Nicholas de Farndone (sometimes written as Farindon, Farindone or Farrington) (died 1334) was a fourteenth-century English goldsmith and politician who served four non-consecutive terms as Mayor of London.
He was born Nicholas le Fevre, son of Ralph le Fevre, but assumed the surname of Farndone after marrying Isabella, daughter and heiress of William de Farndone (died 1293-94), a London goldsmith and alderman.J.J. Stocken, 'The Ward of Farndone', in W.P.W. Phillimore (ed.), The London & Middlesex Notebook (Elliot Stock, London 1892), pp. 113-18, at pp.114-115 (HathiTrust)
Like William, Nicholas was a goldsmith."The London Goldsmiths" pg. 4 In 1293 he succeeded his father-in-law as alderman of the ward of Farringdon Within,Wheatley, Henry Benjamin, and Cunningham, Peter "London, Past and Present" pg. 31 and was elected mayor in 1308, 1313, 1320, and 1323. During his second term, on behalf of King Edward II, Nicholas issued a ban of the game of football, ancestor to the modern games of soccer and rugby, ostensibly due to the noise and disturbance ("great evils") caused by the game.Birley, Derek "Sport and the Making of Britain" pg. 32Riley, Henry Thomas "Munimenta Gildhallae Londoniensis, Vol. 3" pp. 439 - 441 He was elected Member of Parliament for the City of London, as one of the two aldermanic representatives, in 1312, 1313, 1320, and 1321.
Nicholas died in 1334, without male issue, and devised his aldermanry to Sir John de Pulteney, then mayor of London.Sharpe, Reginald R. "Calendar of Letter-books Preserved Among the Archives of the City of London at the Guildhall" pg. 94R.R. Sharpe (ed.), Calendar of Wills Proved and Enrolled in the Court of Husting, London: Part I, 1258-1358 (London, 1889), pp. 397-98 The notes on pp 397-98 contain confusions which are corrected in a note to the will of Nicholas (1361) in the second volume.
Roysia, the daughter of Nicholas and Isabella, made two marriages. The first was to Robert Convers, by whom she had issue Nicholas (de Farndon, died 1361) and Katherine. The second was to David de Cotesbrok by whom she had Thomas (de Farndon).'Calendar of assize rolls: Roll AA', in H.M. Chew (ed.), London Possessory Assizes: A Calendar (London, 1965), pp. 1-45, no. 120. (British History Online, accessed 2 January 2019).
A chantry was established in 1361 at St Peter, Westcheap for Nicholas de Farndon and his daughter Roysia, by the will of his grandson Nicholas.R.R. Sharpe, Calendar of Wills Proved and Enrolled in the Court of Husting, London, 1258-1688. Part II: 1358-1688 (HMSO, 1890), pp. 18-19 (Internet Archive).
See also List of Lord Mayors of London City of London (elections to the Parliament of England)
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