John de Burnham
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John de Burnham, or John Brunham (died 1363) was an English-born cleric, judge and Crown official who spent much of his career in Ireland. He held office as Lord High Treasurer of Ireland and Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer. He spent many years defending himself against charges of corruption, which seem to have been the invention of malicious colleagues.
He was the son of William Burnham of Norfolk, and was probably born in one of the groups of adjacent villages called the Norfolk Burnhams.[1] He had the title "Master", which at the time meant that he had a University degree. He took holy orders, and his first benefice was a living in Lincolnshire. He became parish priest of Felmersham, Bedfordshire in 1333 and was named as a tax assessor for the same county, and also for Buckinghamshire, in 1340.[1] He was a member of the Royal Household from the 1320s onwards. He was Treasurer to the Prince of Wales, and gained great experience in the field of finance, especially army accounts.[2]
Church of St Mary, Felmersham, Bedfordshire: Burnham was the parish priest here in the 1330s.
Lord Treasurer of Ireland
In 1343 he was sent to Ireland as Lord Treasurer;[3] he also became a canon of St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin and a prebendary of the Diocese of Cloyne.[1] His appointment as Treasurer, like that of Sir Ralph d'Ufford as Justiciar of Ireland the following year, was apparently prompted by complaints by the Privy Council of Ireland about the efficiency of the Irish Exchequer, and the Council's doubts about the honesty of Burnham's predecessor Hugh de Burgh.[2] It was no doubt thought that Burnham, with his long experience of administering the English royal finances, would be a good Treasurer, and he did indeed do something to improve the Irish finances.[4] However, his long battle to clear himself of charges of corruption can hardly have made the task of reforming the Irish Exchequer any easier. He was ex officio a member of the Privy Council. In 1344 he received £40 for levying the King's expenses in Munster.[5] He returned to England on official business in 1345.[6] In 1346 he was present at the Council meeting which approved the appointment of Ralph Darcy as the new Justiciar of Ireland (d'Ufford had died in April.)[7]
When the lands of Maurice FitzGerald, 1st Earl of Desmond, were forfeited for rebellion in 1345, Burnham was chosen to administer them. The lands were restored to Desmond in 1349. Burnham, like d'Ufford, was accused of unduly heavy-handed treatment of the Anglo-Irish nobility.[4]
In 134d he was raised to the Bench as a Baron of the Court of Exchequer (Ireland).[8]