People of Note
Michael Wath
Michael Wath, died 1350, an administrator, who probably belonged to a family that came originally from Wath upon Dearne, in Yorkshire.
He first appears in 1314 as an attorney and won his first ecclesiastical patronage from the crown in 1316. By 1323 he was described as constantly attendant on the king's service in chancery, and was clerk to Henry Cliffe, keeper of the rolls of chancery.
In February 1330 he received, by papal provision, a canonry and prebend of Southwell in addition to his rectorship of Wath, and to them was added a canonry and prebend at St John's, Howden, in March 1331.
He maintained close links with his home county, being appointed to assess a tallage in Yorkshire on 25 June 1332, and serving as supervisor of the taxes of a ninth and fifteenth there in 1340.
Wath became Keeper of the Rolls on 20 January 1334, and on 17 April was presented to the living of Foston in Yorkshire. He surrendered the office of keeper of the rolls on 28 April 1337, and served as keeper of the Great Seal between 8 December 1339 and 16 February 1340.
In December 1340 he was removed from his post in the chancery by Edward III, with other clerks and judges, and imprisoned on a charge of maladministration, but was afterwards released. Although not reappointed to the chancery, he continued to serve on various royal commissions in the 1340s.
He died in 1350.
Sources: The chancery under Edward III . Chancery records
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