street, which ran through Saint Dunstans in the East, since a genealogical source mentions the payment of a debt by Ephriam Childe to Elizabeth Foote "at or in the now house of Robert Earle Scr(ivener) in Towerstreete London". M. A. Greenwood (1930) identifies "Robert Earle, scrivener in Tower Street" in 1641, when he took on as apprentice Richard Minors, son of the Company of Drapers Under-beadle, Richard Minors.

Later, in 1657, John Maxfeild worked as a scrivener in the parish of Saint Edmund the King and Martyr in Lombard Street.

Evidence from High Court of Admiralty

John Maxfeild appears first in the High Court of Admiralty as a twenty-one year old apprentice scrivener in a deposition dated November 16th 1650. His name is recorded by the notary public as 'Johannes Maxfeild', and he is described as '"Famulus Robert Earle", that is servant to Robert Earle, and his profession is that of "scriptoris" or scrivener. His residence as an apprentice was in the parish of Saint Dunstans in the East. He gave evidence in the case of "ffreer con Harris".

He next apppears in the High Court of Admiralty, aged twenty-seven year, working independently as a scrivener and located in the parish of Saint Edmund the King and Martyr in Lombard Street. He deposed on April 9th 1657 in the High Court of Admiralty and was examined on an allegation on behalf of James Cowse in the case of "Cowse against Leone."

The case concerned a dispute over a charterparty made between James Cowse and Edward Keene, which Maxfeild, as a scrivener, had drawn up for the two men.

Comment on sources

"London hearth tax, 1666: St Edmund the King and Martyr: Cock Alley: John Maxfeild 3 hearths"

An online source identifies the marriage of John Maxfeild to Ann Purse, July 18th 1654, Worplesdon, Surrey, but gives no evidence for the reference, no proof that this relates to Maxfeild the scrivener.