John Cokayne

Sir John Cockayne (died 1438) was an English soldier, politician and landowner whose wealth made him a major force in the affairs of Derbyshire under the House of Lancaster. After numerous acts of criminality in concert with other Midlands landowners, he became a member of the Lancastrian affinity centred on John of Gaunt and a supporter of Henry IV. He fought in two campaigns of the Hundred Years War but his violence and lawlessness continued and he was decidedly out of favour during the reign of Henry V. With power less concentrated in the early years of Henry VI, he was able to serve three terms as High Sheriff of Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and the Royal Forests and to wield considerable power and influence. He represented Derbyshire no less than nine times and Warwickshire twice in the House of Commons of England. Background Ancestry John Cokayne was the eldest son of Edmund Cockayne (died 1403) of Ashbourne Hall Ashbourne, Derbyshire. Elizabeth Harthill (died 1416), daughter of Sir Richard Herthil or Harthill (died 1390) of Pooley Hall, near Polesworth, Warwickshire. The Cockayne family are known to have lived at Ashbourne from the mid-12th century. The Derbyshire historian Stephen Glover wrote that the Cockaynes "resided and flourished for many generations in this town, and had considerable estates in the county, much increased by a match with the heiress of Herthill." His mother's patrimony was to be an important factor in the prominence Sir John Cockayne assumed in his county's affairs, although he did not gain full control of it until after his mother's death. However, the family were already wealthy before the Harthill inheritance, although it has been pointed out that they suffered over several generations from "reduced family income due to the longevity of dowagers," which led to Edmund and his brother John not being knighted in their youth.