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 A HISTORY OF STAFFORDSHIRE ruined. They therefore prayed that henceforth no Welshmen of pure blood, except those in the retinue of the king or his nobles, should purchase any lands in the said counties under pain of forfeiture. Their petition did not mend matters, for shortly afterwards the same incursions are complained of. By the Great Revolt of 1381 Staffordshire, and the whole of the West Midlands from Gloucestershire to Derbyshire, seem to have been practically undisturbed. There was no more local disturbance than was common to all counties of mediaeval England when village ruffianism was a normal feature. 148 The figures returned by the collectors of the Poll Tax of 1381 give the number of people in the county over the age of fifteen as 15,993, but the figures are not to be relied on, being in many cases obviously manipulated. 1 *' Let us turn for a moment from the wars, lawlessness, and murders of the time to the doings of men who were laying the foundation of better things. In the Parliament of 1355 Newcastle under Lyme was first represented by John de Blorton and Richard de Podmor ; the county sending Sir John de Draycote and Walter Verdoun, while Stafford borough sent Adam Rotour and William de Homeresleye ; Lichfield makes no appearance. 160 The like representation occurs from 1358 till 13701, when the borough of Stafford drops out. To the Great Council, called at Winchester in June of the same year, the county, Stafford borough, and Newcastle under Lyme sent one member each as directed. 151 To the Parliament of January 1376-7 the county sent Sir Nicolas de Stafford and Adam de Peshale ; Newcastle, Richard Buntable and Thomas Thicknesse ; Stafford borough, Robert de Mersshe and Henry Prest ; U2 but next year the county only was represented. For many years after this Staffordshire was generally fully represented with the exception of the borough of Lichfield. In 1 398, after the coup d'etat by which he overthrew the lords appellant, we find Richard II at Lichfield, where he kept Christmas with due solemnity, 163 and while there he issued a pardon to those Staffordshire men who had supported the lords. 16 * In the next year he passed through Lich- field on his way from Chester to London, practically a prisoner in the hands of Henry of Lancaster, to deposition and death. At the commencement of the next reign Lichfield was again the scene of important events. In July, 1402, upon hearing of Edmund Mortimer's defeat by the Welsh, Henry IV ordered the sheriffs of twenty-one counties to array and forward all their available forces to meet him at Lich- field by 7 July, and a few days before that the Prince of Wales had gone forward to Tutbury. From Wigmore southwards the defence of the frontier was entrusted to the Earl of Stafford, and north of Wigmore to the Earl of Arundel, who commanded the Staffordshire levies. However, these elaborate preparations came to nought, the weather was exceptionally bad, and the English host was driven from Wales without effecting anything. 148 Oman, The Great Revolt of 1 381, p. 142. "* Ibid. App. ii. 160 Par/. Accts. and Papers, Ixii (i), 158. 141 One member of each constituency who had attended the previous Parliament was summoned, but the member for Stafford borough must have been summoned for this Parliament only. 151 Par/. Acctt. and Papers, Ixii (l), 196. 143 Trokelowe, Chron. (Rolls Ser.), 224. IM Rymer, Foedera (orig. ed.), viii, 40. 238