Sir John Seman (fl. 1480)
Mayor of Oxford 1476/7, 1477/8, 1482/3, and 1486/7
John Seman was an Oxford cordwainer.
He was appointed a Bailiff on the council in 1459 and again in 1468, and was also chosen as one of the four Aldermen in 1463, 1465, 1468, 1469, 1473, 1478, 1485, and 1490.
Seman accompanied the Mayor, John Clark, to the Coronation of Edward IV on 28 June 1461,
John Seman was elected Mayor of Oxford for 1476/7 and 1477/8, and then in 1478 was elected Member of Parliament for Oxford.
He was then elected Mayor again for 1482/3 and was thus Mayor at the time of another Coronation, that of Richard III on 6 July 1483. This was a very speedy Coronation, but there was a Coronation feast in Westminster Hall, so given that he was knighted around this time, it is likely that he performed the Mayor of Oxford’s traditional role of butler there.
He was elected Mayor for the fourth time for the following year, 1483/4.
He was still an Alderman in 1496.
Sir John Seman appears to have acted as a common lawyer, as a dispute is submitted to his arbitration in the Chancellor’s Court in August 1499. In May 1500 he stood surety that a bond would be produced.
† Sir John Seman appears to have died before January 1501.
Seman’s family
The Nicholas Seman who came on to the council in 1469 may be John Seman's younger brother
John Seman had a son called George Seman, who admitted that his mother Joan (the widow of John Seman) owed £3.14.9 to Margaret, widow of Henry Wynge, of London.
Anthony Wood (City of Oxford, Vol. III, pp. 169–70) states that the John Seman who owned the Red Lion and was buried at St Martin’s Church in 1529 was the son of the Mayor’s brother William Seman. This may be the man of that name on the Mayor’s Council from 1518 to 1522, who acted as the Keeper of Dame Margaret Northern's Chest. This John Seman may also be the cordwainer of that name of All Saints parish who in 1524 was Oxford’s wealthiest taxpayer, paying £4 10s, and employed nine men (“famuli”).
See also:
- Biography will appear soon on the History of Parliament website, Members, 1422–1504
