William Oldhall

Sir William Oldhall (1390?–1460) was an English soldier and Yorkist supporter, who served as Speaker of the House of Commons of England between 1450-51.

The son and heir of Sir Edmund Oldhall of Narford, Bodney, and East Dereham, Norfolk, by Alice, daughter of Geoffrey de Fransham of the same county, he was born about 1390. As an esquire in the retinue of Thomas Beaufort, 1st Earl of Dorset, he was present at the siege of Rouen in 1418–19. He also served under Thomas Montacute, 4th Earl of Salisbury in the expedition for the relief of Crevant, July 1423, and won his spurs at the battle of Verneuil on 17 August 1424. About this date he was made seneschal of Normandy. In the subsequent invasion of Maine and Anjou he further distinguished himself, and was appointed constable of Montsoreau and governor of St. Laurent des Mortiers.

In the summer of 1426 Oldhall was employed in Flanders on a mission to Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy concerning Jacqueline, Duchess of Gloucester, then a prisoner in the duke's hands. In October 1428 he was detached by the council of Normandy to strengthen the garrison of Argentan, then in danger of falling by treachery into the hands of Jean II, Duke of Alençon. He was present at the great council held at Westminster, 24 April–8 May 1434, on the conduct of the war in France, and also at the council of 24 February 1438–9. In 1440 he was chamberlain to Richard of York, 3rd Duke of York, and a member of his council, and the following year was made feoffee to his use and that of his duchess Cecilia of certain royal manors. In the struggle for the retention of Normandy he commanded the castle of La Ferté Bernard, which fell into the hands of the French on 16 August 1449.

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