John Falkner d1545

JOHN FALKNER was a man of considerable wealth and influence, and an alderman of the City. He was by trade a manufacturer of the flat woollen caps then commonly worn, and which were made extensively here at that time. It seems that he lived on the south side of Eastgate Street, a little to the west of the present Queen Street, and in the parish of St. Michael, in which church he was buried. He was twice married, his first wife Katherine also being buried in St. Michael's church, whilst his second wife, Margaret, married, after his death, William Bond, a goldsmith, he being one of the sheriffs here at the time of the martyrdom of Bishop Hooper.

Falkner was Mayor of Gloucester in 1525, 1534 and again in 1542, and it was during his second term as Mayor, on the 31 July 1535, that he led a deputation from the City to greet Henry VIII and Anne (Boleyn), coming from Tewkesbury. Dressed in their 'skarlett gownes and velfett typpettes' they 'did ther obeysaunce alle on horseback, giving his Grace the right hand'.

John Falkner's words of greeting have been recorded as 'Thankes be to God to your Graces helth and good prosperitie, which God long contynue!' The next day, in the Abbey churchyard, Falkner presented the King with 'tenne fatte oxen' together with other gifts for the Royal party. It was certainly a splendid occasion, and without doubt one of the highlights of his term of office.

His will is a long one and testifies to his wealth and importance. In it he makes reference to a number of his work-people and his servants, but his main thoughts were on the poor condition of the roads and bridges around Gloucester. He left twenty pounds to repair the high road between Gloucester and Cheltenham, and a like sum for the road between Gloucester and Tewkesbury, the sum of forty pounds for making Chepstow Bridge, and ten pounds towards repairing Maisemore Bridge and the causeways belonging to the bridge. Besides this le left a black gown to each of twelve poor men to pray for him and to attend his funeral, and the sum of twenty pounds to his wife to distribute penny doles on the day of his burial - suggesting there was no shortage of poor people in Gloucester in those days. The sum of forty pounds was to be lent to right poor handicraftsmen, occupiers and inhabitants of St. Michael's parish, for one year, free of interest. The wording of his will is reminiscent of those who had not fully embraced the recently established Church, but perhaps this does not alter the fact that he left his widow all his leasehold lands, and then, after her death, these lands went to the Mayor and Burgesses of Gloucester, and thus added considerably to the City's wealth.